Understanding Radicalisation Vulnerability in a Prevent Channel Panel Cohort: A Mixed-Methods Study of 137 Individuals Known to Mental Health Services
Keywords:
Radicalisation, Deradicalisation, Disengagement, Prevent, Channel, Violent Extremism, Safeguarding, Mental Health, Identity, BelongingAbstract
Research examining individuals vulnerable to violent extremism before terrorist offending occurs remains limited, with much existing evidence derived from convicted offenders, imprisoned extremists, or retrospective analyses of completed attacks. This study addresses that gap through a mixed-methods analysis of 137 individuals known to a United Kingdom National Health Service mental health trust who were discussed within Prevent Channel Panels between February 2022 and August 2024. No singular profile of radicalisation vulnerability emerged. Instead, vulnerability reflected the convergence of youth, masculinity, neurodevelopmental needs, mental health difficulties, psychosocial adversity, social isolation, and extensive online engagement. Many participants presented with mixed, unclear, or unstable ideological positions, highlighting the complexity of contemporary vulnerability pathways. Across the cohort, recurring themes included belonging, identity, significance, recognition, certainty, purpose, and social connection. The findings support contemporary scholarship that conceptualises radicalisation as a multifactorial process shaped by interactions between individual experiences, social relationships, and ideological narratives. By providing rare empirical evidence from a pre-criminal prevention population, the study reinforces the importance of a functional understanding of radicalisation and the need for trauma-informed, neurodiversity-informed, relational, and person-centred approaches to prevention and safeguarding practice.
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