Willingness to sacrifice among convicted Islamist terrorists versus violent gang members and other criminals

Abstract

Is terrorism just another form of criminal activity, as many nations’ justice systems assume? We ofer an initial answer using facetoface interviews and structured surveys in thirtyfve Spanish prisons.Recent theories of extreme sacrifce inform this direct observational and comparative study. Islamist terrorists display levels of selfsacrifce for their primary reference group similar to that of Latino gangs, but greater willingness to sacrifce for primary values than other inmates (nonradical Muslims, Latino gangs, and delinquent bands). This disposition is motivated by stronger perceived injustice, discrimination, and a visceral commitment to such values (risk/radicalization factors). Nevertheless, state authorities, prison staf, and families are (protective/deradicalization) factors apt to reduce willingness to sacrifce and keep foreign fighters, now being released in large numbers, from returning to terrorism.