The Radicalization of Young Jihadi Convicted of Membership of Terrorist Organization in Spain: Analyzing the Pieces of the Puzzle

Abstract

This article analyses the radicalization of all of the five young offenders -aged between fourteen and eighteen years- who have been convicted in Spain between 2004 and 2019 of membership of a jihadist terrorist organization. It is based on: a) unprecedented access to the assessments of these youths produced by the Agency for the Reeducation and Reintegration of Young Offenders in the regional Government of Madrid; b) personal semi-structured interviews with the staff at this Agency responsible for their psycho-socio and educational intervention during their custodial measures; and c) judicial reports related to their cases. The article assesses the main features of the radicalization processes of these minors following a three-dimensional analysis at the micro, meso and macro level. It provides empirical evidence to test the validity of the main hypotheses on the causality of radicalization.