Creating a partner: A qualitative study of political extremists and ex-gang members who have chosen the antiviolence path

Berger, R. & Zimbardo, P. (2012). Creating a partner: A qualitative study of political extremists and ex-gang members who have chosen the antiviolence path. Retrieved from The Council on Foreign Relations website: http://www.cfr.org/radicalization-and-extremism/save-supporting-document-creating-partner/p26892

This study looks at the determinants of the ‘psychological code’ of former extremists: former gang members and former extremist Israelis and Palestinians. The study examines factors leading these previously violent groups of people towards reconciliation by examining three theoretical perspectives: dispositional, characterological, and interactionalist. It was found that the interactionalist model may be the best to explain transitions from violent extremism to reconciliation and peacekeeping activity. The interactionalist model argues that prosocial behavior is determined by predispositions equally along with situational and cultural factors.