The bulk of the research on radicalisation can be said to be primarily divided into accounts that examine radicalisation as either a “process” (which asks the question “how” and is concerned with transition points or pathways) or a “root-cause” (which asks the question “why” and relates to outcomes). Most accounts analysing radicalisation as a “process” have focused on either macro or socio-micro factors, whereas the majority of accounts viewing radicalisation through the lens of “root causes” tend to focus on single explanations or limit their scope to a narrow range of causes. The growing currency in the field of explaining violent radicalisation in terms of “push” and “pull” factors is equally reductive and ambiguous. To date, there is a notable absence of a comprehensive, coherent, and integrated theoretical framework of violent radicalization that appreciably accommodates its multi-faceted, interconnected, and multi-layered reality and includes a public mental health promotion focus. DRIVE will therefore develop an integrated theoretical framework that views violent radicalisation as a complex and multidimensional process, one that requires a fine-grained analysis of the interaction between structural motivations, enabling factors, and individual incentives. DRIVE will produce explanatory analysis through the deployment of a multi-methodological approach to gathering data, which includes qualitative interviews, quantitative surveys, and visual documentation. By analysing the role of gender at the level of the enabling factor in the radicalisation process, this research will explore wider questions by discussing the role of mothers in identifying risks of radicalisation or, controversially, the topic of “ISIS Brides” with young females. DRIVE also explores the importance of women in far-right groups and how gender plays out in these movements more specifically.
DRIVE will therefore be one of the few research projects able to provide empirically supported recommendations for policy development. Given that DRIVE’s strategy looks to combine complex and integrated theory with empirical data, it will address the challenges inherent in multilevel causality. Even though the causes of radicalisation are found at distinct levels and dimensions, multi-level policy solutions—preventive, risk reduction, rehabilitation, wellbeing, and resilience-building—are sometimes applied in a way that mismatches the solution-problem dyad formulation, inadvertently ignoring the different logics governing each policy instrument. The tendency has been, for example, to tackle the symptoms of radicalisation using preventive tools instead of using preventive instruments to target its causes. DRIVE will mitigate the prevalent practise of recommending misplaced policy instruments by easing the translation of research findings into specific outputs that target causes and not indicators. DRIVE will therefore produce evidence-led research outputs that touch upon the concerns of several policy areas: P/CVE, community engagement, public mental health promotion, social integration, and interfaith relations.
