Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE), Adolescent Misconduct, and Violent Extremism: A Comparison of Former Left-Wing and Right-Wing Extremists

The current paper compares the prevalence and nature of childhood adversity among twenty former left-wing and right-wing extremists. Findings from the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) questionnaire suggest that exposure to childhood adversity was common in the early lives of both extremist types....

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Logan, Michael K. (Author) ; Windisch, Steven (Author) ; Simi, Pete (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2024
In: Terrorism and political violence
Year: 2024, Volume: 36, Issue: 1, Pages: 55-74
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Keywords:
adolescent misconduct
Adverse Childhood Experiences
Trauma
far-left extremism
Far-right extremism
Description
Summary:The current paper compares the prevalence and nature of childhood adversity among twenty former left-wing and right-wing extremists. Findings from the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) questionnaire suggest that exposure to childhood adversity was common in the early lives of both extremist types. For example, 50 percent of LWE and 70 percent of RWE experienced four or more ACE exposures during the first eighteen years of their life. The results also demonstrate that participants in both samples experienced a range of adolescent conduct problems. These conduct issues highlight the cascading effects of childhood adversity, where negative events help produce a downward spiral that ultimately increases a person’s susceptibility to extremism. Despite the relatively small sample, findings from this exploratory study build on the risk factor model of violent extremism by highlighting childhood adversity and adolescent misconduct as nonideological precursors to violent extremism among different types of extremists.
ISSN:1556-1836
DOI:10.1080/09546553.2022.2098725