Taylor 1

Lauren Taylor

Professor Smith

English 1201

11 April 2021 

What Conditions Allow for Extremists Ideologies to be Cultivated in Society?

All around the globe, various countries have been affected by horrific acts of violent

extremism. When you turn on the news and see coverage of another violent act committed in

society on behalf of an extremist ideological group, you tend to wonder what drove an individual

to partake in such a harmful event that leaves an imprint on others for the rest of their life. The

next question that comes to mind is if there is a way to preemptively warn others of a possible

violent extremist event such as a school shooting, bombing, or attack to avoid death and

destruction. However, before society can understand how to prevent extremist activity, we need

to look into the thought process, the patterns, and what conditions allowed for these extremists

are cultivated in the first place.

Violence brought on by extremism is not a new phenomenon. We have seen extremism

provoked events from as early as wars in ancient Rome and as recent as the storming of the U.S.

Capitol. While most of these perpetrators have far-leaning beliefs from the majority of society,

societal norms change over time making it difficult to define extremism explicitly. An example

of societal norms shifting presented by the BBC was the difference between slavery and modern-
 Taylor 2

day white racial extremism. While they are both racially motivated, they are very different.

(BBC 3) 

Unfortunately, slavery was an accepted societal norm in America's past and thankfully

changed the societal norms condemns these same racially driven actions of hate. Some

commonly known examples of extremism affiliations are the Nazi Party in Germany, Branch

Davidians, QAnon, the KKK, ISIS, and al Qaeda. Even though each of these affiliation target

different groups do they share common motivations?

The prevalence of terrorist events or extremist crimes committed has made extremism to

be a hot topic recently throughout the media. In the U.S, the number of domestic hate crimes has

been rising over the past decade. One of the first events that caught the attention of U.S citizens

was when the World Trade Center was hit by two hijacked planes. Over time many other

extremist-motivated events occurred on a smaller scale gaining only short-term national attention

to the problem. After the riot at the U.S. Capitol, the media and other government officials began

to realize that this is an emergency that needs to be addressed. According to Brown, “Events

such as the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol underscore a growing threat to America's

national security posed by homegrown terrorism and ideologically inspired violence.”(Brown 6)

and “Terrorism and ideologically-inspired violence represent persistent and serious threats to the

security of the United States,” said Ryan Andrew Brown, the study's lead author and a senior

social scientist at RAND, a nonprofit research organization.”(Brown 3) Due to the urgency

surrounding the topic of extremism, there has been more coverage and information covered

recently. 

An important topic to address is what an extremist is. Everyone has varying beliefs but

what separates extremists from others? Many people who have differing opinions can come to an
 Taylor 3

understanding to “agree to disagree” and can move on with a positive relationship between them.

Extremists choose violence against groups of individuals who have differing opinions.

According to Laurie Willis “The American Heritage Dictionary defines an extremist as "one who

advocates or resorts to measures beyond the norm, especially in politics." Note that this

definition goes a step beyond merely a belief system—the extremist takes action.”(Willis 1)

However, according to Martine Zeuthen, an anthropologist, and a Countering Violent Extremism

(CVE) consultant, there isn’t a specific definition for an extremist due to the differing amount of

extremist beliefs. They do agree that extremists take action more than regular individuals and

that’s what sets them apart. Whether it is verbal or physical, they go above and beyond to project

their opinion onto everyone else with a firm belief that they are the only correct opinion. 

A set of common themes of extremist ideologies have been identified and as well as

trigger points for individuals embracing radical viewpoints. According to the FBI, some common

groups are “White Supremacy Extremists, Environmental Extremists, Militia Extremists,

Religious Extremists, and Anarchist Extremists.”(FBI 10) They tend to play the blame game

with opposing views to attract others to their group. Not only do they blame others but they use

propaganda and symbols to further relay their message a send a feeling of pride. They build up

the feeling of frustration to gain their support for their groups. Many of these extremists were set

off by negative life events, exposure to propaganda, are facing financial instability, mental health

challenges such as trauma and PTSD, and social factors such as victimization and

marginalization. (Brown 9) This is considered the re-orienting event that triggered them to

embrace extremist views and beliefs. While they all have different strong opinions, they all have

some sort of re-orienting event that turns them to extremism. 

Now that we know how an extremist comes to be, we need to look at how to further

prevent extremists in the future. We need to further educate people on how to identify the

warning signs of extremism on the internet or in individual behaviors so they cannot fall victim

to extremist ideologies. Behavioral/Social Scientist Ryan Andrew Brown recommends

“Expanding access to mental health care, creating opportunities for exposure to diverse cultural

groups, and media literacy education is all-important strategies that may aid the battle against

extremism, according to researchers. However, harsh law enforcement actions often are

unproductive in changing people's extremist beliefs.”(Brown 2) Other strategies included were

creating programs so families can realize when a family member is at risk and identify

geographic hotspots for extremism to further spread help to where they need it most. 

Extremism is an urgent problem that needs to be recognized and addresses throughout the

nation. People who take extreme opinions and actions toward others need to be offered help and

coping mechanisms. They need to be able to find the root cause of their internal turmoil so they

can better understand why what they are doing is wrong. It is ok to have your own opinion but

not to project violence and hate on others because of it. Through prevention programs and the

increased recognition of potential indicators for extremist violent acts, we can address, help, and

prevent future tragedies in our nation.

 
 Taylor 5

Works Cited:

"Introduction to Extremism: Opposing Viewpoints." Extremism, edited by Laurie Willis, Greenhaven

Press, 2011. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010699101/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=80ce0e9e. Accessed 11

Apr. 2021.

Brown, Ryan Andrew. “Interviews with Former Extremists Reveal Multiple Paths to Developing

Extreme Ideologies; Rejection of Extremism Often Aided by Friends and Groups.” RAND

Corporation, 1 Apr. 2021, www.rand.org/news/press/2021/04/02.html. Accessed 4 April 2021 

“A Brief History of Extremism – from Ancient Rome to Al Qaeda.” HistoryExtra, BBC, 26 Nov. 2020,

www.historyextra.com/period/roman/extremism-history-examples-explained-definition-facts-prevent-

right-wing-religious/. Accessed 11 April 2021

 “What Is Violent Extremism?” FBI, FBI, 23 Oct. 2015, www.fbi.gov/cve508/teen-website/what-is-

violent-extremism. Accessed 4 April 2021

Zeuthen, Andrew Glazzard and Martine, et al. “Violent Extremism.” GSDRC, 12 Sept. 2016,

gsdrc.org/professional-dev/violent-extremism/. Accessed 4 April 2021