Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Violent Extremism: A Multilevel and Interdisciplinary Evidence-Based Approach

This integrative review aims to inform research, policy and practice at the tertiary level of prevention targeting radicalised individuals, whether they have acted on their radicalisation or not. It stresses the need to respond to the terrorist threat with a multilevel and interdisciplinary evidence-based approach in order to account for the complexity of the issue. To do so, drawing from the socio-ecological model of violence, we categorise across four levels of analysis (i.e., individual, relationship, community, and societal) the risk and protective factors associated with violent extremism and reported in the existent systematic reviews and meta-analyses on this issue. As a result, we observe an overemphasis on the study of individual factors, with a few relationship factors, and no community or societal factors reported. To address this limitation, we emphasise the need for future studies to focus on risk and protective factors across the four levels of analysis. We also suggest future systematic reviews and meta analyses to focus on qualitative data. Finally, based on the individual and relationship factors identified in the examined systematic reviews and meta-analyses, but also on the community and societal factors identified in narrative reviews, we propose a socio-ecological model of violent extremism.