This is by far one of the biggest questions, not only on the level of terrorism but on the human level. Can anyone change? The immediate answer is obvious. Human beings change throughout their lives, even they can do so substantially from one day to the next if extreme events take place . After all, this is what psychological therapies aim to do, to change thoughts, emotions, behaviours and even changing the subject’s own brain in the direction that improves his mental health.

To see how psychotherapy changes the brain, we recommend reading this article

But all these patterns of the individual can be seen metaphorically as a drug; the difficult thing is not to quit, but to avoid relapse.

Former terrorists and their psychology

Now to come to the issue at hand, we are going to try to give a terrorist back his human side and take him away from all the world he has sunk into, but this is really difficult; because relapses exist for them too.

Before starting to detail the process, we must know two essential points already discussed in chapters I and II on terrorism:

  • The process by which someone becomes a terrorist

In the past, widespread methods were used to recruit supporters for the cause. Today, with the use of new technologies the situation is quite different, but s still has a general scheme formed by four phases . The function of these is to progressively immerse the victim in a new world based on violence and dehumanization, until he becomes a terrorist.

  • The profile of victims who become terrorists

Today, terrorists who recruit new followers focus their efforts on getting to know the victims in a personalized way, to “hook” them more easily. Therefore, it sounds reasonable to think that if the new follower became a terrorist because he was persuaded in a “personalized” way, the therapy he receives should also be personalized .

  • The case of Michael Muhammad Knight, a Western boy who joined the Daesh

In fact, in a previous post by Psychology and Mind we already talked about a real case of a western boy, apparently in his right mind, who decided to join the terrorist group Islamic State . His reasons and motivations are surprising.

Phases for re-humanization

The process, always adapted to the idiosyncrasy of each individual, is made up of the following three phases. We must keep in mind something very important during the whole process: We cannot achieve a change using the rational way. The subjects in these circumstances will always fight the reasoning of others with their beliefs, as if it were propaganda broadcast by a loudspeaker. But not only this; throughout the process, which usually takes a long time to achieve a nuclear change in the person, at no time can you try to change your mind using reason since, every time you do this, it means a step backwards for the change.

So, what’s to be done? Choose the emotional path .

1st phase: Emotional Reactivation

This stage serves as a basis and focuses on rebuilding the emotional bonds between the victim (who had become a supporter of the terrorist group) and his family. The key lies in reactivating memories and emotional ties. The difficulty lies in the fact that these memories have been buried. Another point that makes the process even more difficult is the fact that the families, who ask for help in these cases, when they do so, the victim is already at a very advanced stage.

Although most of these people (especially young people) no longer see their parents as such, the human brain always leaves little traces of the past. These traces lead to memories, which despite being deep inside, can be revived at any time.

To do this, it is necessary that relatives do their part and try to bring out these happy emotional memories in their child. Moreover, as we have already mentioned, at no time should one try to persuade by rational means.

This process must be carried out, for the time being, by the relatives on their own, since the intervention by third parties is usually counterproductive, increasing the defenses of the victim. A very simple exercise with surprising results is, for example, putting a big picture of when you were a child on the fridge.

When this point is reached, the slightly sensitized victim usually agrees, albeit reluctantly, to participate in support groups. This step must be immediate in order not to lose the opportunity that months of work have cost.

The author of these studies tells us the following case:

“A young man in the process of radicalization had focused his rejection speech on alcohol. His personal jihad consisted of eliminating the slightest trace of that substance from the home. Deodorants, perfumes and food products had to be removed. His parents had been struggling for several months to elicit an emotional reaction from their son. Until Mother’s Day came. The boy gave her a bottle of perfume. The woman called us in tears at once. “In about two hours we’ll be there,” she said.

2nd phase: Confronting reality

This second phase uses supportive therapies to improve the victim’s situation . The components of these will be other ex-jihadists who have already been rehabilitated. They must expose why they came out of that dark world; conveying the contradictions they found in it and the lies they had been told since nothing went as promised.

They will also explain the stages they went through to be indoctrinated. But the central element being worked on is to make you see that you will never find what you need by being one of them.It is now that the person who aspired to become a terrorist begins to think again for himself . But there is still a long way to go; about six more months.

It is common at this stage for the person to suffer from ambivalence, a result of the conflict they are experiencing. A real case of a young man who suffered this situation tells it as follows:

“One day I told myself that my recruiters were terrorists, bloodthirsty executioners, capable of playing football with their heads freshly severed. I asked myself how it was possible for them to talk about religion. However, an hour later I was convinced that those who sought my apostasy were in the pay of the Zionists, so they had to be massacred.”

3rd and final phase: The saving uncertainty

In the final phase the sessions with the ex-recruits are maintained . The central objective now is to achieve a sustained state of doubt to avoid a relapse into radicalization.

At the beginning of this phase, the subjects find it difficult to give full attention to the doubts that assail them, but, little by little, and combined with the emotional support of family and ex-cons, these doubts accumulate.

According to researcher Bouzar, most of the people she has worked with have succeeded.But, at the same time, she warns:

“Every week we receive a call from five families to denounce a process of radicalization […] this figure only represents a portion of the iceberg that has emerged.”

Bibliographic references:

  • Bouzar, D. (2015) Comment sortir de l’emprise djihadiste? Les Editions de l’Atelier.
  • Bouzar, D. (2015) Detaching from Jihadist Networks. Dounia Bouzar in MyC nº76,
  • Bouzar, D. (2015) La vie aprés Daesh. Les Éditions de l’Atelier,
  • Schäfer, A. (2007) La semilla de la violencia. Annette Schäfer in MyC no. 27,