The Devil is in the Detail: Assessing Threat-Framing in Violent Extremist Discourses

Christopher Ruddy

Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 2025, vol. 48, issue 5, 485-504

Abstract: Despite a pivot toward great power rivalry as a dominant security focus, violent extremists of varying ideological types continue to present a dynamic threat landscape. This study aims to further understandings of psychological processes and language indicating support for extremism across ideologies. Theories emanating from social psychology, and the notion of “threat-framing” as a means of necessitating violence by representing out-groups as existential threats were applied to a linguistic analysis of twelve texts authored by extremists of differing ideologies. Threat-framing was detected in all texts. Moreover, threat-framed out-groups were targets of violence, particularly when identified specifically. Practical implications are outlined.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/1057610X.2022.2101586 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:uterxx:v:48:y:2025:i:5:p:485-504

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/uter20

DOI: 10.1080/1057610X.2022.2101586

Access Statistics for this article

Studies in Conflict and Terrorism is currently edited by Bruce Hoffman

More articles in Studies in Conflict and Terrorism from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().