Motivations and extremist beliefs of individuals convicted of jihadist terrorist offenses: Findings from the European Database of Terrorist Offenders

For the criminal justice context and counter-terrorism purposes, more insight into motivations and religious beliefs of individuals convicted of jihadist terrorist offenses is important. In the present study, we used risk indicators from the Violent Extremism Risk Assessment tool to map the presence of religious and nonreligious motivations and the association with extremist beliefs. These aspects were examined in a sample of 239 cases from the European Database of Terrorist Offenders. The findings indicated that individuals convicted of jihadist terrorist offenses were driven by various and co-occurring motivations. Whereas religious motivations were associated with preparatory terrorist offenses, we found nonreligious motivations to be more often associated with financing of terrorism and with psychiatric symptoms. Additionally, religious motivations were associated with a violent ideology, a lack of empathy for outgroup members, and the rejection of democracy. With this exploratory study, we tried to make a move forward toward an empirically founded typology of individuals committing jihadist terrorist crimes. Implications for future research and policy are discussed.