From personality diagnosis to pattern diagnosis: the experience of researching persons who have committed terrorist crimes

Context and relevance. This article analyzes the results of a case study of a group of people influenced by radical ideology, discusses the possibility of shifting the research focus from the diagnosis of deviant personality to the diagnosis of developmental disorders and from the description of patterns of deviant behavior to the description of the pattern of adaptation. Objective. To identify the characteristic features of personality radicalization and describe the structure of the radical pattern. Hypothesis. The basis of the radical pattern is formed by specific deviations in socialization, which are forms of adaptation to unfavorable conditions of development. Methods and materials. The sample consisted of 30 persons who committed terrorist crimes and 30 members of their families. At various stages of the experiment, the subject of study was the terrorist's personality, his/her family relations, and deviant behaviour of an antisocial orientation. The methodological toolkit comprised a set of psychodiagnostic techniques that integrated the strengths of ideographic and nomothetic approaches to cognition. These techniques included 8 psychodiagnostic methods of a test of character, in-depth interviews, and analysis of demographic and socio-psychological indicators that were pertinent to the processes of socialisation and radicalisation of the personality. Results. During the multifaceted survey, personality traits, values, religious worldview, types of psychological defenses and ways of coping with difficult life circumstances were revealed, the specifics of family relations and important aspects of socialization at various stages of the life path were described. Conclusions. The radical pattern is characterised by a complex interplay of individual psychological characteristics and social factors, including personal dispositions, a proclivity for dependent behaviour, victimhood, a radical religious worldview, an obsessive focus on the concept of justice, an ideologically shaped core identity, an imbalance and deficit within the family system, and preventive behavioural traits. In certain crisis conditions and under the influence of catalysing factors, this pattern can be activated and manifested through a terrorist act.

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