Dagligen rapporteras om terrordåd runt om i världen; skolskjutningar, bombningar, massakrer. Denna uppsats ämnar visa på hur människor i vår omgivning kan drivas till att begå terrordåd och utgår från en analys av en bok som beskriver en ung mans radikalisering in i IS. Dels analyseras radikaliseringen utifrån Moghaddams trappa till terrorism och dels utifrån McCauley och Moskalenkos tvåpyramidsmodell. Boken som ligger till grund för analysen är Ingen plats för mig, skriven av författaren och journalisten Katia Wagner, som under ett av sina uppdrag i Norge mötte den unge tunisiern Ghazi. En hermeneutisk analys av händelseförloppet utifrån de bägge modellerna visar att modellerna på olika sätt belyser viktiga etapper i radikaliseringen av Ghazi. Uppsatsen resultat visar tydligt att radikaliseringen av Ghazi fungerat som en process där han successivt socialiserats in i en världsbild som bland annat betonat dualism, ett starkt kategoriserat tänkande och en skiftning i moralisk uppfattning.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine psychological processes that can contribute to religiously motivated violence from a psychology of religion perspective in relation to the collective meaning-system of the Christian militant anti-abortion movement the Army of God. The study applied a single-case design and the data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 3 prominent figures within Army of God, as well as through 43 qualitative documents and 4 autobiographical books. The collected data was analyzed through a deductive approach, implementing the concept of sanctification, social identity theory, selective moral disengagement, and the Staircase to Terrorism model. The results show that the collective meaning-system of the Army of God can be understood as a form of religious fundamentalism that acts as a frame that binds the members together, and from which social categorization and group identification can induce acts of violence. The results also demonstrate that abortion is perceived as a grave injustice and destruction of something sacred, and how it leads to a moral outrage and aggression by constituting a threat towards one’s social identity. This threat moves the individuals towards a ‘black-and-white’ and ‘the ends justify the means’ mentality. The act of violence is further prompted by a perceived duty from God and facilitated by a dehumanization of the perceived enemy. The findings of the study address the need of primary empirical data in the psychological research of violent extremism. Furthermore, it brings further knowledge regarding religiously motivated violence and leaderless resistance by taking into account the search for significance and sacred values. In contrast to previous research the current study also demonstrates that a leader or a well-structured group is not necessarily a key factor when explaining religiously motivated violence from a social psychological perspective. This can contribute to the theoretical understanding regarding social identity and a collective meaning-making in relation to violent extremism and lone-wolf terrorism.