Uploaded August 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
After They Leave: Post-Exit Distress and Coping in Former Extremists - Katharina Meredith
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Disclaimer: This session was delivered for the 2023 ICSA Conference. The speaker of this session does not speak on behalf of ICSA as an organization.
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Abstract: Violent extremism is a growing worldwide problem that has received increased attention over the last twenty years, resulting in the advancement of knowledge on how people join, their involvement, and how they leave. An understudied area is people’s experiences after they have left and are trying to reintegrate into mainstream society. Practitioners are often unequipped to assist in this transition, and tools are lacking to assess former extremists' psychosocial well-being and practical needs.
Katharina Meredith, who studies violent extremism with Dr. John Horgan at Georgia State University, will present the findings of her Master’s thesis on post-exit distress and coping. For the study, practitioners and former extremists were recruited for focus groups and interviews. A reflexive thematic analysis was used to summarize the topics and explore underlying themes. This resulted in an exploratory framework of post-exit distress and coping. Additionally, participants were invited back to provide feedback on the findings.
The post-exit distress framework includes dimensions such as mental health, emotions, physical health, daily life, legal matters, social relationships, exit and reintegration, safety, public image, identity, and worldview.
This exploratory study will lead to the development of a questionnaire and a follow-up study comparing former violent extremists and former cult members regarding post-exit distress and coping. Some of the themes found might already apply to former cult members, including "feeling wired" (hypervigilance and the need to regulate stress levels after exiting), feeling disconnected from oneself and others, and the destabilizing nature of the initial years after leaving, characterized by internal and external chaos and uncertainty.
After They Leave: Post-Exit Distress and Coping in Former Extremists - Katharina Meredith
-
Disclaimer: This session was delivered for the 2023 ICSA Conference. The speaker of this session does not speak on behalf of ICSA as an organization.
-
Abstract: Violent extremism is a growing worldwide problem that has received increased attention over the last twenty years, resulting in the advancement of knowledge on how people join, their involvement, and how they leave. An understudied area is people’s experiences after they have left and are trying to reintegrate into mainstream society. Practitioners are often unequipped to assist in this transition, and tools are lacking to assess former extremists' psychosocial well-being and practical needs.
Katharina Meredith, who studies violent extremism with Dr. John Horgan at Georgia State University, will present the findings of her Master’s thesis on post-exit distress and coping. For the study, practitioners and former extremists were recruited for focus groups and interviews. A reflexive thematic analysis was used to summarize the topics and explore underlying themes. This resulted in an exploratory framework of post-exit distress and coping. Additionally, participants were invited back to provide feedback on the findings.
The post-exit distress framework includes dimensions such as mental health, emotions, physical health, daily life, legal matters, social relationships, exit and reintegration, safety, public image, identity, and worldview.
This exploratory study will lead to the development of a questionnaire and a follow-up study comparing former violent extremists and former cult members regarding post-exit distress and coping. Some of the themes found might already apply to former cult members, including "feeling wired" (hypervigilance and the need to regulate stress levels after exiting), feeling disconnected from oneself and others, and the destabilizing nature of the initial years after leaving, characterized by internal and external chaos and uncertainty.
