Article published in:
The Discourse of Terrorism
Edited by Encarnación Hidalgo-Tenorio and Juan L. Castro
[Pragmatics and Society 13:3] 2022
► pp. 361–382

Urban environments favorable to radical narratives

The case of El Puche

| University of Córdoba
| New York University Abu Dhabi
| Marbella International University Centre
| University of Granada

This paper aims to study the process of violent radicalization in El Puche, a marginal neighborhood of Spain with a high percentage of disenfranchised Muslims. Particularly, we explore whether this neighborhood exhibits the factors proposed by the 3N model of radicalization: needs, networks, and narratives. We present two studies in which we analyze these factors. In the first study, we compare needs and networks between Muslims (N = 47) and Christians (N = 45). In the second study, we analyze the interrelation of these factors in a sample of Muslims (N = 111). We found that people’s association with radical networks mediates the relationship between the quest for significance and radical narratives. We conclude that need, network, and narrative are interconnected, and illustrate some of the dynamics that foster social exclusion and radicalization, leading to supporting violence in this type of urban environments.

Keywords: 3N model of Radicalization, relative deprivation, social network, narratives of terror, legitimation of terrorism, deprived context
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1The process of radicalization
    • 1.2Radicalization in urban environments
    • 1.3The case of El Puche
      • 1.3.1Geographical and demographic dimensions
      • 1.3.2Policies and institutions
      • 1.3.3Economics
      • 1.3.4Socio-cultural background
      • 1.3.5Urban vs. rural life and welfare
      • 1.3.6Criminality rate
    • 1.4The present research
  • 2.Study 1
    • 2.1Method
      • 2.1.1Participants
      • 2.1.2Instruments
      • 2.1.3Procedure
    • 2.2Results
      • 2.2.1The quest for significance
      • 2.2.2The social network
    • 2.3Discussion
  • 3.Study 2
    • 3.1Method
      • 3.1.1Participants
      • 3.1.2Instruments
      • 3.1.3Procedure
    • 3.2Results
    • 3.3Discussion
  • 4.General discussion
  • References
Published online: 21 July 2022
https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.21016.lob
References
Adam-Troian, Jais, Eric Bonetto, Marcos Araujo, Ouissam Baidada, Elif Celebi, Marcos Dono Martin, Fade Eadeh, et al.
2019 “Positive Associations between Anomia and Intentions to Engage in Political Violence: Cross-Cultural Evidence from Four Countries.” Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Arbuckle, James L.
2011 “AMOS (Version 7) [Computer program].” Chicago, IL, SPSS.Google Scholar
Arjona, Ángeles, and Juan Carlos Checa
2007 “Ubicación Espacial de Los Negocios Étnicos en Almería. ¿Formación de Enclaves Económicos Étnicos? [Space Location of the Ethnic Business in Almería: Formation of Ethnic Economic Enclaves?]” Estudios Geográficos 681 (1992): 391–415.Google Scholar
Bandura, Albert
1977 Social Learning Theory. New York: General Learning Press.Google Scholar
Betanzos-Martín, José Manuel, Antonio Echaves-García, Rafael Moya-Alonso, and Clemente J. Navarro-Yáñez
2018 “La evaluación de las políticas de regeneración urbana: Propuesta metodológica para la delimitación de áreas experimentales y equivalentes [Evaluating Urban Regeneration Policies. Methodological Proposal to Delimitate Experimental and Equivalent Urban Areas].” Revista de Estudios Andaluces 361: 147–77. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bélanger, Jocelyn J., Birga M. Schumpe, Bhavna Menon, Joanna Conde Ng, and Noëmie Nociti
2018 “Self-Sacrifice for a Cause: A Review and an Integrative Model.” In The SAGE Handbook of Personality and Individual Differences: Volume 2. Origins of Personality and Individual Differences, edited by Virgil Zeigler-Hill and Todd K. Shackelford, 466–85. SAGE Publications. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bélanger, Jocelyn J., Manuel Moyano, Hayat Muhamad, Lindsy Richardson, Marc-André Lafrenière, Patrick McCaffery, Karyne Framand, and Noëmie Nociti
2019 Radicalization Leading To Violence: A Test of the 3N Model. Frontiers in Psychiatry 101:42. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Capote, Alberto, and José Antonio Nieto
2017 “Segregación de la Población Marroquí en los Principales Núcleos Urbanos de Andalucía [Segregation of Moroccan Nationals in Andalucia’s Main Cities].” Contexto XI (14): 23–41.Google Scholar
Castillo, María del Pilar, and Juan Antonio Miralles
2011 “Soñando Nuestro Barrio. Una Experiencia desde el Trabajo con Barrios y Personas Excluidas [Dreaming Our Neighborhood. An Experience from Working with Neighborhoods and Excluded People].” In Actas Del I Congreso Internacional Sobre Migraciones En Andalucía, edited by F. G. García Castaño and N. Kressova, 1903–11. Granda: Instituto de Migraciones.Google Scholar
2015 “Dinamización Comunitaria y Exclusión Social [Community Revitalization and Social Exclusion].” Revista de Estudios Urbanos y Ciencias Sociales 5 (1): 159–67. http://​www2​.ual​.es​/urbs​/index​.php​/urbs​/article​/view​/169
Cervera, Teresa, and María Pilar Núñez
2018 “Incidencia de la Animación a la Lectura en la Mejora de la Competencia Escrita: Una Investigación con Alumnado Inmigrante [Incidence of Reading Animation in the Improvement of Written Proficiency: An Investigation with Immigrant Students].” Porta Linguarum 301: 177–91. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Checa, Juan Carlos, and Ángeles Arjona
2005 “Factores que Determinan el Proceso de Exclusión de los Barrios Periféricos: El Caso de El Puche (Almería) [Factors that Determine the Exclusion Process of Peripheral Neighborhoods: The Case of El Puche (Almería)].” Revista Electrónica de Geografía y Ciencias Sociales IX (186).Google Scholar
2010 “Satisfacción Residencial en un Contexto de Exclusión Urbana [Residential Satisfaction in a Context of Urban Exclusion].” Psyecology 1 (2): 155–71. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Da Silva, Cristina
2018 “Historias de Exclusión en el Barrio de El Puche en Almería [Exclusion Stories in the El Puche neighborhood in Almería].” El Salto, March 24 2018 https://​www​.elsaltodiario​.com​/pobreza​/historias​-de​-exclusion​-en​-el​-barrio​-de​-el​-puche​-en​-almeria
De la Corte, Luis
2015 “¿Enclaves Yihadistas? Un Estudio sobre la Presencia y el Riesgo Extremistas en Ceuta y Melilla [Jihadist enclaves? A study on the presence and the extremist risk in Ceuta and Melilla].” Revista de Estudios En Seguridad Internacional 1 (2): 1–34. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2019 “Urban Environments Vulnerable to Jihadist Tadicalization: A Study of Two Spanish Cities in North Africa.” In Jihadism, Foreign Fighters and Radicalisation in the European Union: Legal, Functional and Psychosocial Responses, edited by Inmaculada Marrero and Humberto Mendoza Trujillo, 64–90. London: Taylor & Francis Group.Google Scholar
Doosje, Bertjan, Fathali M. Moghaddam, Arie W. Kruglanski, Arjan De Wolf, Liesbeth Mann, and Allard R. Feddes
2016 “Terrorism, Radicalization and de-Radicalization.” Current Opinion in Psychology 111: 79–84. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dugas, Michelle, Jocelyn J. Bélanger, Manuel Moyano, Birga M. Schumpe, Arie W. Kruglanski, Michele J. Gelfand, Kate Touchton-Leonard, and Noëmie Nociti
2016 “The Quest for Significance Motivates Self-Sacrifice.” Motivation Science 2 (1): 15–32. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fajmonová, Veronika, Sophia Moskalenko, and Clark McCauley
2017 “Tracking Radical Opinions in Polls of U.S. Muslims.” Perspectives on Terrorism 11 (2): 36–48.Google Scholar
Gelfand, Michele J., Gary LaFree, Susan Fahey, and Emily Feinberg
2013 “Culture and Extremism.” Journal of Social Issues 69 (3): 495–517. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
González-Sanz, Myriam, and Maria Feliu Torruella
2015 “Educación Patrimonial e Identidad. El Papel de los Museos en la Generación de Cohesión Social y de Vínculos de Pertenencia a una Comunidad [Heritage and Identity Education. The Role of Museums in the Generation of Social Cohesion and Links of Belonging to a Community].” History and History Teaching 411.Google Scholar
Gurr, Ted Robert
1968 “A Causal Model of Civil Strife: A Comparative Analysis Using New Indices.” The American Political Science Review 62 (4): 1104–24. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jasko, Katarzyna, Gary LaFree, and Arie Kruglanski
2017 “Quest for Significance and Violent Extremism: The Case of Domestic Radicalization.” Political Psychology 38 (5): 815–31. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jasko, Katarzyna, David Webber, Arie W. Kruglanski, Michele Gelfand, Muh Taufiqurrohman, Malkanthi Hettiarachchi, and Rohan Gunaratna
2019 “Social Context Moderates the Effects of Quest for Significance on Violent Extremism.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, July. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kruglanski, Arie, Katarzyna Jasko, David Webber, Marina Chernikova, and Erica Molinario
2018 “The Making of Violent Extremists.” Review of General Psychology 22 (1): 107–20. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kruglanski, Arie W., Jocelyn J. Bélanger, and Rohan Gunaratna
2019 The Three Pillars of Radicalization: Needs, Narratives, and Networks. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kruglanski, Arie W., Xiaoyan Chen, Mark Dechesne, Shira Fishman, and Edward Orehek
2009 “Fully Committed: Suicide Bombers’ Motivation and the Quest for Personal Significance.” Political Psychology 30 (3): 331–57. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kruglanski, Arie W., Michele J. Gelfand, Jocelyn J. Bélanger, Anna Sheveland, Malkanthi Hetiarachchi, and Rohan Gunaratna
2014 “The Psychology of Radicalization and Deradicalization: How Significance Quest Impacts Violent Extremism.” Political Psychology 351 (February): 69–93. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kruglanski, Arie W., Jocelyn J. Bélanger, Michele Gelfand, Rohan Gunaratna, Malkanthi Hettiarachchi, Fernando Reinares, Edward Orehek, Jo Sasota, and Keren Sharvit
2013 “Terrorism-a (Self) Love Story: Redirecting the Significance Quest Can End Violence.” The American Psychologist 68 (7): 559–75. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lobato, Roberto M., Miguel Moya, Manuel Moyano, and Humberto M. Trujillo
2018 “From Oppression to Violence: The Role of Oppression, Radicalism, Identity, and Cultural Intelligence in Violent Disinhibition.” Frontiers in Psychology 9 (1505). DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lobato, Roberto M., Miguel Moya, and Humberto M. Trujillo
2020 “Minority- versus Majority-status Group Intentions to Transgress the Law When Oppression Is Perceived.” Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, June. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lobato, Roberto M., Manuel Moyano, Jocelyn J. Bélanger, and Humberto M. Trujillo
2020 “The Role of Vulnerable Environments in Support for Homegrown Terrorism: Fieldwork Using the 3N Model.” Aggressive Behavior. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lyons-Padilla, Sarah, Michele J. Gelfand, Hedieh Mirahmadi, Mehreen Farooq, and Marieke van Egmond
2015 “Belonging Nowhere: Marginalization and Radicalization Risk among Muslim Immigrants.” Behavioral Science & Policy 1 (2): 1–12. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mayor Paredes, Domingo, and Ana María López Medialdea
2017 “El Aprendizaje-Servicio como Palanca para la Inclusión Educativa y Social [Service-learning as a Lever of Educational and Social Inclusion].” Educação: Temas e Problemas 171: 1–20. http://​revistas​.uevora​.pt​/index​.php​/educacao​/article​/view​/249
McCauley, Clark, and Sophia Moskalenko
2008 “Mechanisms of Political Radicalization: Pathways toward Terrorism.” Terrorism and Political Violence 20 (3): 415–33. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2017 “Understanding Political Radicalization: The Two-Pyramids Model.” American Psychologist 72 (3): 205–16. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ministerio de Fomento
2011a “Área estadística vulnerable de El Puche [Vulnerable Statistical Area of El Puche].” Gobierno de España. https://​apps​.fomento​.gob​.es​/BarriosVulnerables​/static​/fe​/IBVU​_ESTADISTICA​_2011​_04013005​.pdf
2011b “Indicadores de inmigración de El Puche [Immigration Indicators of El Puche].” Gobierno de España. https://​apps​.fomento​.gob​.es​/BarriosVulnerables​/static​/fe​/INMIGRACI%C3%93N​_ESTAD%C3%8DSTICA​_2011​_4013001​.pdf
Ministerio del Interior
2020 “La Policía Nacional detiene en Almería a uno de los Foreign Terrorist Fighters de DAESH más buscados de Europa [The National Police detain one of the most wanted DAESH Foreign Terrorist Fighters in Europe in Almería].” http://​www​.interior​.gob​.es​/web​/interior/
Mooijman, Marlon, Joe Hoover, Ying Lin, Heng Ji, and Morteza Dehghani
2018 “Moralization in Social Networks and the Emergence of Violence during Protests.” Nature Human Behaviour 2 (6): 389–96. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Moyano, Manuel
2011 “Factores psicosociales contribuyentes a la radicalización islamista de jóvenes en España. Construcción de un instrumento de evaluación [Psychosocial Factors Contributing to the Islamist Radicalization of Young People in Spain. Construction of an Evaluation Instrument].” Granada: Universidad de Granada.Google Scholar
Moyano, Manuel, and Humberto Mendoza Trujillo
2014 “Evaluación del Riesgo de Radicalización Islamista en Cuatro Contextos de Interés Estratégico para España [Risk assessment of Islamist radicalization in four contexts of strategic interest to Spain].” In Estudios en Inteligencia. Respuestas para la Gobernanza Democrática, edited by F. Velasco and R. Arcos. Ministerio de la Presidencia (Gobierno de España) y Ed. Plaza y Valdés.Google Scholar
Ortiz, Rosa
2016 “El Puche, la Lucha contra el Estigma de Ser el Barrio Más Conflictivo [El Puche, the fight against the stigma of being the most conflictive neighborhood].” La Voz de Almería, January 31 2016 https://​www​.lavozdealmeria​.com​/noticia​/12​/almeria​/99407​/el​-puche​-la​-lucha​-contra​-el​-estigma​-de​-ser​-el​-barrio​-mas​-conflictivo
Pajarón, Javier
2019a “Muere en el Hospital el Varón Torturado en la Casa de El Puche [The Tortured Man in the House of El Puche dies in the Hospital].” La Voz de Almería, May 21. https://​www​.lavozdealmeria​.com​/noticia​/12​/almeria​/172301​/muere​-en​-el​-hospital​-el​-varon​-torturado​-en​-la​-casa​-de​-el​-puche
2019b “La Marihuana en Almería es una Industria, Está en Todas Partes [Marijuana in Almería is an Industry, It’s Everywhere].” La Voz de Almería, June 25. https://​www​.lavozdealmeria​.com​/noticia​/12​/almeria​/174193​/la​-marihuana​-en​-almeria​-es​-una​-industria​-esta​-en​-todas​-partes
Pérez, R.
2019 “Vecinos de El Puche de Almería disparan con balines al conductor del camión de la basura [Neighbors of El Puche in Almería shoot the garbage truck driver with pellets].” ABC, July 22.Google Scholar
Preacher, Kristopher J., & Andrew F. Hayes
2008 “Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models.” Behavior research methods 40 (3): 879–891. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ranstorp, Magnus, Linus Gustafsson, and Peder Hyllengren
2015 “From the Welfare State to the Caliphate: How a Swedish Suburb Became a Breeding Ground for Foreign Fighters Streaming into Syria and Iraq.” Foreign Policy, February 23. https://​foreignpolicy​.com​/2015​/02​/23​/from​_the​_welfare​_state​_to​_the​_caliphate​_sweden​_islamic​_state​_syria​_iraq​_foreign​_fighters/
Schumpe, B. M., Jocelyn J. Bélanger, Mauro Giacomantonio, Claudia F. Nisa, and Ambra Brizi
2018 “Weapons of peace: providing alternative means for social change reduces political violence.” Journal of Applied Social Psychology 48 (10): 549–558. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schumpe, Birga M., Jocelyn J. Bélanger, Manuel Moyano, and Claudia F. Nisa
2018 “The Role of Sensation Seeking in Political Violence: An Extension of the Significance Quest Theory.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 118 (4): 743–61. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Soufan, Ali, and Daniel Schoenfeld
2015 “Regional Hotbeds as Drivers of Radicalization.” In Jihadist Hotbeds: Understanding Local Radicalization Processes, edited by Arturo Varvelli. Milano: Edizioni Epoké. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Speckhard, Anne
2010 “Contextual and Motivational Factors in the Pathways to Radicalization: Why Location Matters.” In Protecting the Homeland from International and Domestic Terrorism Threats: Current Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives on Root Causes, the Role of Ideology, and Programs for Counter-Radicalization and Disengagement, edited by L. Fenstermacher, L. Kuznar, & A. Speckhard, 100–103. Washington, D.C.: Strategic Multilayer Assessment Program, Office of the Director, Defense Research and Engineering and Air Force Research Lab.Google Scholar
Stares, Paul B., and Mona Yacoubian
2006 “Unconventional Approaches to an Unconventional Threat: A Counter-Epidemic Strategy.” In Mapping the Jihadist Threat: The War on Terror since 9/11. A Report of the Aspen Strategy Group, edited by K. M. Campbell and W. Darsie, 85–95. Queenstown, MD: The Aspen Institute.Google Scholar
Swann, William B., Angel Gómez, D. Conor Seyle, J. Francisco Morales, and Carmen Huici
2009 “Identity Fusion: The Interplay of Personal and Social Identities in Extreme Group Behavior.” Journal of Personality & Social Psychology 96 (5): 995–1011. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tajfel, Henri, and John C. Turner
1979 “An Integrative Theory of Intergroup Conflict.” In The Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations, edited by William G. Austin and Stephen Worchel, 33–47. Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.Google Scholar
Victoroff, Jeff
2005 “The Mind of the Terrorist: A Review and Critique of Psychological Approaches.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 49 (1): 3–42. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Vlierden, Guy Van
2016 “Molenbeek and beyond. The Brussels-Antwerp Axis as Hotbed of Belgian Jihad.” In Jihadist Hotbeds: Understanding Local Radicalization Processes, edited by Arturo Varvelli. Milano: Edizioni Epoké. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ward, Tony
1987 “Design Archetypes from Group Processes.” Design Studies 8 (3): 157–69. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Webber, David, Maxim Babush, Noa Schori-Eyal, Anna Vazeou-Nieuwenhuis, Malkanthi Hettiarachchi, Jocelyn J. Bélanger, Manuel Moyano, et al.
2017 “The Road to Extremism: Field and Experimental Evidence That Significance Loss-Induced Need for Closure Fosters Radicalization.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 114 (2): 270–85. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Webber, David, and Arie W. Kruglanski
2017 “Psychological Factors in Radicalization: A ‘3N’ Approach.” In The Handbook of the Criminology of Terrorism, edited by Gary LaFree and Joshua Freilic, 33–46. West Sussex: Wiley Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar