In my hometown, there's been a time when religious extremism proliferated between 2010 and 2015. I've known some extremists personally, and some of them even ha

In my hometown, there's been a time when religious extremism proliferated between 2010 and 2015. I've known some extremists personally, and some of them even have joined extremist groups, unfortunately. The key findings of this report are quite accurate. Negative life events, especially disfunctional families and social isolation are indeed a big part of what makes someone prone to radicalization. One thing not mentioned much is how can religious extremist views be changed once they are ingrained. As put in the article, extremist beliefs reinforce in-group bias and hatred toward people outside the group. Besides, they are self-reinforcing: they anticipate, teach and debunk arguments that could challenge them to create some sort of immunity. Which makes it hard to change an extremist's mind from the outside. What I've seen worked well to deradicalize individuals in practice -in addition to the other good points mentioned in the article- is exposure to moderate voices from the in-group. For example, religious authorities who share nearly the same ideology and views but who oppose the extreme and violent ones. Since they are not "blocked" by default, their opinions are heard and can help shift radical views.