Social deviation, religious radicalization processes and countercultural organisation forms: The example of ISIS

Terrorism can be defined as the actions of terrorist groups in an effort to instil fear in the general public or to cow it on any issue for the sake of defending an idea or any ideology, generally due to political, religious, economic, or military reasons. For these reasons, terrorist groups do not want to be under the yoke of states and wage war against them by declaring their independence. Any security issue that takes place in countries can affect their neighbouring states. Thus, terrorism appears to be an international problem. Religion is deemed to be a significant phenomenon in terms of aspects, such as uniting the masses and the holiness attributed to it by society. However, some terrorist groups interpret the concept of religion in their own way, carry out their attacks by referring to this particular interpretation, and legitimate their acts from a religious perspective. This study considers the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (hereafter ISIS) as one of such terrorist groups. The main investigation of the thesis is to understand whether ISIS could be a form of countercultural organisation. In doing so, it aims to examine factors influential in the radicalization processes of ISIS members, on the one hand, and how they view religion, society, their position, and their actions, on the other. With this aim in mind, we analyse Konstantiniyye Magazine, published online by ISIS, through frequency analysis as one type of content analysis method. In addition to this, we also employ questionnaires, conducted with respondents from ISIS prisoners in the Turkish General Directorate of Prisons and Detention Houses. We interpret the obtained demographic variables through frequency analysis, as well as answers to open-ended questions through descriptive analysis. We find that factors exerting influence on the radicalization of individuals are discourses in the magazine, as well as religious, economic, individual, and cultural reasons. Religion appears to be a powerful and influential tool in the actions of ISIS members to recruit new members for the organization. This organisation defines those people who do not belong to itself as "you=enemies" and comprehends them as a group that ought to be attacked. We also find that ISIS describes itself and its actions through praise, views itself as the representative of the so-called Islamic State, and legitimises its actions with religious references. Paying careful attention to ISIS, this thesis seeks to contribute to the literature on the relationship between religion and terrorism, as well as to be an example for future research. Keywords: ISIS, Radicalization, Crime, Religion and Violence, Konstantiniyye Magazine