The Human Nature of Radicalisation: Preventive Policing Beyond Ideology

Abstract

Indonesia has made significant progress in counter-terrorism through intelligence-led policing and strengthened legal frameworks. Nevertheless, preventing radicalisation before it develops into violence remains a looming problem, as the status quo prioritises ideological narratives and surveillance while overlooking the ‘innate’ psychological vulnerabilities that drive individuals to extremist influence. Drawing on Kumar Ramakrishna's Radical Pathways, mainly through the Human Nature perspective, this paper advances a conceptual model that reorients preventive policing from a threat-oriented focus toward a vulnerability-oriented one. The analysis emphasizes the Manichean mindset and the group-tent idea to explain how fundamental predispositions interact with extremist narratives during the radicalisation process. Illustrative evidence from the Indonesian experience, particularly the case of Jemaah Islamiyah and the Bali bombings, demonstrates how these universal tendencies can be exploited and reinforced in the formation of extremist identities. Building on this conceptual background, the paper positions community policing as the leading sector through which insights from Human Nature can be translated into preventive practice. Rather than replacing intelligence operations or ideological countermeasures, community policing complements current preventive efforts by facilitating early identification, strengthening community resilience, and creating referrals between communities and police psychologists and counsellors. Integrating Human Nature into preventive policing therefore completes counter-radicalisation strategies by addressing the underlying motivations exploited by extremist narratives, thereby contributing to a more holistic approach to Indonesia's Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (P/CVE).