Radikale Orientierungen Jugendlicher vor dem Hintergrund der Entwicklung der religiösen Identität im Jugendalter

In the process of finding identity and the experience uncertainty and doubt, young people are particularly receptive to offers and promises of appreciation and recognition, as those often offered by radical groups. From puberty at the latest young people begin to form their own self-image based on all the knowledge they have about themselves, society and the world. Adolescents experience what they are in confrontation with themselves and their social environment. If they experience that their religion, which is a key part of their identity, subjectively cannot be reconciled with belonging to society as a whole, they sometimes join communities and peers where they can experience recognition and appreciation according to their self-image.

The article deals with the development of religious identity in adolescence and radical orientations when this process is dysfunctional. Based on the evaluation of qualitative interviews with 26 scientists of eleven from 13 Centres and Institutes for Islamic theology in Germany, the significance of the youth phase in radicalization is elaborated. The analysis shows that the interviewed experts identify not adequately solved conflicts and crises in the formation of one’s own identity in adolescence as one of the most significant causes for the development of radical orientations and understand this as a misguided socialization process. In particular, the experts rate the importance of dealing with one’s own religion and the associated religious identity as extremely high.