{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,11]],"date-time":"2026-03-11T02:32:19Z","timestamp":1773196339433,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":64,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,7]],"date-time":"2024-11-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1730937600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Foundation for Science and Technology","award":["UID\/01662\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UID\/01662\/2020"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Social Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Recruitment, affiliation, and disengagement in the context of terrorist groups remain underexplored in a comprehensive, integrated manner. This systematic review is a pioneering effort to address this gap by synthesizing existing knowledge, aiming to analyze the entire trajectory of individuals within terrorist organizations\u2014from recruitment to disengagement\u2014thereby providing a foundation for guiding future research. Conducted through meticulous searches across three major databases\u2014Academic Search Complete, SCOPUS, and the Web of Science Collection\u2014our review followed a pre-registered protocol, ultimately identifying seven studies that met the inclusion criteria. These studies encompass qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods research published in peer-reviewed journals, and are accessible in English, Spanish, or Portuguese. Our analysis reveals the critical influence of push and pull factors across these phases, emphasizing that retention is predominantly shaped by individual roles within terrorist organizations and the impact of governmental amnesty policies. Diverging from existing segmented approaches, our findings highlight the importance of examining recruitment, retention, and disengagement as a continuous process to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of terrorist involvement. The insights derived from this study offer valuable guidance for counterterrorism strategies, suggesting interventions targeting recruitment, retention, and recidivism by addressing these crucial factors throughout the entire lifecycle of involvement in terrorist organizations.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/socsci13110609","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,7]],"date-time":"2024-11-07T07:47:16Z","timestamp":1730965636000},"page":"609","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Recruitment, Affiliation, and Disengagement Among Men in Terrorist Organizations: A Systematic Review"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-7305-0171","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lic\u00ednio Zacarias","family":"Zitha","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Psychology Research Center, School of Psychology, University of Minho, 4710-057-Braga, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8448-4115","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marina Leonor","family":"Pinheiro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Psychology Research Center, School of Psychology, University of Minho, 4710-057-Braga, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5978-8141","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rui Abrunhosa","family":"Gon\u00e7alves","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Psychology Research Center, School of Psychology, University of Minho, 4710-057-Braga, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0387-7900","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"S\u00f3nia","family":"Caridade","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Psychology Research Center, School of Psychology, University of Minho, 4710-057-Braga, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"131","DOI":"10.1177\/1362480609350163","article-title":"A General Strain Theory of Terrorism","volume":"14","author":"Agnew","year":"2010","journal-title":"Theoretical Criminology"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"355","DOI":"10.1177\/0738894216634292","article-title":"To Instill Fear or Love: Terrorist Groups and the Strategy of Building Reputation","volume":"35","author":"Akcinaroglu","year":"2018","journal-title":"Conflict Management and Peace Science"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"606","DOI":"10.1080\/13602008608716004","article-title":"The Quranic Concept of Ummah","volume":"7","year":"1986","journal-title":"Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs. 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