Clark Richard McCauley, a social psychologist and professor at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, said that a major life change often triggers an individual’s need to make new connections, which can make them more susceptible to radicalization.
By losing "everyday contacts and connections and even love that anchor most of us into our everyday lives," an individual can arrive at a point where they are almost a blank slate and wish to receive new ideas and let in new people, McCauley said.
"That break in connections does not produce political radicalization, but it produces an opportunity for major social change in many different possible directions," McCauley said.
"It’s just an accident who the individual bumps into at that point in their life. So if this person had run into a cult, he might have joined that. Or if he had run into some kind of organization to help wayward youth, he might have thrown himself into that. The point is that this sudden break in his everyday connections leaves him available for new connections, and with new connections come new ideas and new behaviour."
