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References of the abstract :
Ten years after a series of terrorist attacks, Belgium continues to face a high threat level (CUTA, 2026). This threat has become highly complex and is influenced by exogenous factors, such as international conflicts and wars, as well as endogenous factors like polarization and socio-economic strains (Coolsaet, 2019; Duindam et al., 2025). The main threat remains linked to Islamist groups even though there is an important rise of right-wing extremism. Lately, left-wing extremism has also become increasingly visible. A further tendency is the adoption of hybrid or mixed ideologies, in which ideological elements coexist with personal frustration and individual vulnerabilities. Other “new” phenomena without a clear ideological basis, such as “nihilistic extremism”, also constitute emerging concerns. Finally, a worrying observation is the increase in the number of minors involved in extremism in recent years (Bronsard et al., 2022; CUTA, 2025).
Extremism prevention is facing new challenges. Adaptation is needed—both to these new forms of extremism and to the increasingly young age of those involved. All these challenges arise in an unstable socio-economic context. Financial constraints and predominantly repressive policies particularly create major difficulties for efficient, long-term prevention (Mehra & Herbach, 2026).
Complementary to our study on young Belgians, in which we explored psychological and social factors contributing to radicalization intention and approval (Vereshchagin & Glowacz, 2022), we analyzed clinical cases of minors followed by youth welfare services assessed as being at risk of radicalization. Our analysis highlighted several psychological vulnerabilities like anxiety and a loss of sense in interaction with an unstable societal context, as well as the difficulties faced by youth welfare services in providing appropriate support (Galvin et al., 2023; Mehra & Herbach, 2026).
Based on these findings and on our experience as an extremism prevention practitioner, we will discuss the challenges encountered in the clinical approach.
