Search for articles, authors, keywords
ISIS online recruitment
Abstract: This paper applies the theory of relational development to exam¬ine how the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) recruits new members. Relational development postulates that individuals follow relationship stages in order to reinforce their interpersonal communication or social bond. The relational development model includes five main stages, called the five stages of relationship escalation, or the “coming together” stages. These consist of initiating, experimenting, intensifying, integrating, and bonding. Overall, the authors of this analysis found that ISIS can success-fully recruit many people – particularly male and female youth – thanks to stage-by-stage relational development through internet chat rooms and social network sites (SNSs) like Twitter. By the same token, the authors also believe that, should ISIS not use internet chat rooms and social network sites (SNSs), and if ISIS were not following those stages of relationship es-calation, their recruitment process would not be as efficient.
Keywords: caliphate internet ISIS radicalization relational development social media Terrorism Twitter
Tags:
Terrorism
Creative Commons BY-SA

Article statistics

Ponder, Sarah, and Jonathan Matusit. (2017) 2017. “Examining ISIS Online Recruitment through Relational Development Theory”. Connections: The Quarterly Journal 16 (4): 35-50. doi:https://doi.org/10.11610/Connections.16.4.02.
19614 Views
6664 Downloads

Bibliography

Knapp, Mark L.. Social Intercourse: From Greeting to Goodbye. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 1978.

Knapp, Mark L.. Interpersonal Communication and Human Relationships. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 1984.

Knapp, Mark L., and John A. Daly. Handbook of Interpersonal Communication. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2002.

Avtgis, Theodore A., Daniel V. West, and Traci L. Anderson. "Relationship Stages: An Inductive Analysis Identifying Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Dimensions of Knapp’s Relational Stages Model." Communication Research Reports 15, no. 3 (1998): 280.

Matusitz, Jonathan. Terrorism and Communication: A Critical Introduction. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2012.

Canary, Daniel J., Michael J. Cody, and Valerie L. Manusov. Interpersonal Communication: A Goals Based Approach. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008.

Miell, Dorothy, and Steve Duck. "Strategies in Developing Friendships." In Friendship and Social Interaction, 129-143. New York: Springer, 1986.

Sunnafrank, Michael, and Artemio Ramirez. "At First Sight: Persistent Relational Effects of Get-Acquainted Conversations." Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 21, no. 3 (2004): 361-379.

Olivola, Christopher Y., and Alexander Todorov. "Elected in 100 milliseconds: Appearance-Based Trait Inferences and Voting." Journal of Nonverbal Behavior 34, no. 2 (2010): 83-110.

Fox, Jesse, Katie M. Warber, and Dana C. Makstaller. "The Role of Facebook in Romantic Relationship Development: An Exploration of Knapp’s Relational Stage Model." Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 30, no. 6 (2013): 771-794.

Mongeau, Paul A., and Mary Lynn Mille Henningsen. "Stage Theories of Relationship Development: Charting the Course of Interpersonal Communication." In Engaging Theories in Interpersonal Communication: Multiple Perspectives, 363-375. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2008.

Welch, S-A, and Rebecca B. Rubin. "Development of Relationship Stage Measures." Communication Quarterly 50, no. 1 (2002): 24-40.

Solomon, Denise Haunani, and Anita L. Vangelisti. "Relationship Development." In Interpersonal Communication, 347-369. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, 2014, 2014.

Chan, Darius K. - S., and Grand H. - L. Cheng. "A Comparison of Offline and Online Friendship Qualities at Different Stages of Relationship Development." Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 21, no. 3 (2004): 305-320.

Moniz, Richard, Jo Henry, and Joe Eshleman. Fundamentals for the Academic Liaison . Chicago: American Library Association, 2014.

Sekulow, Jay, Jordan Sekulow, Robert W. Ash, and David French. Rise of ISIS: A Threat We Can’t Ignore. Brentwood, TN: Howard Books, 2015.

Gulmohamad, Zana Khasraw. "The Rise and Fall of the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (Levant) ISIS." Global Security Studies 5, no. 2 (2014): 10-21.

Matsumoto, Futoshi. "The World Order and a New “Behemoth”." Asia-Pacific Review 22, no. 1 (2015): 177-190.

Rodgers, Guy. Understanding the Threat of Radical Islam. Broomall, PA: National Highlights, 2012.

Stansfield, Gareth. "The Islamic State, the Kurdistan Region and the Future of Iraq: Assessing UK Policy Options." International Affairs 90, no. 6 (2014): 1329-1350.

Oh, Seongju, Chaeyun Jung, and Taeseon Yoon. "Analysis of the Development of IS (Islamic State) in Its Relation to Conflicts within OIC (Organization of Islam Countries) by Using SPSS Statistical Program." International Journal of Social Science and Humanity 6, no. 10 (2016): 799-804.

Weiss, Michael, and Hassan Hassan. ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2015.

C. Ataç, Akça. "A Comparative Civilizational Reading for the Middle East and Turkey’s New Role in It." Global Change, Peace & Security 28, no. 1 (2016): 99-115.

Gartenstein-Ross, Daveed. "Testimony to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, United States Senate." In Jihad 2.0: Social Media in the Next Evolution of Terrorist Recruitment, 114-438. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Publishing Office, 2016.

Nissen, Thomas Elkjer. "Terror.com – IS’s Social Media Warfare in Syria and Iraq." Contemporary Conflicts 2, no. 2 (2014): 1-8.

Paasche, Till F., and Michael M. Gunter. "Revisiting Western Strategies against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria." The Middle East Journal 70, no. 1 (2016): 9-29.

Yu, Seong Hun, and Omar Sultan Haque. "Vulnerabilities among Young Westerners Joining ISIS." The Brown University Child and Adolescent Behavior Letter 32, no. 2 (2016): 1-6.

McCabe, Thomas R.. "A Strategy for the ISIS Foreign Fighter Threat." Orbis 60, no. 1 (2016): 140-153.

Bloom, Mia M.. "In Defense of Honor: Women and Terrorist Recruitment on the Internet." Journal of Postcolonial Cultures and Societies 4, no. 1 (2013): 150-195.

Samuel, Thomas Koruth. "The Lure of Youth into Terrorism." SEARCCT’s Selection of Articles 2 (2011): 107-119.

Wilner, Alex S., and Claire-Jehanne Dubouloz. "Homegrown Terrorism and Transformative Learning: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Understanding Radicalization." Global Change, Peace & Security 22, no. 1 (2010).

Coolsaet, Rik. What Drives Europeans to Syria, and to IS? Insights from the Belgian Case. Brussels: Royal Institute for International Relations, 2015.

Zhang, Xu, and Lea Hellmueller. "Transnational Media Coverage of the ISIS Threat: A Global Perspective?" International Journal of Communication 10 (2016): 766-785.

Zineddine, Mhamed. "Search Engines Crawling Process Optimization: A Webserver Approach." Internet Research 26, no. 1 (2016): 311-331.

Wedeck, Harry E., and Wade Baskin. Dictionary of Pagan Religions. New York: Philosophical Library, 2015.

Hafeez, Mateen. "Radicalized on Net Chat Room, Given Mosul Contact: ISIS Man." The Times of India (2014): A1.

Matusitz, Jonathan. Symbolism in Terrorism: Motivation, Communication, and Behavior. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2014.

Pederson, Joshua R., and Rachel M. McLaren. "Managing Information Following Hurtful Experiences: How Personal Network Members Negotiate Private Information." Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 33, no. 7 (2015): 961-983.

Mukhopadhay, Kishalaya. "Queering the Narrative: Can the Subaltern Sex Speak?" Economic & Political Weekly 51, no. 2 (2016): 20-23.

Singer, Margaret, and Janja Lalich. Cults in Our Midst: The Hidden Menace in Our Everyday Lives. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995.

Franz, Barbara. "Popjihadism: Why Young European Muslims Are Joining the Islamic State." Mediterranean Quarterly 26, no. 2 (2015): 5-20.

Secara, Diana. "The Role of Social Networks in the Work of Terrorist Groups. The Case of ISIS and Al-Qaeda." Research and Science Today 3 (2015): 77-83.

Nawaz, Maajid. "The Education of “Jihadi John”." The New York Times (2015): A1.

Themes