Preventing Institutional Radicalization in Policing: Reconstructing the Staircase through Multi-Level Governance Framework
- AIOR Admin
- Mar 6
- 2 min read
Rifaizal Samual, Angel Damayanti, Muhammad Syauqillah, Novi Indah Earlyanti
Indonesian National Police College, Christian University of Indonesia, University of Indonesia
Radicalization has long been framed as a phenomenon emerging outside the state within civilian communities, informal networks, and marginalized social spaces, while security institutions are typically positioned as counter-actors presumed to be relatively immune from ideological infiltration. This article challenges that assumption by advancing the concept of institutional radicalization: a gradual and latent process through which extremist ideologies develop within formal state organizations and potentially reshape their normative orientation and operational capacity. By reconstructing the Staircase to Terrorism within the context of policing institutions, this study extends radicalization theory from the individual level to the institutional domain. Drawing on a qualitative institutional case study based on multi-actor interviews, document analysis, and thematic coding, the findings reveal that radicalization within policing organizations cannot be reduced to individual ideological deviance. Rather, it emerges from the convergence of three mutually reinforcing dynamics, such as vertical psychological escalation triggered by perceived injustice and professional identity dissonance; horizontal legitimation through closed relational networks and ideological solidarity; and structural facilitation through access to coercive authority and institutional resources. Institutional risk intensifies when ideological commitment intersects with organizational capacity. Building on this synthesis, the article develops the Integrated Multi-Level Model of Institutional Radicalization Risk and Prevention, reframing radicalization as a governance vulnerability rather than a purely individual pathology. Normatively, the study cautions against excessive internal securitization and emphasizes the necessity of proportionate, multi-level prevention strategies grounded in organizational justice, relational inclusivity, and accountable oversight. By extending radicalization theory into the institutional sphere, this article contributes to critical terrorism studies while offering an analytical framework for strengthening ideological resilience within security organizations.
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