Extremist behavior as an “act of communication”: A theological and psychological analysis

Abstract

This article attempts to interpret extremist behavior in the adolescent and youth environment as a kind of “act of distorted communication”. At the same time, if such interpretations have been made within the materialistic (in particular, psychoanalytic) paradigm for a long time, then the interpretation of the factors of extremist activity at the junction of Orthodox theology and deep psychology is quite an innovative approach. This approach allows us to correctly “decipher” the message “embedded” in extremist behavior, and directly address the originally natural and healthy needs of the soul distorted by this conduct. The article notes that theology, especially practical theology, is able to actualize the spiritual needs sometimes hidden in the subconscious of young people. As shown by the research conducted by the team of the Laboratory of Religious Studies of the Herzen State Pedagogical University, this is a result of young people conducting a persistent spiritual search at the unconscious level. This search is largely conducted in a dimension that relates to one of the commandments given to people by Jesus Christ: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself ”. The article also concludes that the prevention of extremist behavior in the modern Russian youth environment must necessarily include an appeal to the immanent domestic culture of the need for participation and transcendence, as opposed to both the cult of consumption and destructive ideologies of an extremist nature.