Prevention of Neighborhood Effects on the Susceptibility to Radicalization: Results of a Comparative Study in Germany

Abstract

This study examines whether the neighborhood effect on vulnerability to radicalization can be mitigated by the density and diversity of social service organizations. In this study, vulnerability to radicalization is composed of perceived discrimination, distrust of democracy, and authoritarianism. To this end, data from surveys conducted in the three German cities of Dortmund ( n = 1,900), Bonn ( n = 1,986), and Berlin ( n = 2,060) is combined with data on social structure and the size, density, and heterogeneity of local social service organizations at the neighborhood level in hierarchical models. Although the findings show no clear preventive effects of organizational ecology on vulnerability to radicalization, they suggest that local social service organizations are more likely to be effective depending on the extent of local challenges.