narratives
Definition
Narratives are structured accounts that arrange events, actors, and causes into a meaningful sequence, through which people interpret experience, form identities, and justify their actions.
In research published in Advances in Psychology, narratives are examined as one component of the 3N (narratives, networks, needs) framework, where the term denotes a violence-justifying ideology presenting out-group violence as morally and religiously legitimate. An analysis of Singapore's first three Composite Violent Extremism cases, male youths aged 14 to 19 radicalized online, shows each one blending Islamist, far-right, far-left, incel 'black pill', and True Crime Community narratives while borrowing symbols without committing to any coherent doctrine. Western salad bar extremism is usually rooted in far-right narratives, but in the Singapore cases Islamist narratives and ISIS material formed the base, with far-right and True Crime Community language layered on top. The authors read the eclectic narrative as a justification selected after the fact for violence the youths already wanted to commit, which places it at the end of a 'violence-first' sequence rather than at its origin.
Sources: Ramakrishna & Yeo (2026)
Related Terms
- networks (1 shared article)
- salad bar extremism (1 shared article)
- nihilistic violent extremism (1 shared article)
- far left (1 shared article)
- needs (1 shared article)
- accelerationist (1 shared article)
- composite violent extremism (1 shared article)
- Islamist (1 shared article)
- far right (1 shared article)
- true crime community (1 shared article)
Applications
Narratives and Networks
Within the 3N framework, networks are the conduits through which individuals encounter and adopt the ideological narrative a group espouses. In the Singapore cases, online spaces such as ISIS channels, incel forums, True Crime Community sites, and Roblox shooter games supplied the narrative fragments the youths assembled. Pro-Hamas and Islamist accelerationist posts circulated by a niche online group, for example, carried the narrative that shaped Case Y.
Sources: Ramakrishna & Yeo (2026)
Narratives and Quest for Significance
The proposed 'violence-first' sequence begins with lost significance after bullying or romantic rejection, which produces a desire to matter. Nihilistic digital spaces then frame violence as the route to regaining that significance, and only afterward are ideological narratives chosen to legitimize the attraction to violence. On this account, the need comes first and the narrative serves it, which is why the authors recommend prevention focused on youth resilience rather than on rebutting particular ideologies.
Sources: Ramakrishna & Yeo (2026)
