Chapter 2: Psychology Investigations on Radicalization Processes: The Quest for Studies on the Ontogenesis of Moral Values

Two decades of the 21st century have confirmed plentiful evidence concerning the complexity and systemic quality of both natural and psychological phenomena (Guastello et al., 2008; Wilczek, 2015). For this reason, any scientific approach to psychology should no longer insist on sustaining the traditional quantitative, positivistic assumptions and methodologies that award the academic community a pseudo-scientific status to the abundant amount of data collected by mainstream research studies conducted all over the world. The fact is, such amount of data offers too little in terms of the elaboration of fruitful and productive theories of human development, as well as relevant scientific knowledge to provide possible and feasible guidelines for thoughtful and informed interventions either regarding individuals, contexts, or groups. Nonetheless, more than ever, there is an urgent social demand for knowledge construction about human phenomena and psyche, in order to substantiate professional, well-informed efforts to deal with actual problems and challenges concerning the quality of people’s lives in the contemporary world.