From October 2010 until September 2011 the research group Governance of Security (GofS) has carried out a study ‘Polarization and radicalization: an integral preventive approach’ commissioned by the federal public service for Domestic Affairs. Four phenomena of radicalization were objects of study: (far) left inspired radicalism, (far) right inspired radicalism, Islamic inspired radicalism and radicalism inspired on the rights of animals. The scope of this project was the detection of signals and
triggers that could reflect a process of radicalization. First of all we developed our own dynamic, pyramidal model, existing of three stages (radicalism, extremism and terrorism), built on a breeding ground. By means of interviews with experts, a case-study of two Belgian cases and a meta-analysis of international research reports, we tested our theoretical framework. Based on the results of this study we discuss a number of recommendations for developing a preventive framework for the inhibition of (violent) radicalization in Belgium. In these recommendations we focus on the role of civil society on the one hand and the police on the other.