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Militant Splinter Groups and the Use of Violence.
Kaitlyn Robinson1, Iris Malone2
1Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
The Journal of Conflict Resolution
|November 17, 2025
Summary
Militant splinter groups are often assumed to be more violent than parent organizations. However, this study finds splinters are typically less violent due to organizational differences and selection effects.
Area of Science:
- Political Science
- Sociology
- Conflict Studies
Background:
- Existing research often assumes militant splinter groups are more violent than parent organizations.
- This assumption is attributed to factors like extreme preferences or capacity-building needs.
- The hypothesis that splinter groups are inherently more violent has not been systematically tested.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and test an alternative explanation for splinter group behavior.
- To challenge the conventional wisdom regarding the violence levels of militant splinters.
- To investigate the role of organizational structure and selection effects in splinter group violence.
Main Methods:
- Development of an alternative explanation based on selection effects.
- Creation of an original dataset on parent and splinter militant groups.
- Conducting comparative case studies to analyze splinter group violence.
Main Results:
- Findings indicate that splinter groups exhibit lower levels of violence compared to their parent organizations.
- A selection effect is identified, where splinters emerge from parent groups with significant organizational barriers.
- Well-organized parent groups capable of high violence are more likely to produce splinters lacking infrastructure.
Conclusions:
- The study challenges the prevailing assumption that militant splinter groups are more violent.
- Organizational infrastructure and selection mechanisms play a crucial role in determining relative violence levels.
- Splinter groups' apparent lower violence is a result of lacking established organizational capacity rather than reduced extremism.
Keywords:
civil warscivilian casualtiesconflictinternal armed conflictinternational securityterrorismterrorist cellsMore Related Videos
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