Disengagement Factors in the Red Army Faction

This article examines the factors contributing to the end of the Red Army Faction (RAF), focusing on individual disengagement from armed struggle. It discusses the evolution, ideology, and decline of the RAF's three generations. The contribution is twofold: it bridges contextual and individual-level analyses of terrorist group demise and adds to the empirical work on how terrorism ends. The decline of each RAF generation was influenced by different factors. Successful police efforts impacted the first generation, while public support loss and violence escalation affected the second. The third generation faced internal strife and a government initiative to release members who renounced terrorism.