Mental Health Vulnerabilities and Women’s Pathways into Crime-Related Radicalisation

Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

Women’s involvement in crime-related radicalisation and extremism increasingly attracted scholarly and policy attention in the era of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) because it challenged traditional assumptions that viewed women only as victims rather than active agents; however, the role of mental health vulnerabilities in shaping women’s pathways into such criminal activities remained insufficiently examined, particularly within urban African contexts. This study examined mental health vulnerabilities influencing women’s pathways to crime-related radicalisation and extremism in Nairobi County, Kenya. The study focused on identifying key psychological, socioeconomic, and cultural factors that heightened women’s susceptibility, as well as proposing evidence-based mental health and psychosocial intervention strategies. Guided by feminist criminology and psychosocial vulnerability frameworks, the study adopted a mixed-methods research approach. Quantitative data were collected through structured questionnaires administered to adult women identified as vulnerable to or affected by crime-related radicalisation and extremism in Nairobi County. Qualitative data were generated through in-depth and key-informant interviews with mental health professionals, community leaders, law enforcement personnel, and civil society actors involved in prevention and rehabilitation efforts. A multistage sampling approach incorporating cluster, purposive, and random sampling. The research instruments comprised semi-structured questionnaires and interview guides. Quantitative data was analysed using inferential statistical techniques, while qualitative data was analysed thematically. Triangulation of qualitative and quantitative data was undertaken to enhance the validity and robustness of the study findings. The study established that socio-economic factors like poverty, unemployment, gender inequality, and marginalisation, combined with restrictive cultural norms, religious indoctrination, and discrimination, further eroded personal agency and justified violence through grievance-based ideologies. The study recommends accessible, gender-sensitive mental health services and trauma-informed interventions that foster resilience via healing, identity reconstruction, social inclusion, and economic empowerment.