En 2025, l’agence de la commission européenne Europol souligne l’augmentation drastique depuis 2022 des mineurs incriminés dans la menace terroriste en France et en Europe. Bien que la recherche sur les processus de radicalisation terroriste se soit beaucoup développée depuis les attentats de Paris en 2015, aucune étude ne s’est intéressée spécifiquement aux mineurs incarcérés pour terrorisme djihadiste. L’objectif de notre étude est de caractériser ces mineurs incarcérés pour terrorisme djihadiste sur le plan sociodémographique, clinique et de la prise en charge. Nous avons inclus consécutivement 8 mineurs incarcérés pour association de malfaiteurs en rapport avec des actes de terrorisme djihadiste dans deux établissements pénitentiaires d’Île-de-France. Nous avons détaillé leurs profils sous la forme de vignettes cliniques, comprenant le diagnostic psychiatrique, la situation familiale, le parcours scolaire, les antécédents de délinquance et de prise en charge socio-éducative, leurs connaissances et pratiques religieuses, les circonstances de leur recrutement dans les réseaux djihadistes et le rôle des réseaux sociaux numériques, leur intérêt pour le djihad, les traits saillants de leur caractère et de leurs affects et leur évolution. Nous avons mis en évidence la grande variabilité des profils psychologiques, des parcours de vie et des motivations personnelles des mineurs qui rejoignent un groupuscule terroriste djihadiste. Paradoxalement, ces mineurs ont en commun de n’avoir qu’une connaissance approximative et superficielle de la religion et de l’idéologie djihadiste ; les mécanismes déterminants de leurs parcours sont plus fréquemment liés à leur histoire personnelle et à leurs problèmes de santé mentale qu’à la pratique de la religion ou à la nature de la cause défendue. Nous proposons une typologie clinique de quatre formes d’engagement terroriste djihadiste : l’engagement par affiliation, réparateur, identitaire et par défaut. Notre étude suggère que l’isolement social, les problèmes de maltraitance, de carence éducative, de rupture des liens familiaux et amicaux, la quête identitaire et l’utilisation des réseaux sociaux numériques sont des caractéristiques communes à ces quatre profils. Elles constituent des facteurs de vulnérabilité majeurs qui sont ciblés en priorité par les recruteurs qui cherchent à les embrigader dans un réseau terroriste djihadiste. Notre étude souligne que le processus d’embrigadement terroriste djihadiste des mineurs s’apparente bien plus à celui de l’emprise mentale par le gourou d’une secte qu’à l’adhésion militante volontaire à un parti politique. Un repérage précoce du risque de radicalisation et de terrorisme doit rechercher en priorité ces facteurs de vulnérabilité identifiés, plutôt que le seul intérêt pour l’idéologie.

In a report published in 2025, Europol, the European Union's law enforcement agency, highlighted the sharp rise since 2022 in the proportion of minors involved in terrorist activities in France and across Europe. While research into terrorist radicalisation processes has advanced considerably in France since the 2015 Paris attacks, no study has examined minors imprisoned for jihadist terrorism. Our study aimed to characterise these minors from clinical (ICD-10 diagnoses, history of depression, suicide attempts, outpatient psychiatric care, psychiatric hospitalisation, and substance abuse) and socio-demographic (lifestyle, educational background, relationship with religion, and use of social media) perspectives. Eight male minors imprisoned in two prisons in the Île-de-France region for criminal conspiracy in connection with acts of jihadist terrorism were consecutively included in the study. Data were drawn from medical records compiled upon admission to detention or during psychiatric care in detention (socio-demographic and clinical data, including psychiatric diagnoses), which were systematically collected for all patients independently of this study. The juvenile prisoner sample was described using means and standard deviations for quantitative variables and percentages for qualitative variables. Approval for the conduct of this study was granted by the GHU Paris Research Ethics Committee (CER-GHU) (approval number 2024-CER-A-020, dated 18 March 2025). In terms of sociodemographic characteristics, the mean age of our sample of eight patients was 16.6 years (±0.7). They were all male and single with no children. None were in paid employment or had obtained a baccalaureate, and this was their first period of incarceration. No patient was recognised as having a disability, and three patients had a history of being followed by the Child Welfare Service or the Youth Protection Service. None of the patients had experienced reported sexual abuse; however, one patient (12.5% of the sample) had experienced physical violence within the family. From a clinical perspective, one patient (12.5%) had a history of depression, but none had a history of suicide attempts. Three patients had received outpatient psychiatric care, but none had been admitted to a psychiatric ward or were taking psychotropic medication. Only one patient (12.5%) had a current ICD-10 psychiatric diagnosis (F32.2). Two patients (25%) consumed alcohol occasionally; the others did not. Two patients (25%) used cannabis regularly, two (25%) used it occasionally and the rest did not use it. No patients used opiates or other drugs. In terms of religion, one patient had converted to Islam, and one had overcome their addictions through religious means. We then created clinical vignettes detailing their profiles, including their clinical diagnosis, family situation, educational background, history of delinquency, socio-educational support, religious knowledge and practices, circumstances of recruitment into jihadist networks, role of digital social media, interest in jihad, and salient character and emotional features. For those who agreed to clinical follow-up, we also detailed their progress. Our findings highlighted the wide variability in the psychological profiles, life trajectories and personal motivations of minors who joined a jihadist terrorist group. Paradoxically, what these minors had in common was that they possessed only a vague and superficial understanding of religion and jihadist ideology. This can be explained by the fact that the determining factors in their trajectories were more frequently linked to their personal history and mental health issues than to religious practice or the nature of the cause they championed. We propose the following clinical typology of the four main forms of jihadist terrorist engagement: affiliation, reparative engagement, identity-based engagement, and engagement by default. Our findings suggest that social isolation, experiences of abuse, educational deprivation, the breakdown of family and social ties, the search for identity, and the use of digital social media are characteristics common to all four profiles. These factors constitute major vulnerabilities that recruiters prioritise when seeking to recruit individuals into a jihadist terrorist network. Our study reveals that the recruitment of minors by jihadist terrorists bears far more resemblance to the mental manipulation of a cult leader than to the voluntary membership of a political party. The early identification of risk factors for radicalisation and terrorism must prioritise these identified factors, rather than mere ideological interest.