Rehabilitating the terrorists?: Challenges in assessing the effectiveness of de-radicalization programs

Terrorism and Political Violence

Volumn 22, Issue 2, 2010, Pages 267-291

  John, Horgan ^a   Braddock, Kurt ^a  

^a PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Assessment; De radicalization; Disengagement; Multi attribute utility technology; Prisoner; Recidivism; Rehabilitation; Reintegration; Risk reduction; Terrorist

Indexed keywords

EID: 77951624695     PISSN: 09546553     EISSN: 15561836     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/09546551003594748     Document Type: Article

References (127)

1. See, for example, Tore Bjørgo and John Horgan, eds., Leaving Terrorism Behind: Individual and Collective Disengagement (London: Routledge, 2008).
2. See John Horgan, Walking Away From Terrorism: Accounts of Disengagement from Radical and Extremist Movements (London: Routledge, 2009).
3. Frank Gardner, "Saudi Jails Aim to Tackle Terror," BBC News Online, January 31, 2008. Retrieved July 24, 2009, from: (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7220797.stm).
4. Michael von Tangen Page, "A 'Most Difficult and Unpalatable' Part: The Release of Politically Motivated Violent Offenders," in A Farewell to Arms? From Long War to Long Peace in Northern Ireland, ed. Michael Cox, Adrian Guelke, and Fiona Stephen (Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 2000), 93-103.
5. Belfast Agreement, Prisoners, paragraph 2. For an introduction and access to the text in full, see: (http://www.nio.gov.uk/index/key-issues/the-agreement.htm).
6. Article 2, Northern Ireland [Sentences] Act 1998, Specified Organisations Order 2008, 2008.
7. Belfast Agreement, Prisoners, paragraph 5.
8. Roisin Ingle, "Paramilitary Ex-prisoners Struggle to Find Employment and Normal Life," The Irish Times, August 5, 2000, News Features.
9. Also see Wallace, "Driving License Victory for Freed Inmate," The Belfast Telegraph, July 8, 2003.
10. Martin Melaugh, "Letter from British and Irish Governments to Political Parties in Northern Ireland on (the morning of) Saturday 6 May 2000," CAIN Web Service, 2009, (http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/peace/docs/bi060500.htm).
11. Fionnuala O'Connor, "No One Wants the Peace Jeopardized," The Independent, August 28, 1999, News, London edition.
12. Gerry Adams, "Equality Cannot be an Illusion: It Must be a Fact," Belfast Telegraph, January 17, 2001, Opinion.
13. Kristen E. Shulze and M. L. R. Smith, "Arms Issue Plagues Ulster Peace Deal," Jane's Intelligence Review 11(1999): 18-22.
14. "Statement on 'Early Release' Prisoners," Publications and Records, December 15, 2004, (http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200405/cmhansrd/vo041215/text/41215w34.htm).
15. NIACRO, "About NIACRO," (http://www.niacro.co.uk/about-niacro).
16. Ingle (see note 8 above).
17. Heather Reid, Service Manager for Offenders in the Community=Training Services, e-mail message to authors, January 21, 2009.
18. Educational Trust, Difference and Sameness: Final Evaluation Report (Project No:033820X), (Belfast, n.d.).
19. Independent Monitoring Commission, "What We Are Here For," The Independent Monitoring Commission Website: (http://independentmonitoringcommission.org/herefor.cfm).
20. Dan Keenan, "Ex-prisoners 'Helped Resolve Conflict," The Irish Times, March 1, 2008, Ireland, in the North.
21. Deborah Summers, "Loyalist Feud Flares as Man is Killed in House: Paramilitary Adair to Mount Legal Challenge against Return to Prison," The Herald, August 24, 2000, 2, United Kingdom edition.
22. "British-Irish Agreement (Amendment) Bill, 1999: Second Stage," Proceedings of the Parliament, Ireland, 506, June 22, 1999.
23. Human Rights Watch, "Smoke and Mirrors: Colombia's Demobilization of Paramilitary Groups," Human Rights Watch, (http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2005/07/31/smoke-and-mirrors?print).
24. Marcella Ribetti, "The Unveiled Motivations of Violence in Intra-State Conflicts: The Colombian Guerrillas," Small Wars and Insurgencies 18, no. 4 (2007): 699-720.
25. Marcella Ribetti, "Disengagement and Beyond: A Case Study of Demobilization in Colombia," in Leaving Terrorism Behind: Individual and Collective Disengagement, ed. Tore Bjørgo and John Horgan (New York: Routledge, 2009), 152-169.
26. For more details, see Ribetti (see note 28 above) and Horgan (see note 2 above).
27. Human Rights Watch (see note 26 above).
28. L. C. Restrepo, interview with Human Rights Watch, March 14, 2005; Human Rights Watch, "Smoke and Mirrors" (see note 26 above).
29. Sibyllá Brodzinsky, "Colombian Fighters Lay Down Arms," The Guardian, December 11, 2004, Guardian Foreign Pages, London edition;
30. Kate Joynes, "OAS Begins to Verify Colombian Paramilitary Demobilisation," World Markets Research Centre, February 18, 2004, In brief.
31. Human Rights Watch (see note 26 above).
32. J. D. Angel, interview with Human Rights Watch, March 14, 2005; see Human Rights Watch, "Smoke and Mirrors" (see note 26 above).
33. Tod Robberson, "Colombian Guerrillas Demobilizing in Return for Housing, Jobs," The Dallas Morning News, August 27, 2003, International News.
34. Margarita Martinez, "Ex-members of Colombian Group Rehabilitate," Associated Press Online, December 6, 2003, (http://www.lexisnexis.com).
35. Ribetti (see note 28 above).
36. Deborah J. Terry, Michael A. Hogg, and Katherine M. White, "The Theory of Planned Behavior: Self-identity, Social Identity and Group Norms," British Journal of Social Psychology 38 (1999): 225-244.
37. No author. "Colombia Says it is Cracking Down on Paramilitaries," Deutsche Presse-Agentur, December 10, 2008, Politics.
38. Jeremy McDermott, "Venezuela's Murder Rates Surpass Colombia's Under Hugo Chavez," Telegraph Online, October 12, 2008, (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/southamerica/venezuela/3184293/Venezuelas-murder-rates-surpass-Colombias-under-Hugo-Chavez.html).
39. No author. 'En el 2006 Colombia Tuvo la Tasa mas Baja de Homicidios,' Emisora del Ejército de Colombia, Jan. 3, 2007, (http://www.emisoraejercito.mil.co/index.php?idcate-goria=443).
40. Ribetti (see note 28 above).
41. International Crisis Group. "Colombia's New Armed Groups," Latin America Report N 20, 2007, (http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4824&1=1).
42. Misión de Apoyo al Proceso de Paz en Colombia, Organización de los Estados Americanos, Sixth Quarterly Report of the Secretary General to the Permanent Council on the Mission to Support the Peace Process in Colombia, (http://www.oas.org/en/about/speech_secretary_general.asp?sCodigo=06-003).
43. Ellen Nakashima, "Indonesian Militants 'Keep Regenerating': Jemaah Islamiah Defied International Efforts to Quash it," The Washington Post, March 25, 2004, sec. A.
44. Robert Karniol, "De-radicalisation Strategies Worldwide," The Straits Times, March 31, 2008, Review section, Singapore edition, (http://counterideology.multiply.com/journal/item/171/Just_sharing_-_De-radicalisation_strategies_worldwide_The_Straits_Times_Singapore_31_Mar_2008).
45. See also Natalie O'Brien, "Terrorists Who Say No to Terror," The Australian, Oct. 22, 2007, Features.
46. Nasir bin Abbas, interview by Peter Cave, AM Show, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, March 10, 2006, (http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2006/s1588419.htm).
47. Peter Taylor, "The Jihadi who Turned 'Supergrass," BBC Online, September 13, 2006, (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/5334594.stm).
48. Council on Foreign Relations, "What Prior Attacks has Jemaah Islamiyah been Linked to?" (2007). In Jemaah Islamiyah (a.k.a. Jemaah Islamiah), (http://www.cfr.org/publication/8948).
49. Zachary Abuza, "The Rehabilitation of Jemaah Islamiyah Detainees in South East Asia: A Preliminary Assessment," in Leaving Terrorism Behind: Individual and Collective Dis- engagement, ed. Tore Bjørgo and John Horgan (New York: Routledge, 2009), 193-211
50. See also Sally Neighbour, "Over Their Dead Bodies," The Australian, November 9, 2007, Features.
51. Di Martin, "Bali Bomber Now Campaigns to Stop Terrorism," Australian Broadcasting Corporation News, Sept. 20, 2007, (http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/09/20/2039099.htm).
52. See Bill Guerin, "Another Success for Detachment 88," Asia Times Online, June 16, 2007, (http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/IF16Ae01.html) for an example of Detachment-88's traditional efforts.
53. Abuza (see note 52 above).
54. O'Brien (see note 48 above).
55. Al-Qaeda: Turning the Terrorists, television broadcast, produced by P. Jenkins (2006; London, UK: British Broadcasting Corporation), (http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=turning+the+terrorists&emb=0&aq=f&ap=f#).
56. O'Brien (see note 48 above).
57. Mick Keelty, interview by Tony Jones, Lateline, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, March 8, 2006, (http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200603/r75311_212476.asx).
58. Al-Qaeda: Turning the Terrorists (see note 59 above).
59. Stewart Bell, "Reason to Live: In Southeast Asia, Fighting Terror Includes Fighting for the Minds of Suicide Bombers," National Post (Canada), Feb. 25, 2006, News section, National edition.
60. Abuza (see note 52 above).
61. Martin Abbugao, "Indonesia Shifts Battles against Extremists," AFP, March 29, 2007.
62. quoted in Zachary Abuza, "The Rehabilitation of Jemaah Islamiyah Detainees in Southeast Asia: A Preliminary Assessment," in Leaving Terrorism Behind: Individual and Collective Disengagement, ed. Tore Bjørgo and John Horgan (New York: Routledge, 2009), 193-211.
63. Bell (see note 63 above).
64. Simon Kearney, "Islamic Leaders to Help Rehabilitate Terrorists," The Australian, June 5, 2006, Local section.
65. Interviews conducted by the first author with Bin Abbas in Jakarta, 2007.
66. International Crisis Group, "Deradicalisation' and Indonesian prisons," Asia Report N° 142, 2007, (http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=5170&1=1).
67. Abuza (see note 52 above).
68. Karniol (see note 48 above); Also see O'Brien (see note 48 above).
69. Andrew K. Woods, "Good Muslim, Good Citizen," Slate, January 23, 2009, Faith-Based section, (http://www.slate.com/id/2194671).
70. Laurel Teo, "Winning Hearts, Minds Next Step in Combating Terror: Governments Agree to Promote Dialogues Within and Across Different Religions," The Business Times Singapore, March 7, 2007, Indonesia section.
71. Santha Oorjitham, "Persuading Terrorists to 'disengage," New Straits Times, October 5, 2008, Local section, Malaysia edition.
72. Abuza (see note 52 above).
73. Gregory D. Johnsen, "Terrorists in Rehab," Worldview Magazine 17, no. 3, (2004a), (http://www.worldviewmagazine.com/issues/article.cfm?id=139&issue=34).
74. Hamoud Al-Hitar, Dialogue and its Effects on Countering Terrorism: The Yemeni Experience. 1-18. Copy in authors' possession.
75. James Brandon, "Koranic Duels Ease Terror," Christian Science Monitor, February 4,2005, http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0204/p01s04-wome.html.
76. See also Greg Johnsen, "In Yemen, a Benevolent Alternative to Osama bin Laden," New America Media, January 20, 2004b, (http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=be013890b8c48c-f458e54f95b8708629).
77. Copy in authors' possession.
78. Brandon (see note 80 above).
79. Al-Hitar (see note 79 above); See also Kristin Helberg, "The Yemeni Dialogue Committee: Judge Fights Terror Through Force of Conviction," Qantara, March 22, 2005, (http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-476/_nr-339/i.html?PHPSESSID=4c72d66e722-dd3efc7c3ca4eb117566c).
80. Helberg (see note 83 above).
81. Johnsen (see Note 80 above).
82. Note 81, p. 2.
83. Abdul-Aziz Oudah, "Judge Hamoud al-Hitar, Minister of Islamic Affairs, talks about using dialogue to confront extremists," Yemen Observer. Retrieved June 9, 2008, from: (http://www.yobserver.com/reports/10014374.html).
84. Brandon (see note 80 above).
85. Peter Willems, "Judge Hamoud al-Hitar Praised: The Dialogue Committee is Known Internationally," Yemen Times, July 18, 2005, (http://yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=799&p=community&a=2).
86. Jonathan Schanzer, "Yemen's Al-Qaeda Amnesty," Frontpage Magazine, November 28, 2003, (http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=108E44B8-BC3F-4F85-BABF-8ADBBA5F214E).
87. Willems (see note 90 above).
88. Craig Whitlock, "Probe of U.S.S. Cole Bombing Unravels," Washington Post, May 4, 2008, (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/03/AR200805030-2047.html).
89. Brandon (see note 80 above).
90. Willems (see note 90 above).
91. Brandon (see note 80 above).
92. Oudah (see note 87 above).
93. Johnsen (see Note 82 above).
94. Brandon (see note 80 above); See also Christopher Boucek, Shazadi Beg, and John Horgan, "Opening up the Jihadi Debate: Yemen's Committee for Dialogue," in Leaving Terrorism Behind: Individual and Collective and Disengagement, ed. Tore Bjørgo and John Horgan (New York: Routledge, 2009), 181-192.
95. Brandon (see note 80 above); See also Oudah (see note 87 above).
96. Elise Labott, Diane Ruggiero, Schams Elwazer, and Ben Wedeman, "US Embassy Staff Asked to Leave Yemen," CNN.com, (http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/09/19/yemen.embassy.staff/index.html?iref=newssearch).
97. Terrence Henry, "Get Out of Jihad Free," The Atlantic, June 2007, (http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200706/saudi-jihad).
98. Christpher Boucek, "Extremist Reeducation and Rehabilitation in Saudi Arabia," Terrorism Monitor 5, no. 16, (2007): http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?issue_id=4213.
99. Christopher Boucek, "Jailing Jihadis: Saudi Arabia's Special Terrorist Prisons," Terrorism Monitor 6, no. 2 (2008a): (http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2373926).
100. Christopher Boucek, "Saudi Arabia's 'Soft' Counterterrorism Strategy: Prevention, Rehabilitation, and Aftercare," Carnegie Papers 97 (2008b).
101. Jeffrey Fleishman, "Saudi Arabia Tries to Rehab Radical Minds," The Los Angeles Times, Dec. 21, 2007, sec. A.
102. Boucek (see note 104 above [2008b]).
103. Dell Dailey and Russ Travers, Release of the Country Reports on Terrorism 2007 (Washington, DC: Department of State, 2008): (http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/rm/2008/104233).
104. Boucek (see note 103 above).
105. Boucek (see note 104 above [2008b]).
106. Carlyle Murphy, "Saudis Use Cash and Counseling to Fight Terrorism," Christian Science Monitor, August 20, 2008, (http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0821/p01s01-wome.html).
107. Sonia Verma, "Terrorists 'Cured' with Cash, Cars, and Counseling: Controversial Saudi Rehab Program Aims to Reform Jihadists Returning from U.S. Prisons," The Globe and Mail, September 11, 2008, (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/article708655.ece).
108. Boucek (see note 104 above [2008b]).
109. Henry (see note 102 above).
110. Boucek (see note 103 above); See also Boucek (see note 104 above [2008b]).
111. Dailey and Travers (see note 109 above); See also Anthony Horowitz, What's the Best Way to Stop Terrorism? (a) Political Intervention, (b) Torture, (c) Pampering: The Saudi Government Believes It's Found the Answer, The Sunday Telegraph, July 13, 2008, sec. 7, London edition.
112. Boucek (see note 104 above [2008b]); See also Horowitz (see note 118 above); and Verma (see note 113 above).
113. Hannah Allam, "To Stanch Spread of Radical Islam, Saudi Arabia Woos Detainees," McClatchy Newspapers, April 25, 2007, (http://www.cclatchydc.com/staff/hannah_allam/story/16043.html).
114. Verma (see note 113 above); See also Katherine Zoepf, "Deprogramming Jihadists," The New York Times Magazine, November 7, 2008, (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/magazine/09jihadis-t.html).
115. Boucek (see note 104 above [2008b]). 123. Verma (see note 113 above). 124. Boucek (see note 104 above [2008b]).
116. In March of 2009, the first author was part of a delegation to visit the Care center in Riyadh and engage in discussions about these issues with the Saudi authorities. 129. Horgan (see note 2 above).
117. Bjorgo and Horgan (see note 1 above).
118. Ward Edwards and J. Robert Newman, Multiattribute Evaluation (Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, 1982).
119. Available on request from the authors.
120. Alfred Blumstein, "Planning Models for Analytical Evaluation," in Handbook of Criminal Justice Evaluation, ed. Malcolm W. Klein and Katherine S. Teilmann (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1980), 237-258.
121. Gloria A. Grizzle and Ann D. Witte, "Criminal Justice Evaluation Techniques: Methods other than Random Assignment," in Handbook of Criminal Justice Evaluation, ed. Malcolm W. Klein and Katherine S. Teilmann (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1980), 259-302.
122. Taylor and Horgan offer a sophisticated model of the development of psychological process in the terrorist that draws on CBT analogies. See Max Taylor and John Horgan, "A Conceptual Framework for Addressing Psychological Processes in the Development of the Terrorist," Terrorism and Political Violence 18 (2006), 585-601.
123. Also see Max Taylor, "Is Terrorism a Group Phenomenon?," Aggression and Violent Behavior (in press).
124. Horgan (see note 2 above).
125. David Gadd, "The role of recognition in the desistance process: a case analysis of a former far-right activist," Theoretical Criminology, 10 (2), 2006, 179-202.
126. Shadd Maruna, "Desistance from crime and explanatory style: a new direction in the psychology of reform," Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 20 (2), 2004, 184-200.
127. See Clive R. Hollin, "Treatment Programs for Offenders: Meta-Analysis, 'What Works,' and Beyond," International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 22 (3-4), 1999, 361-372.