www.tjprc.org editor@tjprc.org EXTREMIST DERADICALISATION PROGRAMMES: A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE MUHAMMAD BAKASHMAR Assistant Professor, International Islamic University Malaysia Adjunct Research Fellow, Monash University, Australia ABSTRACT This paper presents a comparative perspective of a sample of deradicalisation programmes in various parts of the world. Deradicalisation is conceptualized as the unraveling of “radicalization”- as a process in which individuals proceed from the state of passivity to radicalism through the adoption of extremist ideology while gradually increasing the likelihood of their involvement in violent radical behavior. The programmes reviewed cover a wide range of political, cultural and religious backgrounds from the Scandinavian countries to continental Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia as well as Australia. Special attention is given to deradicalisation processes in prisons around the world. KEYWORDS: Deradicalisation Programmes, Radicalisation INTRODUCTION The term “deradicalisation” is often used to describe both the processes and outcomes of measures, policies and actual programmes aimed at reversing or at least reducing the effect of “radicalisation”. 1 In general, “radicalism” could be defined as the “pursuit of and support for far-reaching changes in society which may constitute a danger to the democratic legal order through the threat or use of violenceor other undemocratic means”. 2 The degree of radicalisation differs from person to person. Radicalisation could be non-violent restricted to only holding “radical” ideas otherwise referred to as ‘cognitive radicalisation’. In its most extreme manifestations radicalism could lead one to feel the need for supporting and even participating in violent acts including terrorism to achieve the desired objectives. McCauley and Moskalenko refer to the former as “opinion radicalisation” and the latter as “action radicalisation”. 3 The reversal of the radicalisation process i.e. deradicalisation is a process that seeks to convince the targets of the programme to both disengage from violence or the support for it at the minimum or where feasible, guide them to gradually unlearn and reject the fundamental assumptions and ideas that contributed to their radicalisation. The task of the counsellor in a deradicalisation programme is therefore first to identify or “extricate” the specific radical ideas that have lead to an individual’s radicalisation and then expose the weaknesses in the subjects’logic (or their interpretations of 1 As is the case with many other terms in social sciences, seldom does one find unanimous agreement on the meanings or definitions of various important terms, and these two are not exceptions. Mark Sedgwick, "The Concept of Radicalization as a Source of Confusion," Terrorism and Political Violence 22 no. 4 (2010). 2 Integrated Terrorism Assessment Centre (ITAC), "Militant Jihadism: Radicalization, Conversion, Recruitment," in Trends in Terrorism Series ed. The Canadian Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies - The Norman Petterson School of International Affairs (Canada: Carleton University, 2006), p. 2. Definition adapted from Dutch Ministry of Interior and Kingdom Relations Report, “From Dawa to Jihad. The Various Threats from Radical Islam to the Democratic Legal Order”, (2005), p. 13. 3 Clark McCauley and Sophia Moskalenko, "Recent U.S. Thinking About Terrorism and Counterterrorism: Baby Steps Towards a Dynamic View of Asymmetric Conflict," Terrorism and Political Violence 22, no. 4 (2010). International Journal of Political Science, Law and International Relations (IJPSLIR) ISSN(P): 2278-8832; ISSN(E): 2278-8840 Vol. 5, Issue 3, Aug 2015, 9-24 © TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.