Understanding Youth Radicalisation: What Can Probation Services Do? | New Report from CEP’s Expert Group

In recent decades, the violent radicalisation of juveniles and young adults has become a pressing concern for policymakers, researchers, practitioners, and communities worldwide. While considerable attention has been devoted to psychological vulnerabilities, socio-economic marginalisation, and community-level influences, the broader context in which violent radicalisation develops is often overlooked. At the same time, the increasing involvement of young people in violent extremist offences highlights the urgent need for effective prevention efforts. Addressing youth radicalisation has become a complex and evolving challenge for families, educators, mental health professionals, law enforcement agencies, probation services, and security authorities.

In CEP we are fascinated to learn from research across Europe and beyond and help it reach the people who can use it. So, in Warsaw I spent most of my time with the ESC’s Working Group on Community Sanctions and Measures. Against a backdrop of overcrowded prisons and net-widening (ever more people drawn into supervision), three questions kept coming up in the research: how time shapes justice, what we mean by success, and how we define harm.

📢 Have you registered yet? CEP’s final workshop of 2026 takes place on 24 November in Barcelona, bringing together professionals to explore how technology is being used across probation services in Europe.

The Workshop on Alternatives to Detention and Technologies: Deep Diving into New Trends will look beyond artificial intelligence to examine the different ways technology is shaping probation practice, from staff training to working with clients and collaborating with other criminal justice partners.

The CEP Leadership Excellence Training, held on 20–21 October in Zagreb, Croatia, brought together Directors General and senior probation managers from 11 European countries for a two-day interactive programme focused on leadership, communication, staff development, and international cooperation.

On behalf of Ms. Jana Špero Kamenjarin, CEP Secretary General, it is my pleasure to invite you to submit a proposal to conduct an evaluation within the CEP work programme.

The Confederation of European Probation (CEP) was represented by its Secretary General, Jana Špero Kamenjarin, at the Expert Group Meeting on the Establishment of Probation Services and Probation Practices, organised by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and held at the Vienna International Centre (VIC) from 12 to 14 October 2026.