A paper prepared by Luisa Ravagnani for the European Commission about Rehabilitation work with convicted offenders outside of prison mentions that in recent times, the number of people being incarcerated for terrorism-related offences and/or considered radicalised have caused governments to focus on the need for related work on resocialisation. As a result of the relatively short sentences and non-custodial measures imposed, the reintegration of radicalised people into society is a source of concern for numerous countries.

This paper builds on lessons learned in the EU context, and it is beneficial for first-line practitioners providing probation and community sanctions and measures services (CSMs), exit workers as well as community and family support workers involved in rehabilitation programmes for violent extremist offenders (VEOs) outside prison.

It concludes that VEOs are the most important actors in any rehabilitation process: without their convinced and sincere commitment to the programme, rehabilitation is not achievable. Nevertheless, even with VEOs’ active participation, the expected outcomes should not be considered certain. This is because many variables can negatively and unexpectedly impact the process.

Luisa Ravagnani further provides some key recommendations like maintaining the focus on behavioural disengagement and ensuring proportionality and continuity.

To access the full paper click here.