Rehabilitating Foreign Terrorist Fighters: Start With Why

In this paper, the authors will focus on the question How to rehabilitate in Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs)?, specifically those individuals who come into contact with the domestic criminal justice sector in the European Union (EU) for their suspected participation in a conflict abroad to join or support jihadi terrorist organisations. While the emphasis is on those who have returned from conflict zones and particularly those in Syria/Iraq, individuals who attempted to travel abroad and were either stopped in their home countries or en-route are also included. Importantly, the focus of the presentation will be on a generic typology of engagement and disengagement in violent extremist groups and the reasons why individuals engage. The implications have direct relevance for policy measures to prevent engagement as well as to facilitate disengagement and rehabilitation processes. The typology consists of four main ideal types of individuals and their very different motivations for joining violent extremist groups: those mainly driven by (1) ideological/political motivations, (2) search for friendship and group community, (3) frustration and anger, and (4) search for action and excitement. This typology has implications for the reasons why individuals might become disillusioned and disengage from violent extremist groups. Where for some individuals ideological or ethical doubts or contradictions between the means and ends might foster doubt, for others disillusionment about the organisation or manipulating leaders might provide grounds for disengagement. The different types of motivations for joining (dreams) and for disengaging (disillusionment) will be further explored as well as how the latter can provide hooks for rehabilitation policy measures. One size will not fit all; measures need to be tailor-made for different types of activists. The aim of this presentation is three-fold, namely to: (1) shed light on the current criminal justice sector approach to foreign fighters in the EU; (2) provide a typology of motivations for joining militant extremist groups; and (3) explore implications of this typology for rehabilitative measures into a criminal justice sector response.