Preventing Radicalization in Prisons: A comparative analysis of the Danish and Swedish Prison and Probation Service's counter-radicalization strategies within prisons
2017 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (Two Years)), 20 credits / 30 HE credits
Student thesis
Abstract [en]
It is important to direct resources to effective evidence- and value-based counter-radicalization strategies, especially within prisons. With the increasing threat of
violence and terror from various violent extremist groups, such as Daesh, the
focus on prisons should be intensified. While radicalization within prisons was not
a significant problem a decade ago, the new recruitment strategies from e.g.
Daesh now pose a new challenge for prisons. This thesis identifies contemporary
literature on radicalization, deradicalization, and violent extremism within a
prison context. From this seven recurrent themes were identified: overcrowding,
religious chaplains, sectioning, risk assessment, monitoring and supervision,
rehabilitation programs and education of staff. This was then used to develop an
assessment model, which was based on the Canadian Risk-Need-Responsivity
model’s three core principles, for evaluating and conducting counterradicalization
strategies. The assessment model was then used as a framework for
a comparative analysis of the Danish and Swedish Prison and Probation Services’
counter-radicalization strategies within prisons. The results show that both
countries adhered to a degree to the assessment model and current literature
within the field. The results further reveal that there is a lack of empirical
evidence and data on radicalization and counter-radicalization within prisons, and
that the data available is somewhat outdated.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Malmö högskola/Hälsa och samhälle , 2017. , p. 48
Keywords [en]
deradicalization, life-course and developmental criminology, militant islamism, prison, radicalization, rehabilitation, violence, violent extremism
National Category
Social Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-25955Local ID: 23168OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mau-25955DiVA, id: diva2:1487470
Educational program
HS Criminology
2020-11-032020-11-032022-06-27Bibliographically approved