[caption id="attachment_13582" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Captives at Guantanamo"]
[/caption]Carol Forsloff - The University of Maryland has concluded it is possible to de-radicalize a terrorist and calls for that to be done in the areas where terrorism is a problem.
According to new research, from the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism at the University of Maryland, and the International Center for the Study of Radicalization at Kings College, London, programs to de-radicalize terrorists will work if well run in such countries as Saudi-Arabia, Singapore, Indonesia and elsewhere "can make a difference."
The way detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan and Iraq are handled need to be re-examined, this research suggests.
"This is a much bigger issue than most people appreciate," explains University of Maryland professor Gary LaFree, who directs START. "It's a classic problem really. Prisons change behavior for both good and for bad. It's difficult to detain prisoners forever, but when is it safe to let them go?"
Recommendations include"
1. Developing more positive approaches to re-entry to the community
2. Stopping the over-crowding and under-staffing
3. Recognizing that religious conversion is not the same as radicalization
4. Look at what works, what positive outcomes have occurred from programs in Singapore and Indonesia
5. Recognize this doesn't replace programs on the war on terror.:
This finding will be presented at ICSR's Peace and Security Summit in New York City on Thursday, July 1 and then again in the fall at a presentation to 15 nations.
.
"Initial results indicate that the programs can work, though probably not 100 percent of the time," LaFree adds. "Just as with regular criminals, individual and community supports help combat recidivism. But with terrorism and ideology there's an added dimension. In general, it's easier to de-radicalize when a movement is on the decline - when the battle seems lost, so to speak. Sri Lanka's experience with the Tamil Tigers offers an example."
"This is a much bigger issue than most people appreciate," explains University of Maryland professor Gary LaFree, who directs START. "It's a classic problem really. Prisons change behavior for both good and for bad. It's difficult to detain prisoners forever, but when is it safe to let them go?"
Recommendations include"
1. Developing more positive approaches to re-entry to the community
2. Stopping the over-crowding and under-staffing
3. Recognizing that religious conversion is not the same as radicalization
4. Look at what works, what positive outcomes have occurred from programs in Singapore and Indonesia
5. Recognize this doesn't replace programs on the war on terror.:
This finding will be presented at ICSR's Peace and Security Summit in New York City on Thursday, July 1 and then again in the fall at a presentation to 15 nations.
.
"Initial results indicate that the programs can work, though probably not 100 percent of the time," LaFree adds. "Just as with regular criminals, individual and community supports help combat recidivism. But with terrorism and ideology there's an added dimension. In general, it's easier to de-radicalize when a movement is on the decline - when the battle seems lost, so to speak. Sri Lanka's experience with the Tamil Tigers offers an example."
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