Designing Rehabilitation and Reintegration Programmes for Violent Extremist Offenders: A Realist Approach

In this Research Paper, ICCT – The Hague Research Fellow Tinka Veldhuis makes an argument for a Realist approach to rehabilitation and reintegration programmes for inmates with a terrorist or extremist background. Accordingly, within the Realist framework, it is stressed that the outcomes of rehabilitation programmes should be understood as a product of the policy mechanisms and the context in which they are implemented. To maximise the likelihood of success it is important to make explicit the underlying assumptions about how the intervention should, given the unique context, contribute to achieving its objectives. This paper endeavours to highlight some of the key questions that need to be answered before and during the implementation of rehabilitation policies. About the Author Ms. Tinka M. Veldhuis, MSc. is a Research Fellow at the Clingendael Security and Conflict Programme (CSCP) of the Netherlands Institute of International Relations ‘Clingendael’. In addition, she is a PhD Candidate and lecturer at the Sociology Department of the University of Groningen. In her PHD thesis, she examines international perspectives on detention and re‐integration policies for terrorists. At the University of Groningen, she teaches an MA course on radicalisation and terrorism. She was actively involved in the project `Radicalisation, Recruitment and the EU Counter‐Radicalisation Strategy’, which was part of the Sixth Framework Programme of the European Commission. In 2010, she was involved in evaluation research commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice, to evaluate Dutch detention policies for terrorism offenders. Her areas of interest include the Sociology and Psychology of violent extremism, de‐ and counter‐radicalisation, (counter‐)terrorism, and counter‐terrorism evaluations. About ICCT The Hague The International Centre for Counter‐Terrorism (ICCT) – The Hague is an independent knowledge centre that focuses on information creation, collation and dissemination pertaining to the preventative and international legal aspects of counter‐terrorism. The core of ICCT’s work centres on such themes as de‐ and counter‐radicalisation, human rights, impunity, the rule of law and communication in relation to counter‐terrorism. Functioning as a nucleus within the international counter‐terrorism network, ICCT – The Hague endeavours to connect academics, policymakers and practitioners by providing a platform for productive collaboration, practical research, exchange of expertise and analysis of relevant scholarly findings. By connecting the knowledge of experts to the issues that policymakers are confronted with, ICCT – The Hague contributes to the strengthening of both research and policy. Consequently, avenues to new and innovative solutions are identified, which will reinforce both human rights and security.