Rethinking De-radicalization and Rehabilitation through the Lens of Prisons: A Case of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Prisons Department

Abstract

The role of de-radicalization and rehabilitation programs, aimed at preventing and countering violent extremism, has attracted significant academic focus in the recent years (see, e.g., El-said, 2012; Hart, 2020; Kruglanski et al., 2014). Some of the initiatives that have captured much attention of the scholar and practitioner community include the ‘prevent’ part of the UK counter-terrorism strategy (CONTEST, 2018, p. 32; Gearson & Rosemont, 2015; Heath-Kelly, 2013), the Saudi Arabia’s ‘Prevention, Aftercare and Rehabilitation’ (PRAC; Casptack, 2015; El-Said & Barrett, 2018), and the de-radicalization programs in Indonesia (Agastia, Perwita, & Subedi, 2020; Schulze, 2008; Osman, 2014). Indeed, these initiatives significantly exhibit a shift towards a ‘soft’ approach to countering terrorism and violent extremism (Porgess, 2014), for which the main focus has been on the reintegration of the former (violent) extremists in the community (Kaplan & Nussio, 2018; Podder, 2012).