This volume provides an overview of intervention and management strategies for dealing with terrorist and extremist offenders in prisons.

The management of terrorist and extremist prisoners has long been recognised as a difficult problem in prisons. In most countries, such offenders are relatively rare, but when their numbers increase these prisoners can undermine the effectiveness and safety of the prison system. At a global level there is an increasing recognition of the problem of militant jihadi extremists in prison and their ability to recruit new members among other prisoners. The numbers of such prisoners are low but growing and, as a result, prisons are becoming centres of radicalisation; indeed, in some cases, terrorist plots appear to have been based entirely on networks that were radicalised in prison.

This volume presents an expertly informed assessment of what we know about terrorists, extremists and prison, exploring the experience of a wide range of countries and of different political movements. Drawing critical lessons from historical case studies, the book examines critical issues around management strategies, radicalisation and deradicalisation, reform, risk assessment, as well as post-release experiences. The role that prisoners play in the conflicts beyond the jail walls is also examined, with case studies illustrating how prisoners can play a critical role in bringing about a peace process or alternatively in sustaining or even escalating campaigns of violence.

Written by leading experts in the field, this volume will be of much interest to students of terrorism/counter-terrorism, criminology, security studies and IR in general.

About the Author

Andrew Silke holds a Chair in Criminology at the University of East London, where he is the Head of Criminology and the Programme Director for Terrorism Studies. He is author/editor of several books on terrorism, including The Psychology of Counter-Terrorism (Routledge, 2010), Research on Terrorism (Routledge, 2004), and Terrorists, Victims and Society (2003).

Reviews

'Although many if not most terrorists eventually end up in prison, there has been surprisingly little research on what happens to them while in prison and after they have been released. This volume, edited by a prominent expert in the field, Andrew Silke, makes an important contribution to fill this gap in our knowledge. Several of the chapters challenge the conventional wisdom that "prisons are universities of terror". Prisons may also provide opportunities for disengagement, deradicalisation and rehabilitation. Wise policies may contribute constructively to facilitate these processes. To achieve this, Silke and his colleagues provide indispensable insights.' -- Tore Bjorgo, Norwegian Police University College and the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs

'Andrew Silke has brought together a truly international group of experts to examine how we understand and manage extremists in our prison systems. The contributors have carefully integrated scientific rigour and effective risk management approaches; they provide much needed depth and sophistication to thinking about the role of prisons in the management of such prisoners. This book is a must-read for practitioners and policy makers tasked with protecting society from this most formidable of threats.' -- David Cooke, Glasgow Caledonian University

'Radicalization is an issue of such beguiling complexity that it is poorly understood even by those who run our prisons. Andrew Silke has done a great service by bringing together some of the most talented scholars on the radicalization problem in the world today. This book shows that radicalization cannot be dealt with through normal techniques of prison management, but only through creative administrative methods informed by the social sciences. The work is destined to become an indispensable guide for the reformers of tomorrow.' -- Mark S. Hamm, author of The Spectacular Few: Prisoner Radicalization and the Evolving Terrorist Threat

Book Information
ISBN 9780415810388
Author Andrew Silke
Format Paperback
Page Count 312
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 476g