Journal for Deradicalization (Sep 2022)
Evaluating Terrorist and Extremist Reintegration Programming: A Systematic Literature Review
Abstract
This systematic literature review focuses on the evaluation of programs or interventions designed to deradicalize, disengage, rehabilitate, and/or reintegrate terrorists and/or extremists. Though a robust literature describing such interventions exists, it has long been recognized that more data are needed on the effectiveness of programs designed to facilitate reintegration. Thus, the objective of this review is to present an overview of academic and grey literature on the evaluation of programming designed to facilitate the deradicalization, disengagement, rehabilitation, and/or reintegration of terrorists and/or extremists. Our initial queries yielded 271 seemingly relevant peer-reviewed and grey literature articles, but after a more robust screening we determined that only 37 of those articles directly related to the evaluation of interventions. These articles are presented by evaluation design (e.g., quantitative, qualitative); we also review the evaluation mechanisms (e.g., survey, interviews, note review), study design (e.g., experimental, quasi-experimental), data types (i.e., quantitative or qualitative), and findings. Finally, we include ten articles discussing theory of program evaluation. Though the review is limited to available data (e.g., not including unpublished evaluations or government evaluations), we conclude by discussing the state of program evaluation relating to interventions designed to deradicalize, disengage, rehabilitate, and/or reintegrate terrorists and/or extremists, and offering several recommendations for how to improve evaluation methods and overcome barriers to evaluation.
