Understanding Deradicalization: Methods, Tools and Programs for Countering Violent Extremism

by Daniel Koehler, John Horgan (Foreword)

This book provides a comprehensive guide to the different aspects of deradicalization theories, programs and methods. It analyzes the practical and theoretical aspects of deradicalization programs and the methods being employed to bring extremists and terrorist back to a non-violent life. The book includes in-depth case studies on programs and former extremists, including interviews with former German neo-Nazis and families of Jihadists who have received deradicalization counselling. Using a coherent theory of radicalization and deradicalization, it integrates existing programs into a typology and methodology regarding the effects and concepts behind deradicalization. In addition, a current state of the art assessment of deradicalization programs around the world provides a collection of programs and landscapes worldwide. It thereby functions as a unique guide for practitioners and policymakers in need of evaluation or construction of such programs, as well as a resource pool for academics interested in research about deradicalization programs and processes. The major aim of this book is to consolidate the existing scholarship on deradicalization and to move the field forward by proposing a coherent theory of deradicalization, including ways to measure effectiveness, standard methods and procedures, different actors of such programs and cooperation on national and international level. In essence, this work enables the reader to identify how, when and why deradicalization programs work, how they can be built and structured, and to identify their limitations. This book will be of interest to students of radicalisation, counter-terrorism, radical Islam, criminology, security studies and IR.

322 pages, Hardcover

Published November 14, 2016

About the author

Daniel Koehler is the author of four novels, Flyover Country (2004), The Sleeping Cab (2006), Unbankerly Behavior (2008), and Splitting Washington (2010). His short fiction has appeared in The Best of Tales From the South, The Birmingham Arts Journal, New Works Review, The Storyteller, The Rusty Nail, Bareback Magazine, Inner Sins, The Harvard Bulletin, among others. Literary honors include finalist status in three international screenplay competitions and regional awards for his short stories.

Prior to his writing career, he pursued professional interests in New York City. He has written software used extensively in the financial sector. He attended Leopold-Franzens Universität in Innsbruck, Austria, and is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and Harvard.

Reviews

[Lance · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has been a painful, and unrewarding experience. The amount of repetition in this text is unwarranted, and rings closer to a legal contract to cover your risks than a meaningful warning about the state of the practice. That rant complete, I do have to acknowledge that the material to work with is basically a meta analysis of existing programs, all of which fail statistical rigor. It's subjective measure, so accuracy is hard to get.

More troubling is the proportion of actual theory and tactics. Multiple chapters make no contribution to practice. Do not consider using this book as part of training material.