How extremist experiences become valuable knowledge in EXIT programmes.

On the basis of a neo-Vygotskian approach the article analyses how former neo-Nazis, together with other staff at Fryshuset, a youth centre in Stockholm, Sweden, have developed the organisation EXIT, which helps people leave the extremist right. The article describes the processes former neo-Nazis must go through to alter their identity and self-understanding in order to become coaches/mentors capable of supporting others. In this connection, the article also illuminates EXIT’s practice for supporting their clients. The main reason for personal change, the article stresses, is that an individual’s engagement in a social practice alters his/her basis for reflection, allowing an alternative sense of identity to emerge. The reformulation of the individual’s past involved in this process, the article argues, is a requirement for their extremist experiences to become useable knowledge in an organisation like EXIT aimed at helping others leave what they have come to view as a destructive and anti-democratic lifestyle.

Former Right-Wing Extremists' Continued Struggle for Self-transformation After an Exit Program

This article discusses the identity formation process former right wing extremists go through, during and especially after being involved in an exit program for those leaving right wing extremist environments. Based on an ethnographic investigation (and practice theoretical approach), the article argues that participation in culturally defined worlds - such as the extremist right - develops sensitivities and sensibilities that endure. This enables them to engage in social actions, gain a position and develop a correlated identity, but it is also the reason why it can be very demanding for the individual to leave an extremist environment. Perceived from the (re)integrating into society by those stigmatized by a criminal and extremist past. It explores how individuals leaving a right wing extremist group handle themselves in a new world when their embodied knowledge and habitual responding are no longer appropriate, and investigates the many aspects individuals struggle with years after their engagement, when they do not know who to become and how to act.  &nbsp

Bevægelser i og på tværs af ekstreme grupper og bande- og rockermiljøet: En kritisk undersøgelse og diskussion af ”Cross-over”

”Cross-over” er en kategori, der dækker over bevægelser mellem kriminalitet og bandetilhør til politisk og religiøs ekstremisme. Den er opstået i kølvandet på Omar El-Husseins terrorangreb i København foråret 2015. Kategorien refererer til en bestemt type bevægelse og kan derved medvirke til at skabe blinde pletter, fordi ordet tenderer til at rette vores opmærksomhed på én smal og lineær bevægelse fra kriminalitet og bandetilhør til islamisk ekstremisme.   Den nuværende brug af ”Cross-over” bygger på en række dominerende antagelser om radikaliseringsprocesser og en bestemt sammenhæng mellem udsagn og handling.  Når ”Cross-over” bygger videre på disse etablerede antagelser risikerer vi, at antagelserne med tiden etableres som forklaringer.  Den etablerede ”Cross-over” kategori kan derved utilsigtet medvirke til, at vi overser de komplekse dynamikker, der er på spil i og på tværs af kriminelle/ekstreme grupper og netværk.Denne rapport giver således et billede af de komplekse bevægelsesmønstre i og på tværs af kriminelle netværk, bander, rockere og ekstreme grupper. Den giver en nuanceret forståelse af de veje ind, processer og perspektiver, der er nødvendige at begribe, når man skal udvikle og arbejde med forebyggelse af radikalisering.Rapporten er skrevet af forskere ved DPU, Aarhus Universitet og er finansieret af Udlændinge- og Integrationsministeriet

Cross-over: Bevægelser på tværs af ekstreme grupper, bande- og rockermiljøet

”Cross-over” er en kategori, der dækker over bevægelser mellem kriminalitet og bandetilhør til politisk og religiøs ekstremisme. Den er opstået i kølvandet på Omar El-Husseins terrorangreb i København foråret 2015. Kategorien refererer til en bestemt type bevægelse og kan derved medvirke til at skabe blinde pletter, fordi ordet tenderer til at rette vores opmærksomhed på én smal og lineær bevægelse fra kriminalitet og bandetilhør til islamisk ekstremisme.   Denne pjece giver et billede de komplekse bevægelsesmønstre i og på tværs af kriminelle netværk, bander, rockere og ekstreme grupper. Den giver en nuanceret forståelse af de veje ind, processer og perspektiver, der er nødvendige at begribe, når man skal udvikle og arbejde med forebyggelse af radikaliseringPjecen er skrevet af forskere ved DPU, Aarhus Universitet og er finansieret af Udlændinge- og Integrationsministeriet

A Question of Participation – Disengagement from the Extremist Right: A case study from Sweden

Radicalisation, extremism and terrorism take places as responses to a broader societal context of macro social and political moves, both nationally and internationally. Engaging in an extremist group makes an individual changes, because he or she creates an identity relevant to the world of the particular group he or she is involved in. This causes some to need support after they disengage in order to deradicalise and develop new social skills and identities. The complex process thatfollows their disengagement into the development of an alternative identity is the subject of this thesis. Several studies focus on the conditions under which individuals involved in terrorism disengage, providing insight into exit programmesand the need for them, as well as discuss the different approaches used in a rehabilitation effort of (former) terrorists or extremists. This study moves a step further as the thesis adds insight into individuals’ disengagement and deradicalisation processes, by investigating the ways in which participation and social interaction embedded in the Swedish exit programme cause individuals to alter their identity. It thus provides a detailed analysis of the demanding psychological process, which former extremists go through, supported by the exit programme after they have left an extremist group. The study is anthropological and based on fieldwork carried out at EXIT, a Swedish organisation providing support to individuals seeking to leave the extremist right. EXIT uses former right-wing extremists as mentors, who, based on therapeutic dialogue and activities, support their mentees - right-wing extremists wanting to leave the extremist right - in developing alternative world views, ways of self-understanding and identities

Experiencing trust in multiagency collaboration to prevent violent extremism: A Nordic qualitative study

In previous studies, multiagency collaboration was identified as a key strategy for early intervention in violent extremism. However, there has been little focus on professionals’ shared communication to support collaboration. The aim of this study was to describe trust in multiagency collaboration teams in the Nordic countries tasked with preventing violent extremism. The data have been collected through simulated case discussions for groups (N=13) and individual interviews (N=78) with multiagency professionals in Norway, Denmark, Finland and Sweden and analyzed using the thematic analysis method. Based on our results, trust emerged on 1) structural, 2) professional and 3) perceived personal levels. In addition, we identified facilitators and barriers for building trust at these levels. To fully understand the potential of trust, we argue that there is a need to take into account all these three levels of trust. Finally, we find that particularized trust can function as a foundation for building generalized trust. In future, more knowledge is needed about how to enable and manage trust with multiagency collaboration at organizational, but also national and international, level.   AcknowledgementsThis article is part of a research project titled Handling Extremism - Nordic Approaches (HEX-NA), funded by NordForsk, and financial contributors to the project include the Norwegian Police University College, University of Gothenburg, University of Aarhus, University of Turku and the University of Oslo

Experiencing trust in multiagency collaboration to prevent violent extremism: A Nordic qualitative study

In previous studies, multiagency collaboration was identified as a key strategy for early intervention in violent extremism. However, there has been little focus on professionals’ shared communication to support collaboration. The aim of this study was to describe trust in multiagency collaboration teams in the Nordic countries tasked with preventing violent extremism. The data have been collected through simulated case discussions for groups (N=13) and individual interviews (N=78) with multiagency professionals in Norway, Denmark, Finland and Sweden and analyzed using the thematic analysis method. Based on our results, trust emerged on 1) structural, 2) professional and 3) perceived personal levels. In addition, we identified facilitators and barriers for building trust at these levels. To fully understand the potential of trust, we argue that there is a need to take into account all these three levels of trust. Finally, we find that particularized trust can function as a foundation for building generalized trust. In future, more knowledge is needed about how to enable and manage trust with multiagency collaboration at organizational, but also national and international, level