Terrorist Rehab

7/30/2019 Terrorist Rehab

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Jessica Deitzer

Terrorist“Rehab”:

Can it work?



Saudi ProgramThe Advisory Committee Counseling Program

PRAC:

• Prevention

• Rehabilitation

• Aftercare



Saudi Program

Four Subcommittees:

SecurityPsychological and Social

ReligiousMedia

Egypt, Algeria, Singapore,Indonesia, Malaysia, andYemen, and Pakistan have

also tried terrorist “rehabs” inthe recent years

(Boucek, 2008)



DSM-IV Axes

Clinical Disorders

Personality Disorders

Medical Disorders

Psychosocial Stressors

Global Level of Functioning



DSM-IV Axes

Clinical Disorders

Personality Disorders

Medical Disorders

Psychosocial Stressors

Global Level of Functioning

If terrorists are psychologically “normal,” how dowe treat the fourth axis?



Research Behind “Rehab” Denial Perspective vs. Re-integrative Perspective

(Ginges, 1997)

“War on Terror” vs. positive Legal & Social actions

Groups are very important to the decisions of theindividual

Understanding the psychology of the terrorist, Re-

integrative strategies hold the most validity

Need to treat the cultural aspects and re-integrate former terrorists into society



Terrorist “Rehab” Programs Indonesia

• Ali Imron (took part in Bali bombings)

now wants to help “deprogramother jailed terrorists” (Horgan &Braddock, 2010)

• Focuses on changing Jemaah

Islamiyah‟s understanding of Islamand Jihad

• Wants to change attitudes, beliefs,and misconceptions



Terrorist “Rehab” Programs Yemen

Yemen‟s Religious Dialogue Committee

decided that terrorism has „„faultyintellectual foundations” and they candebate to make a change andweaken terrorist efforts (Horgan &Braddock, 2010)

Al-Hitar leads the “Committee for Religious Dialogue”



Terrorist “Rehab” Programs Pakistan

Use Psychiatry, Education, and Religion

"The basic concept is to provide them all their comparative education, where they are able todecide for themselves what is right and what iswrong, that whatever was told to them previously is

not true," Pakistani Col. Iman Bilal said.



Terrorist “Rehab” Programs All these programs target ideology

Ideology is the real enemy within terrorist

motivations

“Their ideology concentrates their thinking &controls their actions.” (Beck, 2002)

Bin Hassan (2012) argues for the role of counter-

ideological approaches in the war on terror.



Are there solutions?

Despite claiming high success rates, its

difficult to truly measure recidivism andchanging ideological beliefs

Many individuals who disengage fromterrorism are not necessarily “de-

radicalized;” conversely, many who are“de-radicalized” do not necessarilyhave low recidivism rates (Horgan &Braddock, 2010)

Said Ali al-Shihri,participant of the Saudirehabilitation program,

became a major Al-Quaeda leader in

Yemen



We need Evidence-Based…

EVALUATIONHorgan & Braddock (2010):

1. There are no explicit criteria for success

associated with any initiative.

2. There is little data associated with any of theseinitiatives that can be reliably corroboratedindependently.

3. There has been no systematic effort to study anyaspect of these programs, even individually, letalone collectively.



We Need Evidence-Based…

PRACTICE De-radicalization is more than a change in

behavior, it‟s a change in cognitions

We must consider how the organization exertscontrol over thinking and behavior

Suggests Cognitive-Behavioral models of behavior apply to terrorism (Taylor & Horgan, 2007)

Often, the motivations for disengagementinclude disillusionment with the organization

How can we encourage counter-ideologies?




PRACTICE The therapist and patient collaborate to identify

distorted cognitions, which are derived frommaladaptive beliefs or assumptions. These

cognitions and beliefs are subjected to logicalanalysis and empirical hypothesis‐testing whichleads individuals to realign their thinking withreality.” – David A. Clark (1995)

Cognitive Behavior Therapy is one of the mostwidely researched and effective types oftherapy. (Butler et al 2006)




PRACTICE Cognitive Distortions of terrorists:

overgeneralization

dichotomous thinking tunnel vision

Reframe the “enemy,” group therapy, meetingsof victims and perpetrators

Multidisciplinary approach- need clinicians towork in this new field

(Beck, 2002)




EDUCATION Pakistan‟s program is unique in reaching out to

teens

"I am going to spread and preach whatever Ilearn here and tell people that what they weredoing is wrong”

Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ameer Haider Khan Hoti has said that promotion of educationwas the only way forward to cope withchallenges of extremism, terrorism, poverty,illiteracy, law and order and unemployment.




EDUCATION Ministry of Education Saudi program educates in

schools about dangers of terrorism and terroristideologies

Don‟t expect to reach today‟s terrorists- instead,focus on the next generation, the generation oftomorrow (Wagner, 2006)



Bibliography Beck, A. T. (2002). Prisoners of hate. Behaviour Research and

Therapy, 40(3), 209-216.

Boucek, C. (2008). Saudi arabia‟s “soft” counterterrorism strategy:

Prevention, rehabilitation, and aftercare . Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1(97), 1-28.

Butler, A. C., Chapman, J. E., Forman, E. M., & Beck, A. T. (2006). Theempirical status of cognitive-behavioral therapy: a review of meta-analyses . Clinical Psychology Review, 26, 17-31.

Clark, D. A. (1995). Perceived limitations of standard cognitivetherapy: A reconsideration of efforts to revise Beck's theory andtherapy. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 9(3), 153−172.

Goldman, R. (2010, January 1). Does rehab for terrorists work?. ABCNews. Retrieved fromhttp://abcnews.go.com/International/guantanamo-release-saudi-

rehab-ali-al-shihri-now/story?id=9458164



Bibliography Ginges, J. (1997). Dettering the terrorist: A psychological evaluation of different

strategies for deterring terrorism. Terrorism and Political Violence, 9(1), 170-185.

Horgan, J., & Braddock, K. (2010). Rehabilitating the terrorists?: Challenges in

assessing the effectiveness of de-radicalization programs . Terrorism and PoliticalViolence, 22, 267 – 291.

Naeem, A. (2012, October 18). Promotion of education only way to cope withchallenges of extremism, terrorism: Hoti. Business Recorder. Retrieved fromhttp://www.brecorder.com/top-news/108-pakistan-top-news/86744-promotion-of-education-only-way-to-cope-with-challenges-of-extremism-terrorism-hoti-.html

Raddatz, M., & Netter, S. (2010, December 31). Rehab for terrorists: Pakistan triesreintegration program on teen extremists. ABC News. Retrieved fromhttp://abcnews.go.com/International/rehab-terrorists-pakistan-reintegration-program-teen-extremists/story?id=12515154

Taylor, M., & Horgan, J. (2006). A conceptual framework for addressingpsychological process in the development of the terrorist . Terrorism and PoliticalViolence, 18, 585 – 601.



Questions?

Terrorist “Rehab”: Can it

work?

Jessica Deitzer

Terrorist Rehab

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