ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is to give a more expanded and detailed historical, theoretical and methodological positioning of the problem of radicalization as a precursor to terrorist crime and criminality, and the significance of political prisoner life writing in extremist subcultures and in culture generally. It also examines the role and function of prisoner auto/biography in the social construction and individual manifestation of radicalization, and the multiple ways in which prisoner writing has influenced modern culture. The main themes covered in this chapter are: the case for using interpretive or qualitative methods such as auto/biography and its history and foundations in hermeneutics and cultural studies, sociology and criminology.
