ABSTRACT
This book has provided significant headway toward understanding how Violent Extremist Offenders (VEOs) interact with other inmates, how they respond to different prison environments, and how they should be managed under different prison regimes. Only with this in-depth understanding of prisons systems, inmate cultures, and the various inmate social systems, can a true assessment of the risk of prison radicalisation and recruitment be made. With the understanding found in this book, more accurate decisions can also be made around creating more efficacious rehabilitation programs and assessment tools. One of our key findings is that the harsher the prison conditions become for VEOs, the less likely they will be rehabilitated, and the more likely they will experience behavioural and mental health problems. We also conclude that the labelling of VEOs, combined with the use of segregation and isolation strategies, may drive stigma, reinforce the “us against them” mentality, and lead to further offending. By having the label “VEO” (or terrorist offender), we argue that offenders are more likely to receive harsher sentences, are more likely to be segregated or isolated, and are more likely to be treated differently by inmates and prison staff. Therefore, while the labelling itself may provide better conviction outcomes for governments, the stigma associated with it may also increase the risk of prison radicalisation, and make the chances of successful rehabilitation more problematic.
