Prisons as Space of Radicalization

• In Event: Improving our Understanding on how Persons are Radicalized to Terrorist Violence

Abstract

Prisons have played an important and formative role in every militant movement of the modern era. Determining whether prisons are currently playing a role in radicalizing inmates into violent extremism is difficult to answer. North American research has found little evidence outside of isolated cases, but former prisoners who joined ISIS while incarcerated have committed a number of European terror events. Direct comparisons between North American and European contexts should be made cautiously, given the widespread social and cultural differences between the two. However, it appears that some European countries are experiencing a surge in prison radicalization while North America is not. We have conducted over 300 semi-structured qualitative interviews with inmates in three Albertan (Canadian) provincial prisons. Our initial findings suggest gang membership and inmate subcultural norms play a strong role in preventing inmate radicalization into violence. Gang leaders and other influential inmates appear to be actively preventing membership into groups like ISIS, for reasons ranging from patriotism and religion to women’s rights. Although inmate subcultural norms are governing radical group membership, our interviews also suggest that the surrounding Albertan context plays a key role in explaining why prison radicalization seems to not be occurring in the Albertan context.

Authors

• Sandra M Bucerius, University of Alberta

• Will Schultz, University of Alberta