An Examination of Media Framing of Returning Foreign Terrorist Fighter Families

• In Event: Roundtable: Challenges and Strategies for Reintegrating Individuals Connected to Violent Extremism

Abstract

Criminological research has underscored the importance of building and maintaining pro-social ties for successful reentry, crime reduction, and preventing recidivism among system-involved persons. These mechanisms and perspectives have been leveraged by terrorism scholars within the reintegration space and have the capacity to support reintegration efforts for returning families of foreign terrorist fighters (FTF). In contrast to the FTFs prosecuted for their actions overseas, their non-prosecuted family members face a distinct set of circumstances and challenges upon return that directly impose upon the development prosocial community ties. Stigmatization, distrust, and other facets of community perceptions of returning FTF families collectively place returnees in a precarious position when entering communities. Using open-sourced news articles, this mixed-methods research explores media framing of returning FTF families to better understand the potential influence these frames have on community perceptions of returnees. Additionally, we identify variation in media frames applied to this population across outlet characteristics. In doing so, we seek to better understand how media frames can be leveraged by reintegration practitioners to mitigate barriers impeding upon returnees’ ability to accumulate the necessary social resources, pro-social ties, and community acceptance that are imperative to successful reintegration.

Authors

• Brenna Helm, NCITE

• Austin Doctor, University of Nebraska Omaha / NCITE

• Michael H. Becker, NCITE