Sarakibi, SM, Ilardi, Gaetano Joe, Smith, Debra ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4789-3489, Spaaij, Ramon ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1260-3111 and Iqbal, Muhammad ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8002-0551 (2025) Ideology and Cognitive Complexity in Terrorism: Insights from a Terrorist Rehabilitation Program. Terrorism and Political Violence. ISSN 0954-6553

Abstract

This paper aims to enhance knowledge about terrorist rehabilitation by exploring the role of ideological reappraisal as a potential foundation in these efforts. It combines practitioner experience and academic research to theorize the significance of ideology in the connection between entry and exit processes for individuals who have engaged in terrorism. The analysis draws from in-depth interviews with 24 individuals involved in the Community Integration Support Program, Australia’s first terrorist rehabilitation program, including 20 individuals who were convicted of terrorism-related offenses. It is on this strong empirical basis that the paper will build upon Koehler’s work centered on his concepts of ‘de-pluralization’ and ‘re-pluralization’ by elaborating at a more granular level on some of these processes. In doing so, this paper argues that an ideologically induced reduction in cognitive complexity, marked by a form of ideological abstractionism, is crucial to understanding the entry processes of many terrorists. Correspondingly, the re-expansion of cognitive complexity through ideological reappraisal provides a key avenue to facilitate the exit process. The article concludes by making a case for incorporating ideological reappraisal into countering violent extremism (CVE) and considers the implications for academic knowledge and CVE practice.

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