Rehabilitation and reintegration of terrorism convicts in Norway : post-release prospects and perspectives on their future

Abstract

Approximately 100 individuals left from Norway to in the civil war in Syria, between 2011 and 2016 (PST, 2016). Today, roughly 40 of the Syria travellers have returned to Norway and eighteen of them have faced prosecution. The time has now come when several of the terrorism convicts have been released from prison and the Norwegian society is currently facing the challenges of rehabilitation and reintegration of these offenders (Hansen & Bjørgo, 2020; KDI, 2021; Svendsen, 2019c). This master thesis in International Relations uses a constructivist perspective on the discourse of rehabilitation and reintegration of terrorism offenders, by exploring the dialectic relations between citizens and their society. Through qualitative methods, this thesis consists of empirical data from the public and private sector associated with the concern of providing and facilitating rehabilitation and reintegration of these terrorism offenders, upon release. Additionally, the primary data of a released terrorism offender contributes with insightful and valuable perspectives on the topics of social exclusion, radicalisation and deradicalisation.