Rehabilitating Terrorists Through Counter-Indoctrination: Lessons Learned From The Saudi Arabian Program

• Published in: International criminal justice review Vol. 21; no. 2; pp. 118 - 133
• Main Authors: Lankford, Adam, Gillespie, Katherine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.06.2011; College of Public and Urban Affairs, Georgia State University
• Subjects: Al Qaeda; Counterterrorism; Indoctrination; Pedagogy; Recidivism; Rehabilitation; Rehabilitation of criminals; Saudi Arabia; Social psychology; Terrorism; Saudi Arabia; Saudi Arabia; recidivism; rehabilitation; indoctrination; terrorism; Al Qaeda
• ISSN: 1057-5677; 1556-3855
• DOI: 10.1177/1057567711407333

For years, experts have agreed that Saudi Arabia runs the best terrorist rehabilitation program around the world. However, recent events, including Al Qaeda’s December 25, 2009, attempt to blow up Northwest Flight 253, which put 289 innocent lives in danger and was apparently planned by a program graduate, have raised serious doubts. This study reexamines the leading social—psychological explanations for terrorist indoctrination to determine whether Saudi Arabia’s rehabilitation program seems properly designed to reverse the indoctrination process. By identifying both the elements of indoctrination that the Saudi Arabian program appears to counter and the elements which it fails to address, this study provides new recommendations for how terrorist rehabilitation programs can be significantly improved around the world.