Religious assessment and reintegration responses: the use of religious supports within prison-based services in Australia

ABSTRACT

Religious/Ideological motivation often features prominently in both expressed motivation for and disengagement/de-radicalisation from violent extremism. This paper aims to identify indicators of religion in framing some of the offenders’ motivations as engaged through the prison-based services in Australian jurisdiction. It is suggested that, rather than being a primary motivator for extremist behaviours, religion/ideology is a frame through which intrinsic motivations are expressed. This paper highlights how the Theological Assessment undertaken by prison-based services in Australia can play a role in utilising the religious/ideological frame of the offender to understand their intrinsic motivations, assess their risks, and create specific reintegration responses as part of its tailored multi-disciplinary, case management approach.

KEYWORDS:

• Violent extremism
• religious intervention
• extremism
• ideology
• risk assessment
• theological assessment

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 Current as of April 2021.