Moral Identity and Its Implications for Terrorist Rehabilitation

Moral considerations can play an important role in the terrorist disengagement process, but little is known about the function of moral identity and its reappraisal in terrorist rehabilitation programs. This paper aims to provide new insights into terrorist rehabilitation by examining individuals’ moral reorientation as part of their rehabilitative process. It draws on in-depth interviews with 24 clients of the Australian-based Community Integration Support Program, established to address the rehabilitation of those engaged in offending motivated by Salafi-jihadism. The results show that moral reorientation was an important element in the interviewees’ rehabilitative process by supporting their wellbeing and resilience to not only prevent their re-offending, but also inure them against the morally charged ideas that rationalized their offending behavior. It was through the lens of morality that many clients were able to accept and rationalize the changes in their lives and embrace futures that spoke directly to their self-perception as moral beings.