What Works to Prevent Radicalisation? A Realist-Inspired Review Of Educational Interventions

Abstract

Across Europe, the threat from extremist and terrorist violence is persistent. Although the groups, their ideologies and their attack methods might change, the problem does not seem to go away – people still become radicalised with terrible consequences. Because of this, more and more attention has turned to the question of prevention, and many programmes targeting specific populations at risk of radicalisation have emerged in response, with a push to do more and act earlier.

As a result, we are seeing a growing number of early prevention programmes targeting broad populations through educational approaches, before signs of radicalisation emerge. However, we know very little about whether and why specific programmes might work or fail, i.e. the lack of a clear theoretical explanation and therefore a causal linkage. This leaves us with questions: How do educational interventions work? Do they work for everyone, or only specific groups? Do they work everywhere, or only in certain contexts?

Our collaborative project will fill this gap in understanding by bringing together our complementary skills and expertise to answer the question: ‘What mechanisms underpin educational intervention programmes targeting radicalisation to violent extremism, and under what conditions are these programmes effective or ineffective?’ We will use a realist approach that builds on previous research, synthesising evidence from existing global studies to produce theoretical context-mechanism-outcome (C-M-O) explanations that will be valuable to policymakers, practitioners and researchers. A third collaborator on our project is a leading expert in systematic reviews and evidence synthesis, Dr Lisa Tompson (Associate Professor, University of Waikato, New Zealand). 
 

Dr Bethan Davies

Dr Bethan Davies is a Research Associate at the Security, Crime and Intelligence Innovation Institute (Cardiff University, Wales). Her main areas of research interest are extremism, terrorism, policing and social control. She is particularly interested in the ways extremism and terrorism have been developing in recent years, increasingly intersecting with issues of conspiracy theories, disinformation and violence fixation. Most recently, she has been exploring reactions to terrorism and the harmful social media content emerging in the aftermath. She regularly contributes to teaching in the School of Social Sciences (undergraduate and Master’s) as a guest lecturer in her areas of interest.

Dr Davies obtained her PhD in Criminology (Cardiff University) in 2023, with her research centring on early interventions to prevent the onset of extremism. Many of the interventions were educational programmes delivered to large groups of young people in schools and youth groups, with a view to increasing their awareness and general resilience to radicalisation.