Abstract
This article provides a critical comparison of the present knowledge base on desistance from crime and current writings on disengagement and deradicalization from violent extremism. Underlying the comparison is the fundamental premise that while violent extremism is a particular and perhaps egregious form of crime, it is a form of crime nonetheless, meaning that violent extremist offenders are not beyond the remits of the desistance framework. As of yet, however, there have been few attempts to connect these two research domains in a systematic way. Against this background, the present article intends to trace the outlines of both bodies of knowledge so as to determine the degree of overlap between these two kindred literatures. The results of this integrative literature indicate that studies on criminal desistance and violent extremist disengagement echo the same basic mechanisms of change, but also that differences in context affect how these mechanisms take shape. In highlighting the implications for theory, the findings of this review illustrate, above all, how a closer association between these two fields of study enriches our understanding of both.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
