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Abstract:

In recent years, many deradicalization and reintegration programmes have been introduced in order to deal radicalised individuals and terrorists. In the current literature, these programmes have mainly been evaluated regarding the extent to which they lead to meaningful attitudinal and behavioural changes among enrolled ex-combatants. In contrast, little attention is usually paid to the willingness of civilians to accept ex-combatants back into their communities. However, civilians’ attitudes towards reintegration is a crucial precondition for such programmes to be successful. In order to gain new insights into civilians’ attitudes and willingness to reintegrate former terrorist fighters, we have conducted a conjoint experiment with a large pool of Nigerian university students (N > 2,100) concerning their willingness to reintegrate former Boko Haram fighters. In particular, we have examined how civilians’ attitudes are shaped by 1) certain background characteristics of former combatants, 2) their actions during their enrolment in Boko Haram, and 3) their behaviour since leaving the organization. While there is substantial resistance against having to reintegrate former fighters back into society, the conjoint experiment nonetheless elucidated how certain preconditions as well as actions undertaken by former combatants in the period after leaving Boko Haram can induce more support for reintegration. ¬¬