Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash

Exit highlights the act of leaving extremist groups or gangs, while the process of reintegration is often overlooked. Reintegration involves a wide array of behaviors and social change and is about much more than just not reoffending.

Research suggests that changes in individuals’ identity largely presuppose interaction and social negotiation with others. This makes social relationships crucial for individuals in the processes of learning new social and cognitive skills and behavioural norms. Yet, programs and public observations tend to downplay the difficult transition to democratic society as the importance of gaining access to an alternative social setting to develop a different position in majority society is frequently inadequately addressed. This illustrates how the individual’s capacity to navigation an alternative social setting inflicts on the potential for a successful reintegration, unless exit and reintegration support is further developed in theory and practice.

In my coming article, I argue that significant others and inclusive communities are key in supported processes of reintegration. Significant others are capable others, who know the social game in an alternative setting in democratic society and who in dialogue with the individual in transition can translate the social norms at work in each setting.

This is illustrated by the case of Ismael, a former gang member in Denmark. Following a prison sentence, Ismael enrolled in a folkehøjskole (folk high school), where he encountered a student body predominantly composed of individuals from middle- and upper-middle-class backgrounds. This cultural contrast highlighted the challenges of integration. As Ismael himself reflected in a 2020 lecture, his attitudes and life experiences marked him as an outsider, making it difficult for him to navigate the institution’s social environment.

Ismael’s reintegration was supported by his mentor, Søren, a teacher embedded within the social context Ismael aspired to join. Søren’s familiarity with the social and cultural norms of this milieu allowed him to act as a mediator. Søren in dialog with Ismael analysed the implicit codes of conduct to facilitated Ismael’s understanding of for example what personal experiences were appropriate to share and in which contexts. Initially, Ismael struggled with these distinctions, inadvertently unsettling his peers with narratives that starkly contrasted their own experiences.

Through ongoing dialogue, Soren helped Ismael reflect on these interactions and interpret the often-unspoken social rules.

This process of guided reflection enabled Ismael to assess his social and communicative choices more critically and adjust his behavior accordingly. Such reflective conversations not only increased Ismael’s social competence in an alternative social setting but also helped him manage the discomfort and insecurity that frequently accompany transitions into new social environments.

This example illustrates how linking social training to internal processes of reflection can provide individuals in transition with new perspectives and tools for future interaction in unknow social terrains.

Author biography 

Tina Wilchen Christensen is a researcher at Educational Anthropology at the Danish School of Education, Aarhus University. She is researching disengagement from extremist groups/gangs, reintegration processes and identity transformation, risk assessments and multi‑agency policy work in the Nordic countries.

tinc@edu.au.dk/
https://pure.au.dk/portal/da/persons/tinc@edu.au.dkwww.humanculture.dk