Securitization, Islamic chaplaincy, and the issue of (de)radicalization of Muslim detainees in Dutch prisons

Abstract

What position does organized Muslim chaplaincy in Dutch prisons take with respect to the prevention of radicalization and to the de-radicalization of detainees with a Muslim background? After describing the process of securitization of Salafism in the Netherlands, discussing the use of context-related concepts as radicalization, extremism and terrorism, and sketching the context and the making of Muslim chaplaincy, the article provides a brief overview of recent research on the relation between detention and (de)radicalization. Then, the stance of Islamic prison chaplaincy towards (de)radicalization of Muslim prisoners is described and analyzed in terms of goals, policy and practice. An expansive oligopolistic system of chaplaincy, representing various organized religions, seems to facilitate a relatively apolitical type of Islamic chaplaincy, which often acts as a countervailing force to the dominant trend of securitization.

Prison, Islamic Radicalization and the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy

“…According to Article 26 of the Penitentiary Law, the freedom of religion rule must be guaranteed even when someone is deprived of liberty and is an important element of re-educative prison treatment. Furthermore, this fundamental principle is one of the main arguments that academics and practitioners consider relevant when debating preventing and countering radicalization among prisoners (Baaken et al 2020;Vellenga and De Groot 2019). Freedom of religion also means having access to a specific food, enjoying special places for prayer and being able to count on the presence of spiritual guides who are formally recognized by the religious communities to which they belong.…”

Canadian Muslim Youth and the Complex Dynamics of State-Driven “Radicalization” Narratives

“…Studies show how self-image coupled with "radical" Islam can lead to "radicalization" (Drouin 2020), how universities can function as incubators for "radicalization" (Al-Badayneh 2011), and how social media (Tikhonov 2018; Kadivar 2017; Windsor 2020) and prisons can contribute to "radicalization" (Vaysov 2018;King et al 2021). A third set of literature explores how to prevent "radicalization.. Studies have explored the role Islamic chaplains (Vellenga and De Groot 2019) and school workers can play in detection and prevention (Beršnak and Iztok 2020). Others suggest what parents can do to curb the development of "extreme ideology" (Sikkens et al 2018).…”

In plain view: Gender in the work of women healthcare chaplains

“…In Canada’s public healthcare system, a whole chaplaincy team was made redundant ( Timmins et al, 2018 ). In the Netherlands, ‘the capacity for spiritual care in prisons has been reduced since 2008 to almost 50 percent’ ( Vellenga and De Groot, 2019 : 230). Chaplaincy teams thus often run on a bank of volunteers, affecting their status and visibility (e.g.…”

“…Third, where diversity and inclusion have been the feature of chaplaincy research, the common phenomenon of investigation has been religious diversity and multi-faith chaplaincy, not gender. Scholars have noted tensions between accommodating religious diversity and historical Catholic clout in Spanish prisons ( Martínez-Ariño et al, 2015 ), and in Dutch prisons Muslim chaplains managing a state system watchful of radicalisation by providing for all faiths ( Vellenga and De Groot, 2019 ). Eccles (2014) found that an Anglican Christian hospital chaplaincy in Northern England had become more multi-faith and person-centred in its approach because of its diverse constituency, while O’Donoghue (2020) reported that the nonreligious are inadequately provided for in healthcare chaplaincy in England.…”