De-Radicalization: Legal and Policy Framework in Italy

Abstract

In the past fifty years, Italy has experienced several waves of radicalization. The political strand concerns right wing, leftist, and anarchist terrorism; others relate to separatist movements and radical ecologies.^[1] Nevertheless, there is no national plan addressing radicalization or extremisms in a broader sense though some (official) good practices have developed in prison settings, such as religious counselling, psychological support and other activities preventing inmates from alienation and marginalization that prison environments may exacerbate. Moreover, states' response to (de)radicalization has mostly been repressive, relying on criminal law - though mitigated by the principles of social solidarity and human dignity as typical features of a plural constitutional state. The institutional actors involved in deradicalization are the same as those working in the counterterrorism networks and their responses are harnessed by a coordinated activity among intelligence, the armed forces and the Courts. A substantive role is played by the third sector and NGOs as well. They often work at an unofficial level in support of the public institutions, owing to the lack of a formal legal framework to rely on for their activities...