1. Negotiating Detention: Insights From Northern Ireland
2nd May 2018
Dr Michelle Butler
Queen’s University Belfast

2. Extremism in prison
Different approaches used to manage prisoners deemed to be extremists:
Integration
Separation (isolation, concentration or dispersal)
Specialised prison units (SPUs) used to control interactions and/or facilitate the delivery of de-radicalisation and disengagement programmes.
No internationally agreed approach or underlying rationale but commonalities emerging through information-sharing and consultancy. Focus is primarily on the individual as being problematic.

3. SPUs Whether SPUs are used or not tends to depend on:
Previous experience of managing politically motivated individuals
Number of people to be managed
Capacity, size and skills of prison staff
Availability of resources
State of prison infrastructure and ability to maintain order
The cultural, political and social context
Modus operandi of the group and perceived vulnerability of wider prison population to ideology
In the SPUs literature, experience of NI is often misunderstood/minimised to a warning about concentration with reduced staff supervision, rather than linked to wider socio-political factors.
“…the policy makers were aware that other countries, such as Germany and Ireland, had had negative experiences with concentrating violent extremist prisoners and that such policies had caused a range of security problems in the past. Nevertheless, no measures were taken to prevent such undesirable outcomes, and information about previous experiences with concentration policies were deemed irrelevant.” (Veldhuis, 2016: 181-2)

4. What can we learn from the experience of NI?

5. Insights From NI
To attribute the difficulties NI experienced solely to concentration fails to recognise the many of these difficulties were occurring before this change and that concentration was partly adopted in response to these difficulties.
Events in NI suggest that:
SPUs should not be used as ‘quick fix’ solution to wider issues of overcrowding, staffing and governance, as ultimately they do not solve these problems.
Decisions about the use of SPUs and their regime can be based more so on short-term goals, achievement of political objectives and/or public sentiment rather than their ability to prevent conflict, promote disengagement and de-radicalisation or resolve underlying causes of conflict.

6. Insights From NI
Recognise that vulnerability to violent extremism is more likely to be due to events occurring within the community and/or how State policies (and/or the behaviour of those enacting these policies) affect minority groups more so than experiences in prison.
However, experiences in prison can play a role so:
Lessen overcrowding
Improve prison design
Strengthen staff numbers, training and ability to form ‘right’ relationships
Avoid gaps in staff governance and surveillance
Provide adequate resources for the prison population
Avoid distant, divisive, stereotypical cultures which may lead to unfair treatment and increased vulnerability to extremist ideology.
Ensure security is not prioritised at the expense of humane conditions or rehabilitation.

7. Need To Consider Social & political context
Wider prison related factors
Psychological characteristics & motivation
SPU
Impact on public legitimacy and community-relations.
Potential to be used to mobilise & justify violent extremism
Emphasis on short-term political goals or longer term outcomes
Extent to which wider societal factors are also being addressed
Size of the prison estate
Overcrowding & prison design
Staffing levels, training and capacity to provide good governance
Equality, fairness &, ‘right’ relationships
Adequate resourcing
Security balanced with humane conditions & access to programmes
Level of commitment to group ideology
Individual push and pull factors towards disengagement
Extent to which inclusion in ordinary prison population is challenging
Ethos and rationale
Selection criteria
Size and resourcing

8. Questions. Contact details: Email: michelle. butler@qub. ac
Questions? Contact details: Telephone: