Processus de radicalisation en milieu carcéral : de la criminogenèse à la radicalogenèse

Abstract

ObjectivesTo demonstrate the process of radicalisation within the prison environment, via the notion of radicalogenesis, by analogy with the concept of criminogenesis While the latter focuses on the pre-criminal situation and studies what prompts a subject to engage in criminal activity, for the genesis of radicalisation we concentrate on the post-criminal situation of individuals, in order to untangle the stages that can bring a prisoner to become radicalised. MethodAn analysis of the literature on the process of radicalisation, and on the genesis of criminality; this is backed up by the methodology of clinical follow-up in the context of the psychological/psychotherapeutic work undertaken with detainees over a period of six years in French prisons. ResultsThe results from the follow-up of detainees caught up in a process of radicalisation, and from the review of the literature show that the prison environment can facilitate radicalisation through a process whereby the identity of an individual becomes more vulnerable following a criminal act that leads to incarceration – an act that is sometimes traumatic for the perpetrator. DiscussionHaving summarised, in table form, the different theories of radicalisation, and discussed their points of similarity/difference, we describe four phases in the genesis of radicalisation: vulnerable identity, dis-identification, conversion and re-identification, radicalisation. We want to emphasise that this process is strictly individual and depends on the subjective structure of the person becoming radicalised. ConclusionsWe reiterate the importance of psychological/psychotherapeutic support in prisons, particularly for the more vulnerable individuals, and those made more vulnerable still by their acting-out. Without this support, the individual risks becoming radicalised in order to find a new pole of identification, as a means of survival.