REHABILITATION STRATEGIES IN COUNTERING VIOLENT EXTREMISM: LESSONS FROM THE UK'S SOCIO-RELIGIO-ACADEMIC MENTORING APPROACH

Abstract

Rehabilitation is a critical strategy in countering violent extremism (CVE), focusing on the reintegration instead of punishment. In this article, the author evaluates the effectiveness of a community-led model through Socio-Religio-Academic Mentoring (SRAM) approach, based in the UK in deradicalising and rehabilitating a person who fell into the pit of violent extremism. It compares the elements of SRAM, its results and how that may be adapted in Pakistan, where hard approach prevail. The study will also combine the qualitative interview and the quantitative survey using a mixed-method approach to assess the effects of SRAM. The qualitative study sample was a set of stakeholders of the CVE project in the UK, which included mentors, community leaders, and representatives of organisations such as Stockwell Green Community Services (SGCS), Khatme Nubuwwat Centre (KNC), and Ash-Shahada Housing Association (ASHA) based on interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs), and report of secondary data. The population of 500 students of 8 universities in Punjab Province, Pakistan, was the focus of the quantitative study, chosen through multistage random sampling as a survey on awareness and attitudes to extremism, which was supplemented by other interviews and FGD with Pakistani stakeholders. The instrumentations adopted in the study included semistructured interviews, focus group discussions, 35 items CVE awareness questionnaire (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.88) and secondary data analysis where NVivo was utilized as qualitative thematic coding and SPSS was utilized as quantitative descriptive statistics (Qureshi, 2025). Findings indicate zero recidivism and better life opportunities, which reflect community trust as important. Possible recommendations are incorporating SRAM in Pakistani universities and civil society collaborations with constraints observed on scalability and adaptation to the culture.