A Decade of Media Coverage of the Social Reintegration of Terrorism-Related Convicts: France as a Case Study

ABSTRACTThe social reintegration of terrorism-related convicts in Europe is a pressing issue. Public opinion can play an essential role in this by making it easier or more difficult to implement (and succeed with) social reintegration strategies. Considering the media’s influence on shaping public opinions, attitudes, and social representations, the present research offers a case study by reviewing a decade (2011–2022) of media coverage of the social reintegration of terrorism-related convicts in the seven most read national daily newspapers in France. Results reveal that the topic is very little covered, with 395 newspaper articles published over a decade, and mostly discussing deradicalization, specifically, rather than social reintegration at large. Cluster analysis via Reinert’s method reveals that when the topic is discussed it revolves around political and security management (political discourse and security measures), target population (radical Muslims and returnees), and tertiary prevention programs (programs in prison and open settings). A time series analysis of clusters shows their chronological evolution. These findings and their implications for generating (mis)trust in the social reintegration of terrorism-related convicts amongst the general public are discussed.KEYWORDS: Mediapublic opinionterrorismradicalizationsocial reintegration Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Data Availability StatementThe data supporting the findings of this study are available in Open Science Framework, along with more detailed information on the included newspaper articles, more examples of text segments for each cluster, the French materials (keywords, text segments, and Figure 2), and the interrater agreement: https://osf.io/q9bwv/?view_only=b92dabfe4c08488da5e19eea8dbcf28dNotes1. Europol, “European Union Terrorism Situation and Trend Report 2021” (Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2021), https://ctmorse.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/tesat_2021.pdf.2. MLRV, « La Stratégie Pénitentiaire de Lutte Contre la Radicalisation et le Terrorisme: Evolution et Dispositifs Actuels » [The Penitentiary Strategy to Fight Radicalization and Terrorism: Evolution and Current Arrangements] (paper presented at Journée d’études « Du milieu fermé au milieu ouvert: la réintégration sociale des personnes condamnées pour terrorisme », Lille, France, June, 10, 2022).3. Alpaslan Özerdem, “A Re-Conceptualisation of Ex-Combatant Reintegration: ‘Social Reintegration’ Approach,” Conflict, Security & Development 12, no. 1 (2012): 51–73, https://doi.org/10.1080/14678802.2012.667661.4. John Horgan, “Deradicalization or Disengagement? A Process in Need of Clarity and a Counterterrorism Initiative in Need of Evaluation,” International Journal of Social Psychology 24, no. 2 (2009): 291–298, https://doi.org/10.1174/021347409788041408.5. Fernando Reinares, “Exit from Terrorism: A Qualitative Empirical Study on Disengagement and Deradicalization among Members of ETA,” Terrorism and Political Violence 23, no. 5 (2011): 780–803, https://doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2011.613307.6. Emily A. Calobrisi and Raymond A. Knight, “Comparison of Community and Expert Samples in the Perceived Risk of Individuals Who Have Sexually Offended,” Sexual Abuse 35, no. 5 (2022): 568–595, https://doi.org/10.1177/10790632221139176.7. Jiyoung Lee and Yungwook Kim, “How Terrorism Cues Affect Attitude Polarization over Undocumented Immigrants via Negative Emotions and Information Avoidance: A Terror Management Theory Perspective,” The Social Science Journal, advance online publication, https://doi.org/10.1080/03623319.2021.1884777.8. Nour Kteily, Gordon Hodson, and Emile Bruneau, “They See Us as Less than Human: Metadehumanization Predicts Intergroup Conflict via Reciprocal Dehumanization,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 110, no. 3 (2016): 343–370, https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000044.9. Kyle A. Msall, “Perceptions of Extremists and Deradicalization Programs among University Students in Kuwait,” Journal for Deradicalization 10 (2017): 77–97, https://journals.sfu.ca/jd/index.php/jd/article/view/84.10. Roberto M. Lobato, Álvaro Rodríguez-López, Josep García-Coll, Manuel Moyano, and Mario Sainz, “Attitudes towards Terrorist Rehabilitation Programs: Psychological Mediating and Moderating Mechanisms,” Psychology, Crime & Law, advance online publication, https://doi.org/10.1080/1068316X.2022.2137164.11. Mary Beth Altier, “Criminal or Terrorist? Fear, Bias, and Public Support for Prisoner Reentry Programs,” Terrorism and Political Violence 35, no. 1 (2021): 83–103, https://doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2020.1866556.12. Dylan S. Campbell and Anna-Kaisa Newheiser, “Must the Show Go On? The (In)Ability of Counterevidence to Change Attitudes Toward Crime Control Theater Policies,” Law and Human Behavior, 43, no. 6 (2019): 568–584, https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000338.13. John Pratt, Penal Populism (London: Routledge, 2007).14. Cheryl Lero Jonson, Francis T. Cullen and Jennifer L. Lux, “Creating Ideological Space,” in What Works in Offender Rehabilitation: An Evidence-Based Approach to Assessment and Treatment, ed. Leam A. Craig, Louise Dixon and Theresa Gannon (Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2013), 50–68.15. Holly Kleban and Elizabeth Jeglic, “Dispelling the Myths: Can Psychoeducation Change Public Attitudes Towards Sex Offenders?” Journal of Sexual Aggression 18, no. 2 (2012): 179–193, https://doi.org/10.1080/13552600.2011.552795.16. Kristen M. Zgoba and Meghan M. Mitchell, “The Effectiveness of Sex Offender Registration and Notification: A Meta-Analysis of 25 Years of Findings,” Journal of Experimental Criminology 19 (2023): 71–96, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-021-09480-z.17. See note 12 above.18. Chrysanthi S. Leon, “Sex Offender Punishment and the Persistence of Penal Harm in the U.S.” International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 34, no. 3 (2011): 177–185, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2011.04.004.19. Catherine Happer and Greg Philo, “The Role of the Media in the Construction of Public Belief and Social Change,” Journal of Social and Political Psychology 1, no. 1 (2013): 321–336, https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v1i1.96.20. Serge Moscovici, “Notes towards a Description of Social Representations,” European Journal of Social Psychology 18, no. 3 (1988): 211–250, https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2420180303.21. Denis Chong and James N. Druckman, “Framing Theory,” Annual Review of Political Science 10 (2007): 103–126, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.polisci.10.072805.103054.22. Erving Goffman, Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of the Experience (New York City: Harper Colophon, 1974).23. William G. Jacoby, “Issue Framing and Public Opinion on Government Spending,” American Journal of Political Science 44, no. 4 (2000): 750–767, https://doi.org/10.2307/2669279.24. Germine H. Awad, “Does Policy Name Matter? The Effect of Framing on the Evaluations of African-American Applicants,” Journal of Applied Social Psychology 43, no. S2 (2013): 379–387, https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12026.25. See note 19 above.26. Anat Shoshani and Michelle Slone, “The Drama of Media Coverage of Terrorism: Emotional and Attitudinal Impact on the Audience,” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 31, no. 7 (2008): 627–640, http://doi.org/10.1080/10576100802144064.27. Eny Das, Brad J. Bushman, Marieke D. Bezemer, Peter Kerkhof, and Ivar E. Vermeulen, “How Terrorism News Reports Increase Prejudice Against Outgroups: A Terror Management Account,” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 45, no. 3 (2009): 453–459, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2008.12.001.28. Jörg Matthes, Desirée Schmuck, and Christian von Sikorski, “Terror, Terror Everywhere? How Terrorism News Shape Support for Anti‐Muslim Policies as a Function of Perceived Threat Severity and Controllability,” Political Psychology 40, no. 5 (2019): 935–951, https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12576.29. Ibid.30. Gordon Clubb, Edward Barnes, Ryan O’Connor, Jonatan Schewe, and Graeme A. M. Davies, “Revisiting the De-Radicalisation or Disengagement Debate: Public Attitudes to the Re-Integration of Terrorists,” Journal for Deradicalization 21 (2019): 84–116, https://journals.sfu.ca/jd/index.php/jd/article/view/279.31. See note 6 above.32. Adam Ghazi-Tehrani and Erin M. Kearns, “Biased Coverage of Bias Crime: Examining Differences in Media Coverage of Hate Crimes and Terrorism,” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 46, no. 8 (2023): 1283–1303, https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2020.1830573; Zachary S. Mitnik, Joshua D. Freilich, & Steven M. Chermak, “Post-9/11 Coverage of Terrorism in the New York Times,” Justice Quarterly 37, no. 1 (2020): 161–185, https://doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2018.1488985; Kimberly A. Powell, “Framing Islam: An Analysis of U.S. Media Coverage of Terrorism Since 9/11,” Communication Studies 62, no. 1 (2011): 90–112, https://doi.org/10.1080/10510974.2011.533599; Derek M. D. Silva, “The Othering of Muslims: Discourses of Radicalization in the New York Times, 1969–2014,” Sociological Forum 32, no. 1 (2017): 138–161, https://doi.org/10.1111/socf.12321.33. Zizi Papacharissi and Maria de Fatima Oliveira, “News Frames Terrorism: A Comparative Analysis of Frames Employed in Terrorism Coverage in U.S. and U.K. Newspapers,” The International Journal of Press/Politics 13, no. 1 (2008): 52–74. https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161207312676.34. Isabelle Garcin-Marrou and Isabelle Hare, “Presse Ecrite et Evénement Terroriste: Routines Narratives et Emergence de la Société Civile (1995-2016)” [Print Media and Terrorist Events: Narrative Routines and the Emergence of Civil Society], Le Temps des Médias 32 (2019): 153–169. https://doi.org/10.3917/tdm.032.0153.35. Caroline Guibet Lafaye and Ami-Jacques Rapin, « La Radicalisation »: Individualisation et Dépolitisation d’une Notion » [Radicalization: Individualization and Depoliticization of a Notion], Politiques de communication no. 8 (2017): 127–154, https://doi.org/10.3917/pdc.008.0127.36. Gordon Clubb and Ryan O’Connor, “Understanding the Effectiveness and Desirability of De-Radicalisation: How De-Radicalisation is Framed in The Daily Mail,” The British Journal of Politics and International Relations 21, no. 2 (2019): 349–366, https://doi.org/10.1177/1369148118819067.37. Gordon Clubb, Daniel Koehler, Jonatan Schewe, and Ryan O’Connor, Selling De-Radicalisation: Managing the Media Framing of Countering Violent Extremism (London: Routledge, 2021).38. Europol, European Union Terrorism Situation and Trend Report 2022 (Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2022), https://www.europol.europa.eu/publication-events/main-reports/european-union-terrorism-situation-and-trend-report-2022-te-sat.39. Ibid.40. Benjamin Ducol and Alex Wood, “Extremist Violence on French Soil in the Wake of the Charlie Hebdo Attacks and the New Lines of Public Action,” in Evidence-Based Work with Violent Extremists: International Implications of French Terrorist Attacks and Responses, ed. Martine Herzog-Evans and Massil Benbouriche (Lexington: Lexington Books, 2019), 125–155; Europol, 2022; Institute for Economics & Peace, Global Terrorism Index 2022: Measuring the Impact of Terrorism (Sydney, 2022), https://reliefweb.int/report/world/global-terrorism-index-2022.41. Ducol and Wood, “Extremist Violence on French Soil.”42. ACPM, “Classement Diffusion Presse Quotidienne Nationale 2021-2022” [National daily press circulation ranking 2021-2022], Alliance pour les chiffres de la presse et des médias, https://www.acpm.fr/Les-chiffres/Diffusion-Presse/Presse-Payante/Presse-Quotidienne-Nationale (accessed February 10, 2021).43. See note 3 above.44. For the original keywords (in French), see the Supplementary Materials.45. Pierre Ratinaud, “IRaMuTeQ: Interface de R pour les Analyses Multidimensionnelles de Textes et de Questionnaires” [Windows, GNU/ Linux, Mac OS X] [IRaMuTeQ: R Interface for Multidimensional Analysis of Texts and Questionnaires]. V. 0.7. GNU GPL, 2014, http://www.iramuteq.org/.46. Pierre Ratinaud and Pascal Marchand, « Recherche Improbable d’une Homogène Diversité: Le Débat sur l’Identité Nationale » [Improbable Search of a Homogenous Diversity: The Debate on National Identity], Languages no. 387 (2012): 93–107, https://doi.org/10.3917/lang.187.0093.47. Max Reinert, « ALCESTE, une Méthodologie d’Analyse des Données Textuelles et une Application: Aurélia de Gerard de Nerval » [ALCESTE, a Methodology for Analyzing Textual Data and an Application: Aurélia de Gerard de Nerval], Bulletin de Méthodologie Sociologique no. 28 (1990): 24–54, https://doi.org/10.1177/07591063900260010.48. Virginia Braun and Victoria Clarke, “Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology,” Qualitative research in psychology, no. 3 (2006): 77-101, https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa.49. Maria Marta Nolasco Chaves, Ana Paula Rodrigues dos Santos, Neusa Pereira dos Santos, and Liliana Müller Larocca, “Use of the Software IRAMUTEQ in Qualitative Research: An Experience Report,” in Computer Supported Qualitative Research, ed. Antonio Pedro Costa, Luis Paulo Reis, Francislê Neri de Sousa, Antonio Moreira, and David Lamas (New York City: Springer, 2017), 39–48; Teresa Forte, Iramuteq Tutorial, 2016, Sapienza University of Rome, http://www.iramuteq.org/documentation/fichiers/IRaMuTeQ%20Tutorial%20translated%20to%20English_17.03.2016.pdf; Lucas Monteiro, Rodrigo de Melo, Beatriz Braga, Julia de Sá, Lorena Monteiro, Maria Cunha, Thais Gêda, and Angela Canuto, “ALCESTE X IRAMUTEQ: Comparative Analysis of the Use of CAQDAS in Qualitative Research,” in Computer Supported Qualitative Research: New Trends in Qualitative Research, ed. António Pedro Costa, Luís Paulo Reis, António Moreira, Luca Longo, and Grzegorz Bryda (New York City: Springer, 2021), 67–79; Comparative Analysis.50. Martine Herzog-Evans, “French Prison Day Leave and the Rationale Behind It: Resocialisation or Prison Management?” European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research 26 (2020): 247–264, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10610-020-09445-4.51. Dedicated units, for a literal translation.52. Of note, although present in this cluster, participation in this center was on a voluntary basis for non-judicialized individuals.53. See note 19 above.54. See note 41 above.55. See note 35 above.56. See note 41 above.57. See note 36 above.58. It is important to note, however, that in their search, Clubb and O’Connor also included the Australian and Indian international sections, without specifying how many articles stemmed from these. It is not possible therefore to separate these from those pertaining to the U.K.59. See note 36 above.60. See note 60 above.61. Donald A. Andrews and James Bonta, The Psychology of Criminal Conduct (Routledge EBooks, 2016), https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315677187.62. Pål Grøndahl, Ingeborg J. Sandbukt, Christine Friestad, Ragnar Kristoffersen, Caitlyn P. Drinkwater, Daniel Richardson, and Gwenda M. Willis, “Fuel to the Fire? Newspaper Reporting of Sexual Offending Across the US, UK, Norway, and New Zealand,” Sexual Offending: Theory, Research, and Prevention 16 (2021): 1–22, https://doi.org/10.5964/sotrap.4205.63. Ken Dowler, Thomas Fleming, and Stephen L. Muzzatti, “Constructing Crime: Media, Crime, and Popular Culture,” Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice 48, no. 6 (2006): 837–850, https://doi.org/10.3138/cjccj.48.6.837.64. Marcos A. Hernandez, “True Injustice: Cultures of Violence and Stories of Resistance in the New True Crime,” IdeaFest: Interdisciplinary Journal of Creative Works and Research from Cal Poly Humboldt 3 (2019): 77-99, https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1053&context=ideafest.65. See note 63 above.66. See note 16 above.67. Sebastien Feve and Christopher Dean, Cooperating With Civil Society to Rehabilitate and Reintegrate Violent Extremist Prisoners (New York: Global Center on Cooperative Security, 2020)– https://www.globalcenter.org/resource/cooperating-with-civil-society-to-rehabilitate-and-reintegrate-violent-extremist-prisoners/.68. Gaëtan Cliquennois, “Vers une Gestion des Risques Légitimante dans les Prisons Françaises?” [Towards a legitimizing risk management in French prisons?] Déviance et Société no. 30 (2006): 355–371, https://doi.org/10.3917/ds.303.0355.69. Rajan Basra and Peter R. Neumann, Extremist Offender Management in 10 European Countries (London: International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation, 2020); See note 38 above.70. Powell, 2018; Silva, 2017.71. Silva, 2017.72. See notes 26, 27 and 28 above.73. Caitlin Ambrozik, “To Change or not to Change? The Effect of Terminology on Public Support of Countering Violent Extremism Efforts,” Democracy and Security 14, no. 1 (2017): 45–67, https://doi.org/10.1080/17419166.2017.1408010.74. John M. Berger, Extremism (Cambridge: Mit Press, 2018).75. See notes 36 and 37 above.76. Dorota Wnuk, Jason E. Chapman, and Elizabeth L. Jeglic, “Development and Refinement of a Measure of Attitudes toward Sex Offender Treatment,” Journal of Offender Rehabilitation 43, no. 3 (2006): 35–47, https://doi.org/10.1300/J076v43n03_03.77. See note 10 above.78. Gordon Clubb, Ryan O’Connor, Daniel Koehler, and Jonatan Schewe, The Importance of Public Relations in Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (The Hague: International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, 2022).79. See note 36 above.80. See note 42 above.81. Scott L. Althaus, Anne M. Cizmar, and James G. Gimpel, “Media Supply, Audience Demand, and the Geography of News Consumption in the United States,” Political Communication 26, no. 3 (2009): 249-277, https://doi.org/10.1080/10584600903053361; Jesper Strömbäck, Kajsa Falasca, and Sanne Kruikemeier, “The Mix of Media Use Matters: Investigating the Effects of Individual News Repertoires on Offline and Online Political Participation,” Political Communication 35, no. 3 (2017): 413–432, https://doi.org/10.1080/10584609.2017.1385549.82. ACPM, “Résultats OneNext Insight 2022” [Results OneNext Insight 2022]. Alliance pour les chiffres de la presse et des médias, https://www.acpm.fr/Actualites/Les-publications/Communiques-de-l-Audience/ (accessed September 5, 2022).83. William P. Eveland Jr., Mihye Seo, and Krisztina Marton, “Learning from the News in Campaign 2000: An Experimental Comparison of TV News, Newspapers, and Online News,” Media Psychology 4, no. 4 (2002): 353–378, https://doi.org:10.1207/S1532785XMEP0404_03.84. See notes 26, 27 and 28 above.85. See note 30 above.86. See notes 9 and 10 above.87. Marc Hecker, “Once a Jihadist, Always a Jihadist? A Deradicalization Program Seen from the Inside,” Focus Stratégique 102 (2021), https://www.ifri.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/hecker_once_a_djihadist_always_a_djihadist_2021.pdf.Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by the French National Research Agency, [grant number: ANR-20-CE39-0007/TROC project].Notes on contributorsCaroline Da SilvaCaroline Da Silva, PhD, is a Postdoctoral Researcher in social psychology at the University of Lille (France), laboratory PSITEC ULR 4072. Her research has two main areas of focus: identity processes, particularly identity misrecognition; and the socio-psychological underpinnings of engagement in (and disengagement from) radicalization and violent extremism.Nicolas AmadioNicolas Amadio, PhD, is an Associate Professor in social sciences at the University of Strasbourg (France) and Researcher at the laboratory LinCS, UMR 7069 (CNRS, Unistra)/Lab for interdisciplinary cultural studies. He currently coordinates the TROC research (Terrorists Reintegration in Open Custody -ANR-20-CE39-0007). His research work includes conflict studies, criminology and socio-legal studies.Rachel SargRachel Sarg, PhD, is an Associate Professor in social sciences at the University of Lorraine (France). Her research focuses on beliefs, radicalization and counterterrorism, justice, and the prison world.Bruno DomingoBruno Domingo, PhD, is an Associate Professor in political science at IDETCOM (Institut du Droit de l’Espace, des Territoires, de la Culture et de la Communication), Toulouse Capitole University (France), and an Associate Researcher at the Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme (FMSH, France). His areas of interest include security policies, radicalization and counter-terrorism phenomena.Massil BenbouricheMassil Benbouriche, PhD, is an Associate Professor in psychology and justice at the University of Lille (France). He holds a PhD in psychology (experimental social psychology), a PhD in criminology, and has experience as clinical psychologist with violent and sexual offenders. His research focuses on self-regulation in maladaptive behaviors.