Rehabilitation and Reintegration: The Often-Forgotten Step towards Positive Peace

An article contibruted by Elyzabeth Bonethe Nasution, Lecturer at Universitas Pelita Harapan
Rehabilitation and Reintegration: The Often-Forgotten Step towards Positive Peace

We all desire peace. But what is peace? Just like other theoretical terms, it is challenging to define peace. To quote Barash & Webel (2008), “But like happiness, harmony, justice, and freedom, peace is something we recognise by its absence.” 

 

So, Johan Galtung (1964), the founder of peace studies, proposed “negative” and “positive” peace. Negative peace is the absence of war or direct violence. Positive peace is the simultaneous presence of desirable states of mind and society, such as trust, justice, harmony, etc. In other words, positive peace is the absence of indirect violence (Galtung, 1964, 1969).

 

Direct violence includes physical assault (beating, killing, torturing, etc.), riot, terrorism, and war. Meanwhile, indirect violence covers structural poverty, discrimination, social injustice, Apartheid, hatred, distrust, racism, sexism, and intolerance (Galtung, 1990). In short, positive peace is the integration of human society. 

 

So now we understand that peace is related to violence. When people are still killing each other, we have no peace at all. When we stop killing, we will have negative peace. But the absence of killing does not necessarily equal the absence of distrust or hatred, especially between the victims and the perpetrators. This is when Reintegration and Rehabilitation come in. 

 

Getting to Know Rehabilitation and Reintegration

Within the Preventing/Countering Violent Extremism (P/CVE) framework, Rehabilitation and Reintegration are crucial components to disrupt the cycle of radicalisation and violence, allowing positive peace to take place. Rehabilitation and Reintegration are even more important within the national security framework as the two help states deal with terrorism. There are two targets in Rehabilitation and Reintegration: (1) offenders (including terrorists and foreign fighters) and individuals who have been exposed to radicalism, and (2) society (GCTF, 2016). 

 

Regarding offenders, we rely on the Rehabilitation strategy. Rehabilitation aims to alter the radical beliefs and behaviours of offenders who have been involved in or are at risk of becoming involved in violent extremism. As for society, we count on the Reintegration strategy. Reintegration directs the smooth transition of offenders who have disengaged from violent extremism back to society. Together, Rehabilitation and Reintegration are part of Deradicalization. In Indonesia, the two strategies are regulated under Law No. 5 / 2018.

 

Rehabilitation and Positive Peace

After being caught by authorities, offenders usually undergo a particular process to be corrected. The objective of the process is to deconstruct the wrong ideology – in this case, radicalism – and reconstruct counter-narratives, such as patriotism. The process usually occurs in penitentiary institutions and often involves civil society organisations. Why in penitentiary institutions? Keep in mind that these offenders are the perpetrators of large-scale terrorist activities that include violence and the use of armaments. 

 

Rehabilitation embarks on this logic: “If an individual can adopt radical beliefs and attitudes that lead to violent extremism, then the individual can also abandon those beliefs and attitudes” (European Commission, 2024). Thus, Rehabilitation requires a holistic approach. First, to understand the mental state of the offenders is paramount. Psychological support that covers counselling and therapy to address severe trauma, acute mental health issues, and emotional resilience is a must. To help with this, the presence of family members and even religious leaders is vital. Secondly, Rehabilitation must include programs that provide education and vocational training so that once the offenders are released, they have skills to build new lives. Thirdly, it is paramount for Rehabilitation to incorporate programs that counter radical ideologies (European Commission, 2024).

 

In what way is Rehabilitation correlated with positive peace? If we look carefully, the three approaches mentioned in the previous paragraph seek to stop direct violence mainly. As direct violence stops, the chance to achieve negative peace increases. This is the first step to positive peace.

 

Reintegration and Positive Peace

Once offenders are rehabilitated, they will be released. Now, imagine this scenario. Several offenders – who have committed some serious violence to society and certain countries, or worse, their own country – are now planning to go back to society, hoping that they can live normally again. What will be the most likely scenario? Yes, society will refuse them, and they end up isolated. Yes, they will be incapable of functioning, including being economically productive. Yes, they will relapse and go back to using violence and radical ideologies. All three are realistic but not ideal.

 

As we recall, positive peace is an integration of human society. Thus, similar to Rehabilitation, Reintegration also requires a holistic approach. Society must learn to forgive and trust again and be strengthened and vigilant. Offenders must learn new abilities, work hard to gain the trust of their people, and, in the process, be supported by family members. The government must provide a mechanism to supervise, monitor, and evaluate the Reintegration process and watch for potential relapse into extremism (European Commission, 2024).

 

Yes, Positive Peace is Possible

Peace was restored when Nelson Mandela decided to forgive the prison guard who had hurt him inhumanely. It took great courage for the prison guard to appeal to Mandela. In our era, the offenders must learn from the prison guard. It took much forgiveness for Mandela to pardon the prison guard. In our time, society must learn from Mandela. But, yes, positive peace is possible.

 

References

Barash, D.P. & Webel, C.P. (2008). Peace and Conflict Studies. 2nd edition. California: SAGE Publications. Inc.

European Commission. (2024). Spotlight – Rehabilitation and Reintegration. https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/document/download/8379618f-31f2-48dc-a8d6-83d6a541643d_en?filename=spotlight_on_rehabilitation_and_reintegration_042024_en_0.pdf 

Galtung, J. (1964). An Editorial. Journal of Peace Research, 1 (1), 1-4.

Galtung, J. (1969). Violence, Peace and Peace Research. Journal of Peace Research, 6 (3), 167-191.

Galtung, J. (1990). Cultural Violence. Journal of Peace Research, 27 (3), 291-305. 

Global Center. 

Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF). (2016). Rome Memorandum of Good Practices for Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Violent Extremist Offenders. https://www.thegctf.org/Portals/1/Documents/Framework%20Documents/2016%20and%20before/GCTF-Rome-Memorandum-ENG.pdf?ver=2016-09-01-121309-677

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SEAN-CSO provides a platform for civil society organisations in Southeast Asia to network and share resources. Through this network, members can support each other, share knowledge, and coordinate efforts to address the region’s social challenges. In doing so, SEAN-CSO contributes to strengthening the voice of civil society at both regional and international levels.


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