Understanding extremism in Scotland: research findings

Footnotes

1 The term ‘Islamist extremism’ is UK Government terminology (Home Office, 2018) that is also adopted in Scotland.

2 The mixed, unstable and unclear ideology is a category of Prevent referral, defined as ‘instances where the ideology presented involves a combination of elements from multiple ideologies (mixed), shifts between different ideologies (unstable), or where the individual does not present a coherent ideology yet may still pose a terrorism risk (unclear) (Police Scotland, 2023).

3 The review focused on countries which had an official, publicly available definition of extremism which was available in English; a comparable level of socioeconomic development to Scotland and the wider UK; and a tradition of democratic governance. These criteria led to the identification of 13 countries for inclusion: Australia; Austria; Canada; Czech Republic; Denmark; Finland; Germany; New Zealand; Norway; Slovakia; Sweden; the United Kingdom; and the United States.

4 This definition differs in other parts of the UK, where a ‘professional’ describes a frontline public sector worker and a ‘Prevent practitioner’ describes someone in a Prevent-related role.

5 Practitioners with a designated Prevent aspect to their role had additional Prevent-related responsibilities beyond being expected to comply with the Prevent duty, such as managing Prevent concerns made by colleagues.

6 The incel community is comprised of individuals who feel rejected by women – and arguably society more generally – and turn to the Internet to voice their anger, and often, desire for revenge (Regehr, 2022).

7 PMAPs are a key part of Prevent and involve using a multi-agency approach to assess the nature and extent of an individual’s vulnerability and develop an appropriate support plan.

8 Intervention Providers are specialists who are commissioned to increase ideological or theological understanding, and to challenge extremist ideas and fixated thinking among individuals referred to Prevent.