JUSTICE TRENDS JUSTICE TRENDS Nr. 1 | June 2017 | Page 83

Radicalisation / Radicalización – Working in a prison is a dangerous, complex and stressful occupation. Prison staff faces a number of social problems – such as poor social status, role conflicts, demanding social contacts (with prisoners, colleagues, and supervisors) – and gender issues. – Besides the above mentioned issues, the correctional staff is now facing a complex challenge associated with the growing risk of inmate radicalization and terrorist recruitment inside bars. In response to this, starting from 2015, prison services from the Balkans under the coordination of Romanian Center for Prison Studies launched a series of events under the topic : “Pathways to radicalization and recruitment: intervention strategies in the Balkans, Central and South Eastern Europe”. The countries of the participating prison services were the following: Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Serbia and Bulgaria. The events represent important steps in getting in touch with more evolved practices, as the lecturers came from countries with experience in dealing with prison radicalization.In spite of the different levels of radicalization we face, as far the participants are concerned, we believe that the general context (for example: inmates having been housed in jails from across the border that face a high level of radicalization and afterwards are taken into the custody of the Prison Services; the potential imprisonment in the prison service of immigrants originating from foreign countries from terrorist conflict areas, or even the imprisonment of foreign fighters in Syria) makes it mandatory to take as many steps as possible in coming up with a proper early prevention mechanism. The key findings emerging from the events revealed the following main outputs : – Most Services feel that they currently do not have a major problem (some indeed feel they have no problem at all); – In almost all the jurisdictions, extremist/terrorist prisoners are typically allowed to mix (though facilities are available for segregation as there would be for any ‘problem’ prisoner); –Not surprisingly, staff training in the field of radicalisation is largely dependent on whether a problem is seen to exist; So we believe a 3C approach is impetuous in order to ensure early prevention: communication, cooperation, coordination. As a follow–up of these events, the participant countries will intend to push forward the learning process in radicalization by debating and sharing best practices in a learning hub for transnational prison services. A culture of cooperation and of inter–institutional/transnational communication and coordination between prison services from different countries is the appropriate way to get to know the best international practices, to implement these practices and after that to pass on the experience acquired. de radicalización, y del vivero de los Balcanes son retos serios y continuos a los que se enfrentan los administradores penitenciarios. – Trabajar en una prisión es una ocupación peligrosa, compleja y estresante. El personal penitenciario se enfrenta a una serie de problemas sociales – como estatus social deficiente, conflictos de roles, contactos sociales exigentes (con prisioneros, colegas y supervisores) y cuestiones de género. – Además de las cuestiones antes mencionadas, el personal correccional se enfrenta ahora a un desafío complejo asociado con el creciente riesgo de la radicalización de los reclusos y el reclutamiento de terroristas dentro de la carcél. En respuesta a esto, a partir de 2015, los servicios penitenciarios de los Balcanes bajo la coordinación del Centro Rumano de Estudios Penitenciarios lanzaron una serie de eventos bajo el tema: “Caminos hacia la radicalización y la reclutamiento: estrategias de intervención en los Balcanes, Europa Central y Sudeste”. Los países de los servicios penitenciarios participantes f