ABSTRACT
The history of disengagement and deradicalisation is complex. The concept of deradicalisation is rather new, while the concept of disengagement is older, yet its use exploded after 11 September 2001, and the growth of the Islamic State in the Levant. Yet, to start an exploration of disengagement and deradicalisation practices and theory with 11 September 2001 is misleading and loses much of the conceptual and practical heritage of the field as it stands today. Yet, this historical analysis also has to be limited due to the number of pages available for this chapter in this volume, and this chapter will mainly focus on individual and meso-level disengagement, rather than collective disengagement at group level. Attempts to get individuals to end criminal behaviour, and/or to stop believing in specific ideologies or religious systems deemed to be dangerous for society, have been ongoing for more than a century, and some of the concepts and techniques used today can be traced back to programmes established between World War I and the turn of the millennium.
