Jihadi recruits ‘sane, settled and not sorry’, says Lowy study

The average Australian jihadi has no mental health issues and shows little remorse for crimes.

Lowy Institute research fellow Rodger Shanahan.

The average Australian jihadi has no mental health issues, shows ­little remorse for his crimes and has poor prospects for ­rehabilitation.

The most comprehensive study conducted into the backgrounds of Australian extremists has challenged many myths surrounding the causes of Islamist violence, downplaying socio-economic factors as a cause of radicalisation and suggesting ­religious zealotry and a desire for status are the main drivers.

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It has also raised serious questions about the wisdom of key elements of Australia’s counter-terrorism response, in particular the millions of dollars poured every year into unproven deradicalisation programs.

The Lowy Institute study ­examined the backgrounds of 173 Australians either convicted of terrorism offences or who travelled or tried to travel to fight in Syria. It studied their family history, level of education, employment record, marital status and criminal record.

It found the average jihadi was male, 25 years old, had no criminal record, hailed from a stable home, was a second-generation migrant and was sane at the time of the offending.

He was likely to be between 26 and 27 at the time of joining Islamic State, slightly younger than his US counterpart who generally joined at age 28.

The study also tracked the court cases of 40 terrorism prosecutions and found that in fewer than 10 per cent of instances, the offender showed remorse for his crime, a finding that raises questions about the efficacy of the many deradicalisation programs run in both the prison system and the community.

It also revealed that only a small portion — 29 per cent — were deemed by their sentencing judge to have good prospects for rehabilitation.

The study found that contrary to popular opinion, mental health disorders played little or no meaningful role in the vast majority of terrorism cases, even when it was cited as a factor by defence ­lawyers. “In other words, offenders knew what they were doing, aren’t sorry for what they did and don’t have great prospects for rehabilitation,” Lowy Institute research fellow Rodger Shanahan, the study’s author, concluded.

“This challenges the assumptions of those who have claimed that jihadi terrorists were variously affected by mental health ­issues and therefore didn’t really know what they were doing or were passive dupes, were caught up in some type of youthful misadventure or misled and would be contrite once they saw the error of their ways or were exposed to the correct teachings of Islam.’’

Unlike European jihadis, most Australian extremists were cleanskins, with almost 90 per cent of them having either minor or no criminal record.

Again, the finding challenges a common stereotype of the gangster jihadi drawn to extremism as a pathway to redemption.

 

“The ‘jihadi in pursuit of salvation’ argument holds little weight,’’ the study found.

Since 2012, more than 200 Australians travelled to fight with Islamic State or other Islamists groups, part of the largest wave of jihadi migration in history.

Most were attracted to Islamic State’s so-called caliphate, which stretched across Syria and northern Iraq.

Some, like Australian terrorist Khaled Sharrouf, had extensive criminal histories and mentally illnesses, reinforcing a popular narrative that jihadis were inherently violent or psychologically unstable. When the caliphate was destroyed by Kurdish and Syrian forces in March, the survivors were driven to a northeastern pocket of the country, where they were interned in refugee camps by Kurdish forces.

About 60 Australians, mostly women and children, live an uncertain life in al-Hawl refugee camp with no guarantees they will be returned home. Many have claimed they were duped into crossing into Syria, claims undermined by the Lowy Institute study.

Dr Shanahan said while the motivations of jihadis, as opposed to their backgrounds, lay beyond the scope of the study, the initial research tended to indicate the main drivers were religious rather than socio-economic.

“Their points of reference on social media and when they talk to each other privately are religious,” he said.

“Their language is about religious identification. A lot of what they download and view is religiously motivated. They see the world through a religious prism.’’

Dr Shanahan said more than 50 per cent of radicals were either married or had been married and 60 per cent were second-generation migrants.

Most extremists (40 per cent) were of Lebanese descent despite Lebanese-Australians comprising just 15-20 per cent of Australia’s Muslim population, the report found. Afghanistan was the ­second-largest source country followed by Turkey and Somalia.

Unlike the US and Europe, where more than 20 per cent of extremists are converts, in Australia converts comprised just over 8 per cent of all radicals.