Development of Counter-Narrative Delivery Strategies by Former Terrorist as Disengagement Effort In Indonesia

Disengagement has a strategic role as an effort to change the radicalism level for terrorist actors who have been exposed to radical thinking so they willing to leave the violence group. To reduce the radicalism level, effective counter-narrative delivery strategies is needed to influence the terrorist offender’s mindset. One of the narrators that could be considered is former terrorists. Former terrorists give a positive influence in accordance with their experience in undermining the narrative carried by the radical groups. The offenders will assume that the ideology they believe is no longer relevant. This study is expected to contribute to the development of counter-narrative delivery strategies trough former terrorist involvement so that disengagement effort can be maximized. In this study, the author will use a qualitative method to understand a phenomenon in more personal and detail way. The result of this study observes with the right engagement strategy, the former terrorist can be an effective agent to change the perception through the mastery of the narrative it possesses. The former terrorist cannot be considered an outsider in the disengagement program, but they need to be more actively involved because they could act as credible narrator.