The government’s independent reviewer of anti-terror legislation, Jonathan Hall, was among the first to raise concerns about how growing numbers of autistic young people coming to the attention of Prevent.
In a speech for the think tank Bright Blue in 2021, Hall said the number of autistic young people referred to the anti-terror programme was “staggeringly high”.
In an email, Hall pointed out how Sir William Shawcross’s independent review of Prevent in 2023 suggested the notion of “vulnerability” had “bedevilled” discussion of the risk of terrorism.
Hall argues the idea of vulnerability has been “supercharged“ by the number of autistic young people arrested for terror offences.
He added, “The problem is that ‘vulnerability’ muddles susceptibility to involvement with terrorist content online, with considerations of the proper response.
“The latter often carries unrealistic implications that the health service, local authorities, or education are either designed or sufficiently resourced to deal with individuals who are often extremely isolated, living stressful lives, and now finding personal meaning in dark places online.”
There are no official statistics on the proportion of those who come into contact with the Prevent programme who have an autism diagnosis. But sources have suggested the proportion with autism, or who are neurodiverse, is between 40% and 60%.
Hall said the evidence for the view he first expressed in 2021 was based on information from counterterrorism police and his reading of the reports of terror trials and sentencing where neurodivergence was cited.
He added, “Since then, police, the UK government, and authorities worldwide have publicly recognised the strong presence of autism amongst young, mainly male individuals who are coming across the counterterrorism radar.”
Psychology professor Clare Allely, of Salford University, serves as an expert witness in cases where people with neurodevelopmental conditions, like autism, come onto Prevent’s radar. While she stressed that there is no official data, she echoed Hall’s sentiments that the numbers are very high.
Author of Autism Spectrum Disorder in the Criminal Justice System, Allely maintains that those who develop an obsession or fascination with extremism are often isolated and lonely. Many have also endured some form of childhood trauma, like bullying, that they are haunted by and brood on in later life.
In an article last year, Allely explored a risk assessment framework for autistic offenders. The framework designed by academic psychologists Dr Nadine Salman and Professor Zainab Al-Attar highlights seven facets of autism that “may have different functional links with push and pull factors to terrorism”.
These include narrow interests, rich vivid fantasies alongside an impaired social imagination, a need for order, rules and predictability and obsessional and repetitive tendencies like collecting. Other factors include social and communication problems, thinking styles, and sensory processing issues.
Allely stresses that only a tiny proportion of those with autism referred to Prevent commit offences. The academic said some may be referred because they develop an obsession that, while it sets alarm bells ringing, can be innocent.
For example, they may develop a fascination with guns rooted in an interest in their mechanics and how they work, rather than being an indication of violent intent.
Read more on Learning Disability Today.
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