Research into UK counter-radicalisation security strategies typically focuses on urban areas, and rarely focuses on Scotland. This research project will fill these gaps, as it examines the application of the UK’s PREVENT counter-radicalisation strategy in the Scottish Highlands and Islands. The project aims to assess the challenges and outcomes of counter-radicalisation measures in small, geographically isolated communities and the everyday impact of these policies. Not only will this provide a picture of how the policy has been utilised in this specific case, it would be one of the first studies of counter-radicalisation strategies in remote and rural communities.

The project will be conducted through interviews and focus groups with those on the front-line of implementing the PREVENT strategy, and through reviewing documents made available to those in these roles. This aspect is important to ensure that frontline voices are captured, and to allow those with the greatest first-hand experience to guide the research.