Social reintegration of former al-Shabaab militants: How formal channels help mitigate threat perceptions

What drives host community preferences towards the reintegration of former Islamist militants? While recognizing the importance of host communities in the reintegration process, empirical evidence on the factors influencing community support for reintegrating former Islamist militants remains limited. We hypothesize that community preferences are shaped along perceived threat level influenced by three factors: organizational profile, identity traits, and reintegration channels. We empirically examine these using a conjoint survey involving Somali civilians from three cities with DDR centers and a separate survey of former al-Shabaab DDR graduates. Our results show that security-related attributes, such as involvement in killings, recruitment history, and unit association wield a substantial influence on threat perception. Heightened threat perceptions play a key role in shaping wartime preferences, explaining how host communities categorize security threats. Notably, our results underscore community preference for DDR program graduates and those granted government amnesty over ex-fighters reintegrated through traditional channels, highlighting the efficacy of formal reintegration channels in managing community threat perceptions compared to informal pathways.