Publications

The increase in extreme right-wing attitudes and behaviour among young people poses complex challenges for civil society counselling centres working in disengagment and exit work. The counselling centres that have joined up to form the Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Ausstieg zum Einstieg e.V. (umbrella organisation of civil society actors involved in exit and disengagement work in the context of the extreme right) have seen a significant increase in this target group in tertiary prevention. Schools, Youth Services and parents are increasingly turning to counsellors with concerns about sometimes very young individuals. Caught between the conflicting demands of providing individual support, structural overload and unclear responsibilities, these developments create educational, institutional and methodological challenges for the field of disengagement and exit work. The policy paper highlights the need for new age-appropriate, low-threshold methods, clear cooperation structures and specific qualification requirements in dealing with extreme right-wing individuals, child protection, psychological development and digital pedagogy, and formulates concrete needs for action and policy recommendations to strengthen disengagement and exit work in the long term and to be able to respond adequately to the needs of young people.