Case Study: College Far Right
Referral
The foster parent of a young man became concerned after discovering a Nazi flag and a picture of Adolf Hitler in his room. As a result, the foster parent also checked his internet history and found he had been accessing extreme right wing websites such as Stormfront. They then contacted Channel to pass on their concerns and seek support.
Checking and Information Gathering
In order to understand more about the young man, Channel officers contacted his college and agreed to attend as part of the information gathering process. They met with all the student’s teachers to identify any concerns and build up a bigger picture. Two of the teachers reported noticing concerning behaviour involving neo-Nazi views but had not known how to address it. Following on from the initial discussions, the college agreed to assist the Channel process and attended panel meetings with other partners to share their knowledge and discuss the best support for the young man.
Channel Support
After meeting the young man to discuss the initial concerns and inviting him to take part in Channel, he was offered a range of support. Home Office approved mentors were provided, who met with him at the college over a number of months. The mentors were retired police officers who specialise in countering extreme right wing issues, and were able to discuss and deconstruct some of his ideology. He was also assigned a personal mentor in the college who was able to provide practical advice and pastoral care.
Additionally as part of the Channel support, the young man was offered re-housing in another borough to assist him in getting away from the area that had possibly fed some of his views. Through the process he was also assisted in finding work experience in the area that he had moved to. After a number of months the young man exited from the scheme after it was felt the concerns had been successfully addressed.