Terrorism in Society Today
Emily C. Porter
Western Kentucky University
Abstract
Terrorism can be explained by three sociological theories. The theories are Functional Analysis, Conflict Theory, and Symbolic Interactionalism. Terrorist groups attack innocent people in the effort to gain power. In today’s society, terrorism is becoming a household term due to how common it is for an attack to take place. Only a month ago, New York City was attacked by an extremist related to ISIS.
Keywords: Attack, Power, Terrorism, Terrorist
Terrorism in Society Today
Throughout history, many different tactics have been used to gain political power. Methods such as war, wealth, and elections are among the most common around the globe. However, the method
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Symbolic Interactionalism is the perspective in which society is viewed as containing symbols in which people use to establish meaning, develop views, and communicate (Henslin, 2017, p.15). Individuals in society take action on perceived meanings that seem to be reasonable. If these individuals are in a group, it enables them to get approval of their meanings. Symbolic Interactionalist believe that terrorism can be explained with the Labeling Theory. It is an accepted fact that the act of terrorism is viewed as being deviant. This label causes more deviant acts to be carried out, which can give people a sense of power. Terrorist get so involved that have a changed sense of self-identity. They no longer view themselves as anything but a devoted member of their group, willing to take whatever assignment is given to them in order to accomplish their …show more content…
Almost a month ago, a terrorist attack occurred in New York City, New York. The terrorist drove a rental truck into a heavily utilized bike path in Manhattan. The rental truck also collided with a school bus. This horrible attack resulted in eight fatalities and twelve others hospitalized. According to CNN, the suspect was identified by two officers and shot almost immediately after the attack at the scene (Prokupecz, S., Levenson, E., Gingras, B., & Almasy, S). The suspect was identified as Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov from Asia, but he has been a United States resident for almost a decade. A note found at the scene connected him to ISIS, a well-known terrorist organization. In fact, this attack was featured in a newspaper written by extreme nationalist groups, the article claimed to be proud of the attack’s success (Hjelmgaard, K., & Bacon, J). There were many witnesses to this horrific attack of innocent people. Many eye-witnesses have reported hearing multiple gunshots, screaming, and chaos. Some even saw the tire tracks on the bicyclists who were ran over. Saipov is expected to live after receiving surgery for the gunshot wounds. He is being held without bail and did not plea. He “feels good” about the attack and has even requested an Islamic State flag to be hung in his hospital room (Hjelmgaard, K., & Bacon, J). This attack has not been the first in New York City. In fact, it occurred only blocks away from where the World Trade Center once stood before
Hoffman makes the argument that this “characteristic of self denial distinguishes the terrorist from other types of political extremists,” in that, under duress, even those extremists whose identification with their cause could prove illicit or disreputable, would admit to those appellations for themselves; however, this is not the case for the terrorist––Hoffman claims that those dubbed terrorists will “go to great lengths to evade and obscure any such inference or connection… The terrorist will always argue that it is society or the government or the socio-economic `system' and its laws that are the real `terrorists', and moreover that if it were not for this oppression, he would not have felt the need to defend either himself or the population he claims to represent,” (Hoffman 20). This is evinced by an anecdote offered by Terry Anderson, an American journalist taken hostage by Shiite Hezbollah militants for nearly seven years, wherein he details a conversation with one of his captors: upon reading a newspaper’s characterizing Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, the guard’s visceral reaction is a disassociation from the term, indignantly responding that “we are not terrorists, we are fighters” (Politifact). On the surface, the guard’s statement offers no tangible conclusion other than there exists a connotative
Bob Hawke once said; “Unless and until something concrete is done about addressing the Israeli-Palestinian issue you won't get a real start on the war against terrorism.” Perhaps Hawke put into a few simple words one of the most complicated issues within our world today, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As Israel continues to strip the Palestinians of their land and fears it’s very existence because of the Palestinians terrorist acts, there seems to be no solution in sight. The world appears to be split and all over the place when it comes to this matter. According to The Middle East Institute for Understanding approximately 129 countries recognize Palestine as a state while many others do not. Over all the political matters within this issue not only affect Palestine and Israel but the world as a whole, as the Middle East and the West seem to disagree. This has had and will continue to have an enormous impact on many political affairs all over the world particularly in the current fight against terrorism. Personally I feel that the Israeli Palestinian conflict while being a very complicated matter has a simple solution. Within this issue I am a firm believer that the occupation of the West Bank by Israeli forces is extremely unjust and must come to an end. Once this is achieved a two state solution will be the most effective way to bring peace to the area. The occupation of the West Bank violates political and legal rights, human rights, and illegally forces Palestinians who have lived in the area for hundreds of years from their land. This conflict is at the height of its importance and a solution is of dire need as nuclear issues arise in the Middle East due to the tension between Israel and it’s surrounding neighbors, and the...
Symbolic interactionism is the process of interaction in the formation of meanings for individuals who chose to behave in ways that guide by personal expe-riences and characteristics of the society (Society Made Me Do It). As we grow up as young kids and adults, we learn that drinking is bad for you. We see it in a lot of movies, videos, songs, and billboards. In our community we grow up with alcohol all around us with bars being just around the corner or looking in the fridge as a kid or young adult and seeing how much alcohol is in there from our parents makes people tempted to try it. Even going to parties at such a young age. Like for me when I was a freshman I had a senior brother so I would get invited to everything and I would just walk around and see every person there drinking and I would look at my brother and ask how everyone was getting him and his answer every time was that they were driving themselves home. This is how addicts of alcohol develop at such a young age and once you are addicted it is so hard to quit. Symbolic interactionism looks at the meanings behind it and signs of the behavior. Drunk driving is gloried in music videos and movies (Society Made Me Do It). This gives off a terrible perception. Everyone wants to do what their favorite actor does in mov-ies, so if they are encouraging drunk driving without implying it then
Over the past century, terrorism has advanced from random killings to enormous plans for terrorist groups. To understand terrorism, you must first define it. Terrorism as we all know it is hard to define and understand, and has many different definitions as it is used widely. The word "terrorism" stems from the word "terror", which means to instill fear in. People become terrorists when they take the actions towards instilling fear and terror upon people to prove a certain point or agenda.
... can all tie in together yet still be their separate types at the same time. State, religious, and international terrorism are probably the three most common types of terrorism the world experiences. When you look at where they are conducted, a lot happens in developing countries, you can start to see the big picture. Terrorism is everywhere, though it may be labeled different things in different areas. But in the end, it is a group fighting for a belief that they feel is just and true, and they will fight by any means necessary to protect that belief from any perceived threat, real or not. History has shown us that terrorism has always been around, though it has been labeled many things. It has also shown us that it is an evolving tactic, which proves that those groups who feel threatened can and will use any means to protect or fight for what they believe.
In Module one, I learned that terrorism is a result of physical harm or deadly acts of force with the intent of a political outcome by the use of terror for coercion. There are various types of terrorism such as international terrorism and domestic terrorism. International terrorism occurs outside of the United States with a purpose to influence the policy of a government by intimidation. International and Domestic terrorism both involve violent acts dangerous to human life that violate federal and state laws. Domestic terrorism occurs within the United States with the intention of coercion or intimidation by way of mass destruction, etc. Some forms of terrorism include Improvised explosive devices (IED), kidnappings, suicide bombings and
A United States citizen turning against one’s own government and embracing an ideology to kill another citizen or commit an act of violence is a growing phenomenon commonly known as homegrown terrorism. This transition or radicalization process that transforms an individual into an adversary has intensified since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The problem continues to persist in other parts of the world such as Canada, United Kingdom and even in Saudi Arabia, a Non-Western country. This form of extremism has shown its propensity in the United States since the turn of the century when Muslim extremism had its early beginnings as a venue to support a black separatist movement. Today, the threat emerges more rampantly with the accessibility and excess of information technology; as well as the political and socio-economic environment influencing many spectrums of perception and intent.
“‘Leaderless jihad,’ or compartmentalized terror cells acting independently, has created chaos on multiple continents,” and there are multiple major terror attacks in London, Mumbai, and Fort Hood that were all carried out by smaller terror cells, not connected to Al-Qaeda. (Tushinsk, 1) Any or all of the individuals participating in these terrorist cells could have seen the attacks on 9/11 and felt solidarity with Al-Qaeda and their mission, influencing them to seek out other lonely or marginalized members in their community, and do something they saw as helping the movement in some
There are several sources of power, some of them are authority, reward, expertise, and coercion.
The word terror dates back to the French Revolution. “A terrorist was, in its original meaning, a Jacobin who ruled France during la Terruer” (Moeller 20). Terrorism has clearly become much broader in the years since its origination. Since the concept was first birthed in France it has been used for separatist, nationalistic, political and religious ends, etc. In the book “Packaging Terrorism”, author Susan Moeller states that, “the goal of terrorism is to send a message, not to defeat the enemy”.
This article directly relates to the definition of sociology, which is the systematic study of social behavior and human groups. This news item is sociological because it focuses on terrorism which is an act of violence (social/deviant behavior) against a person, group, or an entire nation (human groups). This article focuses on the behavior of domestic terrorist groups or gangs of people such as “the white supremacists, anti government types, militia members, eco-terrorists and people that hate corporations.” [1] “They include violent anti-abortionists and black and brown nationalists who envision a separate state for blacks and Latinos.” [1] Throughout this article I will use domestic terrorist groups as the name for the groups listed above. (hate groups, etc.)
The word terrorism was first used during the French Revolution from the reign of terror inflicted by the French from 1784-1804 ("International Affairs"). It was used to describe the violent acts perpetrated on the French that inflicted terror on the various peoples and instilled fear within them. However, at the time it had a more positive connotation than the term that instills fear today. During the French Revolution this was because it referred to state-sponsored terrorism in order to show the need of state instead of anarchy, sometimes promoted by other groups (Hoffman 2). Therefore, even though terrorism has taken a new nature, terrorism can refer to official governments or guerrilla groups operating outside national governments ("International Affairs"). In order to encompass terrorism’s various sectors and explain it to the public, in both positive and negative aspects, many analysts have tried to put it into a few words. Terrorism is a method used by tightly of loosely organized groups operation within states or international territories that are systematic in using deliberate acts of violence or threats in order to instill...
Terrorism is one of the most extensively discussed issues of our time and at the same time it is also one of the least understood. The term itself “terrorism” means many different things to different people, cultures, and races. As a result, trying to define or classify terrorism with one universal definition is nearly impossible. The definition of terrorism used in this research is a reflection of much of the Western and American way of defining it. The definition of terrorism is,
In this world there are many different topics of controversy. With every controversial topic comes different views and arguments explaining why people believe what they do. There are problems that can be just within one country or throughout the entire world. Terrorism affects everyone in the world, specifically us as Americans, which is why it is one of the biggest controversial topics. Of course with a topic as big as terrorism, there are emic and etic perspectives involved. With past history, there are specific countries and religions that we think of when we hear the word terrorism, specifically Afghanistan, located in the Middle East and the Muslim religion in that general area. Being part of the American
Terrorism has a tremendous impact on society. It is a rational act of violence and its purpose is to change behavior in a specific society. Terrorism is a political act that is meant to achieve a goal through the act of violence. The nature of terrorism is the nonselective targeting of individuals or a group in society with a goal. The intentions of