More and more in the world today, circumstances have brought about changes in how members have used radical protesting. One way used to protest a situation is through terrorism, and the people who exercise violence in the pursuit of what they hold to be just causes are alternately known as terrorists. This movement, although viewed as barbaric, requires a person to view the needs and goals of a particular cause to be greater than that of the well being of others. There are certain characteristic traits that can be found in the majority of terrorism, which can identify a profile of a terrorist’s mind. A terrorist is not just an insane person, but also possibly a person that has been forced either by personal decision or by situations beyond control to choose an “insane” method to achieve an unachievable goal.
The fundamental beginning of a terrorist organization is the adoption of a cause that, in most cases, entails the liberation of a group of people. This group may base their claims on history (real or hastily concocted), on a common heritage, on a language shared by the members of the group and, most important, on hate and contempt directed at an enemy (Reich 10-11). The Middle East is plagued with many different Zionists that all have a “historical claim” to Jerusalem, also known as the city of Zion. The Hizballah organization is one of the most dangerous terrorist groups in the Middle East. This organization has achieved power from the heroic view of jihad (holy war), the state funding received from the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the organizations “natural born right” to Israel, especially Jerusalme, due to the belief that the Jews are nothing but land-squatters. The Hizballah have used the hatred and contempt that the Muslims have for the Jews occupying the city of Zion to gain support for the liberation of Lebanon.
This brings about the first personality characteristic of an oppressed person or people. There is a high frequency among terrorist of psychological damage during childhood (Reich 27). While not all terrorists come from battered homes, there is a great number that come from fragmented families where one or both of the parents were not present.
Another personality characteristic of a terrorist is dedication. A terrorist cannot be a casual or part-time mercenary, willing to operate only when the acts of violence suit the convenience of a cause.
Islamic terrorists are estimated to comprise approximately 10% of the Muslim population, which is equivalent to 160 million out of 1.6 billion people. A terrorist is defined as a person who engages in violence and the infliction of fear in order to gain something either for themselves or for their people. Most Muslims are not terrorists. It is stereotypical to deduce that all Islamic people are involved terrorist groups, however, there are many people who are involved in these groups. Islamic terrorist groups use religion to justify their violent movement by claiming that their religion is the only just religion, strictly following religious leaders and sacred texts, and preserving their aboriginal religious beliefs.
It is therefore imperative that the fight against terrorism focuses on preventive rather than reactive strategies that involve understanding how terrorism works and what can be done to prevent terror attacks. One way of achieving this is through learning the psychology of terrorist group recruitment. Understanding this psychology is important as it will raise awareness to the general public to understand how terrorists are recruited and how they can avoid being recruited into terrorist organizations. In addition, anti-terrorist groups and policy experts may use this knowledge to develop interventions or policies that discourage and prevent terrorist group recruitment. This paper will focus on the psychology of terrorist group recruitment and the discussions will be summarized at the end.
What internally drives a terrorist’s motivation varies from subject to subject. While the average American citizen would likely be quick to point terrorists hate the western way of life and what it represents, the issue is far more complex. Simon Cottee’s article “What Motivates Terrorists?” (2015), looks at various levels of motivation. Prior definitions of terrorism looked at the defining cause as possibly psychological abnormalities within in the individual (Cottee, 2015). As studies have evolved, the focus has shifted to the environment in which the terrorist is surrounded. While certainly there is cases in which a person who is mentally unstable could be an ideal target for terrorist propaganda, the number of cases involving mental
As David Canter stated in his book, The Faces of Terrorism: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, “Terrorism is multifaceted and, as a consequence, no one explanation, theory or discipline will ever fully account for all terrorist activities. However, the psychological and social psychological processes that lead any given person to commit a terrorist act tend to have been under-represented in the terrorist literature. This is doubtless in part due to the difficulty of conducting studies that engage directly with those individuals who carry out terrorist acts.” (Canter 1) Basically, Canter discusses how terrorism, as discussed before, is not a one-sided act.
Just like any cult, terrorism has several stages that a follower must undergo before becoming a fully established terrorist. Under the social psychological conditioning theory, there are five phases that a terrorist must go through before becoming a complete radical (Siegel 123). The phases in social psychological conditioning fit very well with the cultic condition present in terrorism.
Being that the rate suicide terrorism has amplified globally and has taken many lives in the process it can be seen why this issue may be of significance. Furthermore this issue is of relevance because this method of resistance kills more than any other tactic (Ashworth, Clinton, Meirowitz, and Ramsay, 1). Therefore it can be seen as to why this issue is of such important. Many have speculated as to what exactly motivates such behavior. Robert Pape defines suicide terrorist as one who is willing to sacrifice his life as well as the lives of others in hopes to coerce his opponents. Experts , including Pape, have wondered what causes an individual to take such drastic measures. Others have also proposed possible solutions to this issue. It will be seen as to what those solutions are and the possible issues that these solutions may be comprised of.
Terrorism is a threat that plagues our world every day. People are constantly warning travelers to beware of the threats of other nations, but terrorism and violence do not exclusively happen in only a few countries. Unfortunately, violence can be found all around the world. In “Thinking Rationally About Terror,” Lawrence Krauss reports his own experience of dealing with the reality of terrorism in the San Bernardino shooting. I have had a similar experience to Krauss’s when I took an educational trip to France this summer. We were both shaken at the realization that there are people in the world who aim to hurt others, but at the same time we cannot let the radicals achieve their goal of scaring the world.
“Terrorism involves the use of violence by an organization other than a national government to cause intimidation or fear among a target audience;” at least, this is how Pape (2003) defines terrorism in his article “The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism” (343). The goal of this article by Pape is to discuss suicide terrorism and how it “follows a strategic logic, one specifically designed to coerce modern liberal democracies to make significant territorial concessions” (343). Similar to Pape, Bloom (2004) and Horowitz (2010) also delve into the exponential increase of suicide terrorism and why it occurs. Although Pape, Bloom, and Horowitz concur that suicide terrorism is increasing, they disagree why it is so prominent. While the arguments presented from each of these researchers is powerful and certainly plausible, suicide terrorism is in fact not irrational, but strategic and is most often caused by state occupation and, when organized, aimed specifically at democracies.
Many analysts, researchers, and professors have tried to define the purpose of terrorism. Some believe that can only be achieved when we know how the mind of a terrorist works. The Encyclopedia Britannica describes terrorism as, “The systematic use of violence or threat of violence by organized groups to achieve specific goals. Terrorist activities may be directed against individuals, organizations or governments. Terrorism is employed by radical groups to obtain concessions from established governments, such as a change in policies unfavorable to them or the release of imprisoned members of their organizations…” (Encyclopedia Britannica. “Terrorism” 1987 T-169)
Terrorism helps terrorist to justify the violence they commit. This gives them collective meaning. It gives them some type of power. Terrorist come from every walk of life some with long criminal records or histories of juvenile
Motivation is broken up into three categories when it comes to terrorist, those three forms of motivation are revenge, renown, and reaction. It is these motivations that
The most important foundation of an effective de-radicalization platform is to have highly individualized approaches. This component should address the deficiency needs of an individual: physiological and psychological. Like most individuals, a terrorist most basic need is for physical survival, and this will be the first thing that motivates his behavior. According to Maslow (1943), the satisfaction of certain needs motivates people and that some needs take priority over the others. Physiological needs such as food, water, shelter, and security should be satisfied first before dealing with one’s sense of belongingness, relationships and self-esteem. Therefore, it is vital to prioritize the detainee’s basic needs before attempting to change
...o the terrorists are and what their goals are.[6] It is important to see the difference between ‘rational’ and ‘irrational’ terrorists. Terrorist with political goals that are obtainable may be open to negotiations and a path towards nonviolent resolutions whereas terrorists with ideological goals (often religious in nature) may not be open to negotiations, and certainly not without inciting further violence and terrorist activity.
The mind of a terrorist is a very unique and mysterious thing. There are many things that can create different aspects inside a terrorist oganization. With a set of constant new recruits and persons that are willing to commit sucidie terrorism the terror organizations can be extrememly effective in achieving their goals for their organizations. Recruits can be reached through many forms of communications and once into a group that is radicalized they can become suicide terrorist in order to fulfill their own needs.
Terrorism has many forms, and many definitions. “Elements from the American definitional model define terrorism as a premeditated and unlawful act in which groups or agents of some principal engage in a threatened or actual use o...