The Sociology and Psychology of Terrorism : Who Becomes a Terrorist and Why

By Hudson, Rex A.

Book Id: WPLBN0000697926
Format Type: PDF eBook
File Size:
Reproduction Date: 2005

Title:	The Sociology and Psychology of Terrorism : Who Becomes a Terrorist and Why
Author:	Hudson, Rex A.
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Law., Law & economy, Litigation and arbitration
Collections:	Law Library Collection
Historic Publication Date:
Publisher:	Department of Justice


Citation APA MLA Chicago Hudson, R. A. (n.d.). The Sociology and Psychology of Terrorism : Who Becomes a Terrorist and Why. Retrieved from http://gutenberg.cc/

Description
Legal Reference Publication

Excerpt
Preface: The purpose of this study is to focus attention on the types of individuals and groups that are prone to terrorism (see Glossary) in an effort to help improve U.S. counterterrorist methods and policies. The emergence of amorphous and largely unknown terrorist individuals and groups operating independently (freelancers) and the new recruitment patterns of some groups, such as recruiting suicide commandos, female and child terrorists, and scientists capable of developing weapons of mass destruction, provide a measure of urgency to increasing our understanding of the psychological and sociological dynamics of terrorist groups and individuals. The approach used in this study is twofold. First, the study examines the relevant literature and assesses the current knowledge of the subject. Second, the study seeks to develop psychological and sociological profiles of foreign terrorist individuals and selected groups to use as case studies in assessing trends, motivations, likely behavior, and actions that might deter such behavior, as well as reveal vulnerabilities that would aid in combating terrorist groups and individuals.

Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: MINDSETS OF MASS DESTRUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 New Types of Post-Cold War Terrorists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 New Forms of Terrorist-Threat Scenarios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 TERMS OF ANALYSIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Defining Terrorism and Terrorists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Terrorist Group Typologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 APPROACHES TO TERRORISM ANALYSIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 The Multicausal Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 The Political Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 The Organizational Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 The Physiological Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 The Psychological Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 GENERAL HYPOTHESES OF TERRORISM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Negative Identity Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Narcissistic Rage Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE TERRORIST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Terrorist Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 The Process of Joining a Terrorist Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 The Terrorist as Mentally Ill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 The Terrorist as Suicidal Fanatic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Fanatics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Suicide Terrorists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Terrorist Group Dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Pressures to Conform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Pressures to Commit Acts of Violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Terrorist Rationalization of Violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 The Terrorist?s Ideological or Religious Perception . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 TERRORIST PROFILING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43