Terrorism and Psychology

The concept of terrorism has been identified by the public in connection with third world countries. This approach has emerged in the vast majority of the population. This approach is more prominent as the form and methods of the state compared to other regimes. It is also stated that it is in an unacceptable position in modern regimes. Intense pressure on the political opposition in strong regimes is also among the acts of terrorism. Although terrorism arises for different reasons among totalitarian regimes, it also manifests itself in other regimes. It is possible to see terrorism outside of these activities carried out by political activities on behalf of the totalitarian regime. Contrary to contemporary regimes, the psychological and social conditions experienced by people due to terrorist activities in third world countries should also be addressed. In this review, only the support of citizens in different regimes to terrorist activities and the effects experienced as a result of this event are taken as a basis.

Questo è un libro unico, un libro di storia vissuta nel suo tempo: l'ho letto poco prima di ritornare in Europa con la mia famiglia, nel lontano 1973, avendo trascorso tre anni e mezzo viaggiando nel delta del Niger, e in altri luoghi della Nigeria in cerca di petrolio. Questo libro racconta la storia della vita di migliaia di famiglie europee, soprattutto inglesi, che hanno lasciato le loro ossa in Nigeria, nel periodo che va dalla conquista inglese all'indipendenza.

Post 9/11, understanding how people become terrorists has come to be discussed in terms of "radicalisation". Today, radicalisation is typically seen to refer to a complex and dynamic process which results in individuals coming to embrace a violent ideology in support of a political or religious cause. Without doubt, the issue of radicalisation has become a core fixture of contemporary efforts to understand and combat terrorism. Yet, clearly, terrorism has an extraordinarily long history and what is called radicalisation today, in the past was referred to do much more mundanely as "becoming" a terrorist, "joining" a terrorist group, or of being "recruited". 1 No one talked of the IRA being radicalised, or Shining Path, or Black September or the Red Brigades. Though all of these older groups certainly were by our modern understanding. Ultimately, the emergence of the term "radicalisation" to describe this process of deepening involvement in radical violent causes and activism, is a very recent phenomenon. It

The Expert Group on Violent Radicalisation was set up by a European Commission Decision of 19 April 20061 to provide policy-advice to the European Commission on fighting violent radicalisation. The members of the Group and its Chairman were subsequently appointed ...

Right after the infamous September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, some political leaders declared that “This enemy attacked not just our people, but all freedomloving people everywhere in the world. . . . The freedom-loving nations of the world stand by our side” (G. Bush) or that “We are all Americans” (T. Blair). The work presented in this chapter shows that statements such as these likely (re)define the social landscape with consequences that are far from trivial. This occurs because the salience of social identity makes group members appraise the world from the perspective of the group rather than the individual, which results in emotions felt on behalf of the group instead of the person. Across four studies, we focus on these so-called group-based emotions, as well as other reactions such as group-based appraisals and group identification. Specifically, we argue that communication among ingroup members can make group identity salient, which in turn shapes group-based emotions. In ...

The current study is based on a field study of the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war that was conducted in two waves, the first two weeks after the end of the war, and the second 18 months later (2008). The purpose of the study was to examine recalled emotions and perceived risks induced by manipulation using a short videoclip that recalled the sounds of the alarms and the sights of the missile attacks during the war. Before filling in the study questionnaire in 2008, the experimental group watched a short videoclip recalling the events of the war. The control group did not watch the video before filling in the questionnaire. Using the data provided by questionnaires, we analyzed the effect of recalled emotions on perceived risks in two different regions in Israel: the northern region, which was under missile attack daily during the war, and the central region, which was not under missile attacks. The videoclip had a strong effect on the level of recalled emotions in both regions, but it did ...

Criminal Profiling is a authentic investigative tool to find the offender by analysing the crime scene. It was introduced in FBI Academy. John E. Douglas was one the greatest criminal profiler who's also called the Father of Modern Criminal Profiling Technique. In this paper we're going to witness a perfect application of Criminal Profiling to find the culprit. Also we're going to see how law enforcement officials used this technique to find The Mad Bomber who terrorised hole New York city by planting bombs in 1950's.

Terrorism of the past ten years has been driven by the interface of psychology, morality, faith, religion, and politics. This modern terrorism reflects terrorists’ pursuit of their beliefs and the aggressive promotion of the exclusivity of their world-views at the expense of the lives of those who do not share them. In this sense, acts of terrorism are fueled by arguments of morality and views that are rooted in the psyches and beliefs of terrorists.

Previous research distinguishing terrorist groups has employed categorical schemes that are (1) ideologically broad and ambiguous (e.g., right-wing versus left-wing) or (2) focused on single-issues (e.g., guns, abortion). Broad schemes often fail to clearly distinguish groups' motivations, and single-issue schemes provide no coherent theoretical structure for understanding terrorist behavior. To address these limitations, we applied the conceptual framework of moral foundations theory (MFT) to derive a content-analytic scheme identifying universal instincts we term "moral motivations." We then applied this scheme to classify descriptions found in the Profiles of Perpetrators of Terrorism in the United States, an open-sourced dataset providing information on terrorist organizations that committed violence on U.S. soil. Analyses examined how terrorist-group activities are associated with specific moral motivations in order to distinguish dominant motives among different groups. Results showed that extremist right-wing, religious, and ethno-nationalist/separatist ideologies were associated with the binding motivations of loyalty, authority, and purity. Extremist left-wing and single-issue ideologies were associated with the individualizing motivations of care and fairness. These findings are discussed regarding the value of using MFT's motivations to distinguish terrorist groups and how describing their moral motivations might advance efforts to curtail their activities.

In recent years terrorism has once again dominate the international agenda. The international community has witnessed successive violent demonstrations, and it is therefore appropriate to address the problems of this phenomenon and assess its changes over the years in order to identify the main differences. The conflict between States ceased to be the scene of armed conflicts, at least partially. The phenomenon of terrorism (re) arises but yet now on a global scale, surpassing tactical effects easily quantifiable and in a context where terrorism is presented as a violent action technique. This phenomenon, in itself, is not entirely new. Terrorism presents itself with a strategic reach capacity, not by actions but by its effects and consequences on a global scale and with significant impact on world public opinion. Thus, it is important to understand what are the main changes that terrorism has undergone over the last few years. This study consists in a holistic analysis methodology ...

In recent years terrorism has once again dominate the international agenda. The international community has witnessed successive violent demonstrations, and it is therefore appropriate to address the problems of this phenomenon and assess its changes over the years in order to identify the main differences. The conflict between States ceased to be the scene of armed conflicts, at least partially. The phenomenon of terrorism (re) arises but yet now on a global scale, surpassing tactical effects easily quantifiable and in a context where terrorism is presented as a violent action technique. This phenomenon, in itself, is not entirely new. Terrorism presents itself with a strategic reach capacity, not by actions but by its effects and consequences on a global scale and with significant impact on world public opinion. Thus, it is important to understand what are the main changes that terrorism has undergone over the last few years. This study consists in a holistic analysis methodology ...

The Expert Group on Violent Radicalisation was set up by a European Commission Decision of 19 April 20061 to provide policy-advice to the European Commission on fighting violent radicalisation. The members of the Group and its Chairman were subsequently appointed ...

Ізовіта А. М. Відновлення правового статусу жертв терористичних актів / А. М. Ізовіта // Правові та інституційні механізми забезпечення розвитку України в умовах європейської інтеграції : матеріали Міжнародної науково-практичної конференції (м. Одеса, 18 травня 2018 р.) У 2-х т. Т. 2 / відп. ред. Г.О. Ульянова. – Одеса : Видавничий дім «Гельветика», 2018. – С. 239-242

The qualitative research about out-group violence has examined different aspects of this social problem, but the evolution of violent groups has only been approached tangentially. This research analyses the discourses of 124 interviews done with youth from Madrid that belong to violent groups. Describe the interpretation made by young people and identifies variables and psychosocial processes to generate and explore a psychosocial model that attempts to describe the constitution and evolution of this behavior. The strategy of theory generation was applied (first 71 interviews) and afterwards, the method of analytic induction (following 53 interviews) to allow the validation of the identified model. The resulting method proposes that the upsurge of violent groups depends on the previous socialisation focused on three factors: milieu, opportunities and basic socialising processes. The evolution and involution of violent groups would depend on the interaction between the personal and s...

Armed non-state actors make mistakes. Why this phenomenon occurs, and how organizations respond to their blunders, has remained understudied. This article draws on interdisciplinary research to examine sources of errors, and offers a public sensitivity argument to explain why groups claim and even apologize for their blunders. The quantitative analysis finds that all armed groups, regardless of ideology and organizational structure, are willing to apologize when there are unintended high casualty rates. A detailed analysis of three Provisional Irish Republican Army incidents reveals that public opinion is sensitive to the nature of the victims, and shows how public condemnation can impact organizational behavior.

EU member-states target families in order to prevent or counter radicalization. However, there is little empirical knowledge to confirm that parents influence the radicalization and de-radicalization process. Because there is little known about the role that parents play in radicalization and de-radicalization, this qualitative study explored the family dynamics in these processes together with 11 former radicals and their families. The study consists of 21 in-depth interviews with Dutch former radicals and their family members and it was found that formers and their families do not recognize a direct influence of parents on radicalization and de-radicalization. However, a more indirect influence seems to be in place: a (problematic) family situation may influence the radicalization process and family support can possibly play a role in de-radicalization. It is also stressed that parents have need for knowledge about the different ideologies and for tools on how to respond to their ...

U.S. citizens' reactions to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, were examined, including emotional responses, attributions for the cause of the attacks, and policy recommendations. Participants whose emotional reactions were dominated by anger attributed the attacks to the fanaticism of the terrorists and to poor U.S. security and rejected the idea that U.S. foreign policy played a role in the attacks. They endorsed an aggressive military response and rejected humanitarian efforts. Participants whose emotional reactions were dominated by sadness, in contrast, denied that fanaticism and security lapses were to blame, and both sad and fearful participants expressed reservations about a strong military reaction. Path models suggest that the relationship between emotional reactions and policy endorsement was partially mediated by attributions.

This is because comparing oneself to others is the most favored way people use to evaluate themselves. People choose to compare themselves to others with a variety of goals in mind. Obviously, a major concern would be informational: people like to know where they stand in terms of what they think, feel, or do. Are they simply normal or do they happen to be outrageously below or above widely popular standards? Often, people also rely on social comparison to motivate themselves. If getting a kick out of the comparison is the main goal of the comparison then the comparison target is likely to be some person or some group that fares slightly better. Finally, there could also be an explicit attempt at self-enhancement. By finding comparison others who are sufficiently similar yet also somewhat less knowledgeable, strong or likeable than themselves, people make sure that they will come out of the comparison with a feeling of psychological comfort. In short, people's self-knowledge, motivation, and self-esteem crucially hang on the outcome of dozens of daily comparison operations. Although initially used in interpersonal theory contexts, the social comparison process also comes across as a major player in an impressive series of social psychology theories that focus on intergroup relations.

This research examined whether people experience anger after perceiving intentional and unfair behavior of an outgroup which has negative consequences for others, but not for themselves. It was predicted that such outgroup behavior causes anger in the observer, dependent on the categorization of the victims as part of its own group or as part of another group. Participants were primed with information that made either differences or similarities between them and the victims salient, after which they were confronted with negative behavior of an outgroup. Results confirmed the prediction that the same information concerning unfair and intentional behavior of an outgroup harming others led to more anger in the observer when the victims were perceived as ingroup rather than outgroup. Moreover, anxiety was not affected by perception of victims as part of the ingroup or outgroup, suggesting that specific emotions rather than just negative affect were influenced.

In this paper, we examined reactions to situations in which, although one is not personally involved, one could see oneself connected to either the perpetrators or the victims of unfair behavior. We manipulated participants' similarity and measured their identification to either one of two groups which participants later learned was the victim or the perpetrator of harmful behavior. As predicted, making salient similarities to the victims lead participants to: 1) appraise the perpetrator's behavior as more unfair; 2) experience more anger; and 3) be more likely to take action against it and less prone to show support for it as a function of their level of identification with their salient ingroup. In sharp contrast, focusing participants' attention on their similarities to the perpetrators reversed this pattern of findings: Compared to high identifiers, low identifiers appraised the behavior as more unfair than high identifiers, which made them feel angry (and guilty) and less likely to show support for the perpetrator's behavior. The data also provide strong support for a mediational model in which appraisal of the situation colors the emotional reaction which in turn orients action tendencies. We discuss the implications of our findings for the issue of group-based emotions.

Armed non-state actors make mistakes. Why this phenomenon occurs, and how organizations respond to their blunders, has remained understudied. This article draws on interdisciplinary research to examine sources of errors, and offers a public sensitivity argument to explain why groups claim and even apologize for their blunders. The quantitative analysis finds that all armed groups, regardless of ideology and organizational structure, are willing to apologize when there are unintended high casualty rates. A detailed analysis of three Provisional Irish Republican Army incidents reveals that public opinion is sensitive to the nature of the victims, and shows how public condemnation can impact organizational behavior.

The Expert Group on Violent Radicalisation was set up by a European Commission Decision of 19 April 20061 to provide policy-advice to the European Commission on fighting violent radicalisation. The members of the Group and its Chairman were subsequently appointed ...

Terrorism, in my opinion, has nothing to do with grievances. Terrorists are but nihilistic pariahs that use the "legitimate grievances" of the people to whom they claim to belong in order to justify their own hateful deeds. Terrorism is related more to the personality and character of the terrorist than it is to his socioeconomic and political environment .

The Expert Group on Violent Radicalisation was set up by a European Commission Decision of 19 April 20061 to provide policy-advice to the European Commission on fighting violent radicalisation. The members of the Group and its Chairman were subsequently appointed ...

The Expert Group on Violent Radicalisation was set up by a European Commission Decision of 19 April 20061 to provide policy-advice to the European Commission on fighting violent radicalisation. The members of the Group and its Chairman were subsequently appointed ...

PSYMDEV is a system designed to help the military analyst elaborate psychological messages that will be spread out using different sorts of media like tracts, video clips, radio programs, etc. The system relies on theories stemming from Psychology of Emotion (the Appraisal Theory and the Intergroup Emotion Theory) and Social Psychology (the Social Identity Approach, the Common Ingroup Identity Model). The inputs of the system are, on one hand, two social groups of the population, respectively called the info-targets and the aimgroup, that are characterized by their respective values for social criteria like age, gender, social status, etc., and, on the other hand, an emotion that the info-targets must feel towards the aim group. The output of the system is a situation described in two steps by means of a categorization scene intended to induce a state of mind in the info-targets, either positive or negative depending on the nature of the emotion to be felt, and an action scene suppo...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of vengeance as a terrorist motivator. Design/methodology/approach The paper takes a community psychological perspective to examine vengeance in a number of forms. First covering “blood vengeance”, it then examines vigilantism and death squads as functional examples of vengeful entities, as well as the morality of vengeance and the impact of propaganda on vengeance as a terrorist motivator. Finally, both group processes and individual factors relating to the promotion and use of vengeance in terrorism are covered. Findings Vengeance can be conceptualised in a number of ways: as a predisposing factor to individual involvement, a factor that contributes to keeping the movement “bound” together (but which can also negatively affect the group’s strategic logic), a factor in the escalation of violent activity through vigilantism, retribution and retaliation which can result in a perpetuation of a cycle of violence, and as a mora...

The validation and implications of an indigenously developed Violent Extremism Beliefs Scale (VEBS) is presented. The aim of this study was to develop a tool which can assess violent extremist beliefs. The item pool was generated from case studies of violent extremist offenders who have undergone successful Deradicalization and rehabilitation as well as violent extremist offenders still undergoing this (Deradicalization and rehabilitation) process, interviews of psychologists and social workers working with the identified groups, previous literature, books and cases studies of individuals involved in militancy in Swat region of KPK (Pakistan). The population selected for the validation of scale consisted of inductees a) who were present at deradicalization centers (specifically Sabaoon) and those who were re-integrated from the center. 31 items scale was administered to the selected population. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a four factors structure for the scale, that is, i) ...

The focus of this paper is on the author's multi-modal therapeutic practice with a 7-year-old boy referred to the Family Trauma Centre, following paramilitary assaults on his father. The work also addresses the boy's experience of domestic violence. ... The work is contextualised ...

ln this article we describe mechanisms of radicalization relevant to understanding the origins or terrorism. We must immediately acknowledge that the idea of mechunistn IS somewhat different in different domains of social science, sometimes with conflict­ ing definitions used within a single discipline. 1,2 Here we use mechanism in the gen­ eral sense traditionally employed in Psychology: "the means or mariner 111 \\ hieh something is accomplished. Thus, the mechanism of vision includes the physica. stimulus and the physiological and neural processes involved ,,~

he book aims to outline the progress, problems and challenges of delivering a safe and secure Olympics in the context of the contemporary serious and enduring terrorist threat. The enormous media profile and symbolic significance of the Olympic Games, the history of terrorists aiming to use such high-profile events to advance their cause, and Al Qaeda's aim to cause mass casualties, all have major implications for the security of London 2012.

Drawing on contributions from leading academics and practitioners in the field the book will assess the current terrorist threat, particularly focusing on terrorist targeting and how the Olympics might feature in this, before addressing particular response themes such as transport security, the role of surveillance, resilient designing of Olympic sites, the role of private security, and the challenge of inter-agency coordination. The book will conclude by providing an assessment of the legacy of Olympic security to date and will discuss the anticipated issues and dilemmas of the future.

This book will be of interest to students of terrorism studies, security studies, counter-terrorism and sports studies.

Table of Contents

1. Towards an Understanding of Terrorism and the Olympics Anthony Richards, Pete Fussey, Andrew Silke  2. Terrorism, the Olympics and Sport: Recent Events and Concerns for the Future Anthony Richards  3. Al Qaeda and the London Olympics Afzal Ashraf  4. Understanding Terrorist Target Selection Andrew Silke  5. Securing the Transport System Steve Swain  6. Surveillance and the Olympic Spectacle Pete Fussey  7. Strategic Security Planning and the Resilient Design of Olympic Sites Jon Coaffee  8. Governing the Games in an Age of Uncertainty: the Olympics and Organisational Responses to Risk Will Jennings  9. The Role of the Private Security Industry David Evans  10. The Challenge of Inter-Agency Coordination Keith Weston  11. The European Union & the Promotion of Major Event Security Within the EU Area Frank Gregory  12. Critical Reflections on Securing the Olympics: Conclusions and Ways Forward Anthony Richards, Pete Fussey, Andrew Silke  Appendix: Terrorist Threats to the Olympics, 1972-2016 Pete Fussey

The Expert Group on Violent Radicalisation was set up by a European Commission Decision of 19 April 20061 to provide policy-advice to the European Commission on fighting violent radicalisation. The members of the Group and its Chairman were subsequently appointed ...

Radicalization of youth is an international problem and a growing concern in the USA. Extremist, racist, criminal, and conspiracist, groups seek to recruit young and impressionable teenagers who are struggling with biological, cultural, and social factors that contribute to their being susceptible to its reach. The ease of internet use, the vast supply of information, and the coordinating efforts of recruiters to facilitate membership, also makes controlling the negative

The qualitative research about out-group violence has examined different aspects of this social problem, but the evolution of violent groups has only been approached tangentially. This research analyses the discourses of 124 interviews done with youth from Madrid that belong to violent groups. Describe the interpretation made by young people and identifies variables and psychosocial processes to generate and explore a psychosocial model that attempts to describe the constitution and evolution of this behavior. The strategy of theory generation was applied (first 71 interviews) and afterwards, the method of analytic induction (following 53 interviews) to allow the validation of the identified model. The resulting method proposes that the upsurge of violent groups depends on the <em>previous socialisation</em> focused on three factors: <em>milieu, opportunities </em>and <em>basic socialising processes.</em> The evolution and involution of violent gr...

The paper explores the concept of vengeance as a terrorist motivator. Approach: The paper takes a community psychological perspective to examine vengeance in a number of forms. Firstly covering 'blood vengeance', it then examines vigilantism and death squads as functional examples of vengeful entities, as well as the morality of vengeance and the impact of propaganda on vengeance as a terrorist motivator. Finally, both group processes and individual factors relating to the promotion and use of vengeance in terrorism are covered. Findings: Vengeance can be conceptualised in a number of ways: as a predisposing factor to individual involvement, a factor that contributes to keeping the movement 'bound' together (but which can also negatively affect the group's strategic logic), a factor in the escalation of violent activity through vigilantism, retribution and retaliation which can result in a perpetuation of a cycle of violence, and as a moral mandate that is ideologically rationalised and justified, with perceptions of righteousness and obligation inherent to it. Limitations: The presented research is limited by the scarcely available data. Practical implications: Efforts should be made to defuse vengeful motivations by tapping into collective identities of communities and incorporating multicultural values. Social implications: Policy makers should be wary of scoring populist scores by ridiculing outgroup/religious elements as that creates potential for vengeful terror attacks. Originality/value: The paper offers insights by renewing the neglected perspective of vengeance in terrorism research.

The paper aims to contribute to discussion on comprehensive defence development by looking into Resistance Operating Concept and Comprehensive Defence Handbook. These two documents are designed as a guide for the countries facing a formidable adversary to help them develop resistance (including violent) infrastructure before the potential invasion. After discussing the main tenets of the concept and suggesting a wider engagement with case studies and scientific literature on this and similar topics, the paper addresses the pitfalls and considerations of preparing such resistance in peacetime, focusing on five areas: C2, legitimacy, recruitment, potential problems in long-term and communication.

Abstract: Paramilitary vigilantism in Northern Ireland has increased dramatically in the wake of the 1994 cease-fires, and is increasingly threatening to destabilise the peace process. Yet despite the long history of vigilantism in Northern Ireland and the unprecedented attention ...

The Expert Group on Violent Radicalisation was set up by a European Commission Decision of 19 April 20061 to provide policy-advice to the European Commission on fighting violent radicalisation. The members of the Group and its Chairman were subsequently appointed ...