What Are the Psychological Explanations for Why People Commit Terrorist Acts and Up to What Extent Do They Explain These People’s Behaviour.
What are the psychological explanations for why people commit terrorist acts and up to what extent do they explain these people’s behaviour.
Miller (2006) states that the word terrorism derives from the Latin word terrere which means to frighten. Merari and Friedman (see Victoroff 2005, p.3) claim that terrorism existed even before recorded history. This is echoed by Miller’s (2006) claim that terrorism is as old as civilization and has existed since people discovered that they could influence the majority by targeting a few people. Schmid (see Victoroff 2005 p. 4) has collected 109 definitions of terrorism and this suggests that it is a very broad topic and extremely hard to define. Two examples of relatively recent acts of terrorism are the Oklahoma City bombings in 1995 and the terrorist attacks upon the United States in 2001. This essay examines some of the psychological explanations as to why people commit such acts of terror and attempts to integrate some of these explanations in order to achieve a greater understanding.
One possible explanation of why people commit terrorist acts can be seen in the pathological theory of terrorism. Bongar at el. (2007) claim that it is a common suggestion that terrorists must be insane or psychopathologcal; this is the basis of the psychopathological theory of terrorism. However Rasch (see Victoroff 2005 p.12) looked at 11 terrorist suspects and also looked at a Federal Police study of 40 people wanted as terrorists and found nothing to suggest that any of them were mentally ill. Bongar et al (2007) observed that interviews with terrorists hardly ever find any disorder listed in the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. This is supported by the work of the criminologist Franco Ferracuti (1982) who said that although terrorist groups are sometimes led by insane individuals, and a few terrorist acts maybe committed by insane individuals, ,most people who commit terrorist acts hardly ever meet psychiatric
Miller (2006) states that the word terrorism derives from the Latin word terrere which means to frighten. Merari and Friedman (see Victoroff 2005, p.3) claim that terrorism existed even before recorded history. This is echoed by Miller’s (2006) claim that terrorism is as old as civilization and has existed since people discovered that they could influence the majority by targeting a few people. Schmid (see Victoroff 2005 p. 4) has collected 109 definitions of terrorism and this suggests that it is a very broad topic and extremely hard to define. Two examples of relatively recent acts of terrorism are the Oklahoma City bombings in 1995 and the terrorist attacks upon the United States in 2001. This essay examines some of the psychological explanations as to why people commit such acts of terror and attempts to integrate some of these explanations in order to achieve a greater understanding.
One possible explanation of why people commit terrorist acts can be seen in the pathological theory of terrorism. Bongar at el. (2007) claim that it is a common suggestion that terrorists must be insane or psychopathologcal; this is the basis of the psychopathological theory of terrorism. However Rasch (see Victoroff 2005 p.12) looked at 11 terrorist suspects and also looked at a Federal Police study of 40 people wanted as terrorists and found nothing to suggest that any of them were mentally ill. Bongar et al (2007) observed that interviews with terrorists hardly ever find any disorder listed in the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. This is supported by the work of the criminologist Franco Ferracuti (1982) who said that although terrorist groups are sometimes led by insane individuals, and a few terrorist acts maybe committed by insane individuals, ,most people who commit terrorist acts hardly ever meet psychiatric
References: Bongar, B.M., et al., 2007. Psychology of terrorism. USA: Oxford University Press. Borum, R., 2004. Psychology of terrorism. Tampa: Univeristy of South Florida. Ferracuti, F., 1982. Asociopsychiatric interpretation of terrorism. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 463, 29-40. Miller, L., 2006. The Terrorist Mind: I. A Psychological and Political Analysis. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 50 (2), 121-138. Oots, K.L., and Wiegele, T.C., 1985. Terrorist and Victim: Psychiatric and Physiological Approaches. Terrorism: An International Journal, 8(1), 1-32. Victoroff, J., 2005. The Mind of the Terrorsit: A Review and Critique of Psychological Approaches. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 49(1), 3-42.