Causes of Terrorism

The use of terrorism started in 1795 relating to the reign of terror leaded by the French Government. The reason people become terrorist is because they see it as their only choice or is a sign for defending their religion. “The personal pathway model suggests that terrorists came from a selected, at risk population, who have suffered from early damage to their self-esteem,” (psychologist Eric D. Shaw). This explains how young adults are becoming terrorist to find themselves, also because they are not happy with who they are. Terrorist technology has changed over the course.

“Terrorism's particularly heinous but highly attractive means to achieve political objectives or even radically restructure political foundations is manifest within societies in all reaches of the world. While the practical application of terrorist methodologies comes across as a relatively straightforward craft, the conceptual and ideological understanding, and subsequent evaluation of its socio-political influence, implementation, and psychological impacts present difficult questions, and in some cases conceivably insurmountable obstacles” (Romaniuk 2014, para

Terrorism is a difficult issue to understand and grasp for many people. What is even more difficult to understand is what drives an individual to become radicalized to the point of joining a terrorist organization and committing terrorist acts. While there is not specific criteria or a “cookie cutter” approach to understanding what motivates and radicalizes an individual to participate in such atrocities, there are however, several psychological and behavioral factors that have been common among these individuals. The following paper will outline some of the psychological and behavioral factors that attribute to an individual’s radicalization and eventual willingness and even perhaps

"The FBI defines three types of terrorists: (1) a leader with a strong commitment to their groups belief system; (2) an "activist operator" who often has a criminal background and implements their groups agenda; and (3) an idealist who finds a sense of purpose in his commitment to their group." (Kressel, 82) In the field of psychology, it is the psychologists duty to try to come up with theories or correlations, which help people group and identify terrorist or terroristic behavior, quickly and consistantly. There are many common assumptions about the common terrorist, but there are no true or definite catagories to place them in. A terrorist is formed by his environment either through ways of

There are many things can be seen in the psychology of terrorism. Unfortunately there is not good science on psychological factors of terrorism; there are theories and educated opinions (DeAngelis, 2009). The one overarching factor is the fear with which terrorism is based. By definition, terrorism is acts that cause terror by one group on to another, usually for political goals (“Terrorism”, n.d.). Why people suffer from these fears is related to their psychological behavior. Terrorist activity can be described as “fostering a sense of helplessness and hopelessness, in demonstrating the incompetence of the authorities, destroying a sense of security and safety, and in provoking inappropriate reactions from individuals and authorities.” (Alexander & Klein, 2005). Terrorists themselves are affected by psychological behavior; their own and that of others around them. They may even be affected by the behavior of victims and potential victims. Osama Bin Laden has even been known to admit that in the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda, his

Since the darkest day, September 11, 2001, the citizens of The United States of America are on alert and are weary of acts of terrorism. One can turn on the television and can easily find an act of terrorism. Most recent acts are the Boston bombings or the bombings in Volgograd, and most recently the two bombings in Sochi. What drives someone to complete the devastating acts of terrorism? How can on predict, based off of antisocial behaviors, who is more likely to become a terrorist? Regardless of ethnicity, nationality, or racial background, experts agree terrorists share one common link: their childhood. One tends to be more susceptible to becoming a terrorist because of a traumatic event in their childhood to cause antisocial behavior.

This excerpt from Silke’s Becoming a Terrorist aims to determine what causes someone to become a terrorist. Silke argues that simply labeling terrorists as mentally unbalanced or psychotic prevents us from achieving a fuller understanding of the phenomenon. As it turns out, there is no one factor that determines whether a person will become a terrorist. Instead, it is a combination of any number of factors from economic circumstance to vengeance and these factors vary widely depending on the culture, social context, terror group, and individual involved.

Terrorists have committed many atrocious crimes throughout the past century. Yet, I view the Bataclan attack in Paris, France that killed 90 people and injured many more as being one of the worst. From writing an article about terrorists such Omar Mostefai, Samy Amimour, and Foued Mohamed-Aggad of the Bataclan attack, I gathered information that contradicted my original belief about the pasts of terrorists. I originally thought that all terrorists had somewhat of a similar story, past, and reason for becoming radicalized. From doing research on these three assailants of the Bataclan attack, though, I have come to the conclusion that individuals follow their own unique path into terrorism along with their own reasons.

I believe that individuals become involved in terrorism simply because they want to. In my opinion most of them has experienced some type of rejection in their life, or is unhappy with the outcome of their future. They want to feel important as well as a part of something that does not go unnoticed. They need retribution in order to feel whole again. Out of all four types of theories as to why individuals get involved with terrorism I am leaning more to “because they are denied access to opportunities”. Basically they want something that they cannot have, resulting in them acting out with frustration which leads to them afflicting harm on others. To them nothing and no one else matters, except the terrorist group where they belong, so they

The three motivational categories of terrorism are the rationally motivated terrorist, the psychologically motivated terrorist, and the culturally motivated terrorist (Bartol, Curt, Anne Bartol, 2012). A rationally motivated terrorist tends to consider the goals of the organization while being mindful of the possible consequences of their actions. Psychologically motivated terrorists are driven by a sense of failure or inadequacy finding direction in charismatic leaders. Culturally motivated terrorist’s actions are based of fear of irreparable damages to their way of living, national heritage, or culture done which has either occurred or is going to happen due to the actions an organization, foreign country, or powerful factions. The motives

In my opinion the most prevalent fundamental factor of turning to terrorism is the feeling of political injustice. Terrorist organizations capitalize on this topic to impose their beliefs on the local populace to gain supporters of their cause to eventually create new members of their organization.

An emerging topic within our society is how we deal with enemy combatants and suspected and confirmed terrorists within the United States. While substantial information is available regarding the legal remedies that these individuals are offered once they are captured and incarcerated, little scholarly research exists to really analyze whether or not our legal methods, incarceration techniques, and prevention are effective at all. Furthermore, there is an emerging field that is more narrowly focused on the behavior of terrorists, their interactions and response to societies, and what determinants best characterize terrorism. This study seeks to analyze several questions. One, how can the behavior of terrorists, more specifically their inclinations to incite violence as a means for individual and group level motivations be explained. Second, what characteristics, demographics or behaviors best predict the decision to commit acts of terrorism at the group and individual levels and the corresponding severity that of the act that ensues. Lastly, through our review of the literature and analyses we seek to better understand the developing theoretical paradigm that encompasses terrorism studies.

All these terrorist attacks and the terrorism taking place are due to the various conflicts around the world. The causes for these terrorist attacks vary, some believing it to be for religion, others saying it because they believe it may spark a change. Others believe that that the terrorist group ISIS are doing so due to an extreme view on religion and that some of their members are psychopaths. In addition to the mention of ISIS, the community in which ISIS has created is growing rather large itself, numerous people now joining the terrorist group. An article even commenting that ISIS controls an area larger than the United Kingdom, the group having also seized most of Mosul, Iraq. In addition to the many reasons behind a terrorist attack, a person also adds their opinion through an online article. Within the article, last updated by Amy Zalman, Ph.D on September 30, 2016, the speaker tells the reader that there are two causes for terrorism. One reason being due to social and political injustice, where they try to right a historical or social wrong, and another being that violence leads to a justified result, believing it to be no other choice and to trigger a change. Some people may argue that the government should prioritize freedom, considering some terrorist groups are made to eliminate discrimination or to influence change in society, but this will not remove the danger terrorist groups hold. By opening up the doors, alongside with lowering security, does not

Terrorism is a dynamic and complex threat faced by our nation. It is hazardous to human life and material prosperity and should be addressed in a sensible manner. There is a need to focus on the persistent and evolving terrorist threats. Since the 9/11 attack, much attention has been drawn to terrorism globally. Terrorism does not only involve execution of an actual attack but it is a board spectrum that entails educating and researching, recruitment and radicalism. Prior to an actual attack, the terrorists train, plan, communicate, coordinate, finance and acquire materials and weapons. The government should do everything in their power to reduce the likelihood of terrorism on American soil. Terrorism involves the use of violence against

There are many reasons about why there is terrorism. One idea is that it is mostly because people of Radical Islam hate any free nation, and they will do whatever they can in order to destroy the economy of that free nation. Another idea is that it’s in their religion or in other words it’s what they believe in. The third reason is that these terrorists are jealous. They see the United States and envy their wealth, their power and their way of life. Because of this they get angry and basically want to destroy that country. But the last and most probable reason is that kids mainly in the Middle East, get a bad education. They get brought up believing that literally blowing yourself up is the right thing to do, and killing others is their way into heaven. They get brainwashed into doing things that any right-minded person would never do, for example, driving a commercial plane full of people into a trade center.