Functionalist Perspective On Terrorism

In sociology, functionalism is one of the main theoretical perspective. The father of the sociology Emile Durkheim was the promoter of functionalism. Functionalism mainly focusing on the stability and order of the society. This gives a variety of elaboration about the society or human behaviour. All the parts of the theoretical perspectives connected and influenced each other, this all works together in maintain the society healthy. All of these parts depends one to another, if one of the parts not working properly, that will affect all the system or that all circles.

This perspective originated with Émile Durkheim, a French sociologist, social psychologist, and philosopher, and the one who formally established and is considered the father of sociology, as the social sciences was not considered an independent field of study separate from philosophy at the time of his writings. Durkheim was interested in how social order and society as a whole remains stable, and used a scientific approach to study society. As Kenneth Allan quotes from Émile Durkheim (2005), “…if, in addition, society lacks the unity based upon the commitment of men’s wills to a common objective, then it is no more than a pile of sand that the least jolt or the slightest puff will suffice to scatter” (p. 136). Using this view of society as a creation of a collective group of individuals that work toward a common objective, functionalism looks at the institutions of society and how they contribute to the society’s stability. These institutions include the government, family, education, medicine, the justice system, the military, mass media, and other similar formal organizations. Each of these institutions are organized to fulfill the different needs of society and are all interdependent. Functionalism focuses on the order and social stability of a society, and credits disorganization and a lack of adaptation to new and changing times as the causes of social

Many Americans do not understand the implication and role of terrorism in the modern world. Terrorism is not a something that can be measured or held in hand. It is a theoretical idea that has many different meanings to many different people (Aziz, 2014). U.S. Citizens in general need to understand the full effect of modern terrorism. Blinded by media coverage and dramatized by slow-motion video replay of terrorist attacks,

“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 an act of violence, usually done in the public sphere, which is used to incite fear in a population in order to coerce change in public opinion or a government’s position on an issue. In many parts of the world, groups wage war with their countries, either to separate from the government or to overthrow it entirely. Sometimes these people are treated unfairly by their government, and their struggles are justified. Other times, these groups use violence against both military and civilian targets, terrorizing innocent bystanders to get what they want—these groups are terrorists. Often, though, it is difficult to tell the difference.

inflict a heavy cost. The authors continue by positing a dilemma that sounds nearly identical to Adler’. They assert that terrorists use a strategy of provocation that is designed to induce a violent response, which will in turn radicalize population and lead to them supporting the terrorists.

Research into terrorism is another challenge in defining terrorism. According to James Rinehart, “those who write about terrorism, tend to possess a preconceived bias of a ‘problem-solution’ orientation in which he or she is simply attempting to justify a set of counterterrorist prescriptive” (4). This research is unreliable at best because as mentioned previously, preconceived biases and stereotypes tend to become involved. Furthermore, there is little research into the why of terrorism, and also very little research into the psychology of terrorists by actual psychologists. The scarcity of primary, first-hand research and due to the private nature of data that is out there, the challenge to defining

Of the many problems that society faces today, terrorism is one that is more serious. The presence of terrorism can be felt across the globe, which make this issue a global concern. In all countries, whether they are developed or in the process of developing, this issue is always up for debate in todays society. History has shown us the clear evidence that the presence of terrorism is very much real and has gone through tremendous changes over the years. Terrorism now has become more difficult to control, more widespread, and more lethal. In todays society, terrorism is a serious challenge because of its presence around the world. Terrorists create chaotic conditions leading to mass murder and destruction to undermine the stability of society,

Terrorism is referred by a criminal act which influences someone beyond the immediate victim, and commits an act of violence that draws the attention of the population, government, and the world (Terrorism research). Goodman explains that Terrorists explode the values they claim to fight. Their victims’ blood blurs and blots whatever ends were meant to justify the carnage (Goodman, 2010, p. 89) We all remember September 11, 2001 and how many innocent lives and people where effected, and that that is what they aim for. The more devastating the damage, the more inhumane, the more avidly is it sought by the strategist, ideologues, and theologians of terror (Goodman, 2010, p. 90).

A complex phenomenon, terrorism rarely has a “one size fits all” solution. Rather, “effective responses to terrorism may need to take into account, and to some degree be individually configured to respond to, the evolving goals, strategies, tactics and operating environment of different terrorist groups” (Perl, 2007, p. i). Indeed, taking an individual approach to measuring effectiveness could be both time consuming and confusing. However, by taking a look at the problem as a whole, some commonalities do exist. For example, in his CRS report, Perl (2007) notes that the impact on society, “[b]oth material and psychological impact beyond a critical threshold, such as disruption of the banking system, or establishment of such pervasive fear that key civil liberties or moral principles underlying the national identity are set aside by the government in the interests of security” (p. 8), could possibly be used as a measure of effectiveness. How quickly we recover from a terrorist attack (measured in days) or our reaction to it (i.e. restrictive or oppressive policy) could be an indicator of how effective our counterterrorism strategy is. For example, a robust counterterrorism strategy may result in limited, small scale attacks that require mere days to recover from, the Boston Marathon for example, as opposed to the complex, large scale attacks we

When defining terrorism, either domestic or international use, it is evident that a social construct is present. It is difficult to define or categorize the forms of a terrorist “act,” or what constitutes as a terrorist act based on what each party agrees to be an actual form of terrorism. These issues within terrorism and crime emerge due to the vast diversity within the United States and the world. A law-abiding citizen in the United States could easily be breaking many laws in another country due to the social construct that is present. Or even a belief system or political agenda might be accepted by one group while considered extremists or terroristic in nature by others. Furthermore, social constructionism and its role in terrorism and crime are based on who is looking through the viewfinder at that specific point in time. There is an understanding and belief that there is crime and terrorism throughout the world, yet specifically pinpointing an underlining understanding of what terrorism and crime is has not been widely accepted (White, 2014, p. 4). It goes without saying that perception is based on reality and that everyone has different perceptions, beliefs, and ideas that each produces a different reality, even when it comes to defining terrorism and

From news rooms to newspapers and websites, the words “acts of terrorism” were blurted out again and again over the past 13 years. The reality is, there is no “act” of terrorism. Individuals create acts of violence in support of terrorism, thus making them part of a larger process. In chapter One, Canter mentions a staircase terrorism model that was introduced by Moghaddam in 2005 describing the process as “a person entering into and becoming part of an ever more involving commitment to violence for political or ideological ends.” For this to take place, two things must occur; first, the organization must be feared by others (i.e. groups, communities, government, etc.), and second, they are remembered culturally and internationally for the grievances the organizations cause. These grievances are key to the organizations success and keeping them feared over the course of years. They also become the identifying mark of the organization, laying the groundwork for resentment to those who the organization sees as their enemy. One of the major misconceptions about terrorism is it’s not how devastating or damaging the incident is, but how well the organization can spin the incident to its supporters that drive the influx of violence. Terrorism is created on a psychological level. Social media, friends, family, and gatherings all contribute to the influence of hatred of external groups,

The origins of functionalism can first be seen developing in the theories of Émile Durkheim. Durkheim, considered the father of modern sociology, was a outspoken advocate of functionalism, building upon

Terrorism is a form of psychological warfare. Terrorism disrupts the sense of security, leaving citizens everyday lives discombobulated when the act of terror is replaced with their peaceful lives. With their goals ranging from —nationalist struggle, ethnic strife, religious strife, separatist struggle, political-governance dispute, economic dispute, and anti colonial revolt.(Volume 9, 2004 - Issue 1-2 Boaz) “Any consideration of whether and how social policy affects terrorism, therefore, must reckon with this enormous diversity of terrorism as a political phenomenon ( BURGOON December 16, 2008 pg3 ).” Social policy unravels complicated effects that are the equivalent to complicated phenomenon of terrorism ( BURGOON December 16, 2008 pg4). Terrorist want to be televised to show the world there way of thinking to gain more people who think the same way, and are.

Terrorism is described as the wrongful use of violence to intimidate civilians or politicians for ideological, religious, or political reasons with no regard for public safety (Bloch, Hayley). Terrorism, used in Medieval Times to gain power and land, continues to be prevalent in a different way in today’s media. With modern sciences, technology and security have advanced. Although security has developed and we are learning more ways to protect ourselves, so has technology, allowing terrorist organizations to be ‘creative’ with their attacks. This advanced technology has caused the number of casualties due to terrorism to spiked since 2013 by 80% (Costa-Roberts, Daniel). Happening all over the world, at any given moment, people face this heinous crime intended to strike fear.