Motives For Terrorism Essay

In the past weeks we have explored what makes up the mind of a terrorist by considering various psychological and behavioral factors of terrorism. Another factor we discussed was Osama Bin Laden: Terrorist CEO and the evolution of Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. I will summarize categorizing the means of communication and influence they have upon advancing terrorist narratives, the psychological and behavioral factors within Al-Qaeda leadership and affiliate groups, compare and contrast his ability to communicate and exert influence upon these various audiences from the years preceding 9/11 until his death. All these factors play a part with one another in order to understand the big picture.

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

This essay will describe the psychological, and behavior factors in terrorism, while listing the motivating factors behind them. The means of communication, and influence behind the narratives that would inspire future acts of terrorism. The factors of the psychology of the Al Qaeda leadership from Osama Bin Laden. This paper will also compare and contrast the radicalization models that would explain terrorist motives. And finally the factors of the disengagement of terrorism, and the processes behind them.

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 Central Intelligence Agency defines terrorism as “premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents” (CIA). This term was specifically created to differentiate terrorism between other acts of violence. These doings of terrorism are not just any act but are specific acts of violence. A dominant reason behind terrorism tends to fall upon religious beliefs and culture ties.

Through the reading, several psychological theories have been identified in order to understand violence. These theories have been used to explain the relationship between violence that leads to terrorist acts. One of these theories is the instinct theory, which uses the psychoanalytic model to address the roots of all forms of violence. This model suggests that the idea of terrorism is rooted in childhood abuse (pg. 18). Lloyd De Mause observes that “The roots of terrorism lie not in this or that American foreign policy error, but in the extremely abusive families of the terrorists” (pg. 19). In addition to psychological theories, there are key factors that come into play, such as the motives and vulnerabilities of an individual. According to Randy Borum, a “motive is an emotion, desire, physiological need, or similar impulse that acts as an encouragement to action, and vulnerability refers to weakness or liability to yield, as to persuasion or temptation” which results in “one’s motivation for engaging in terrorism because of the “cause” or ideology of the group” (pg., 24). Individuals who want to be a part of something in which others who are involved share similarities lead to the feeling of being a

"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

Antoon (2008), Pedahzur et al. (2003), the findings of these studies support conclusion that: ‘‘social and cultural structure, together with the individual’s subjective point of view, both play a major role in the Jihadist violence.’’ At this point the social and cultural beliefs and values within the community that children learn and start to believe in facilitate the job of Jihadist organization in recruiting those individual to implement Jihadist

Although there is no one single fingerprint that defines the psychological makeup of a terrorist, there are several broad characteristics that indicate a person’s vulnerability toward radicalization. Terrorists willing to carrying out a suicide operation, as a subset of the larger radicalized group, are certainly no exception. Indeed, dedication to the point of self-extermination requires a deeper degree of radicalization than to merely fight for one’s chosen cause.

Over the years there has been many different terrorist leaders that have been able to communicate effectively and gain a large amount of committed supporters all over the world. These terrorist leaders have used a wide range of different tools and techniques to modify the psychological and

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.

This paper applies the principles of the cognitive dissonance theory (CDT) to the potential racial motivations of homegrown terrorists. Generally, the CDT rests on the premise that in a situation where one is faced with conflicting attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors, there is a need to restore harmony, with his or her pre-existing thoughts and ideas. In addition, this need for harmony can give rise to irrational and sometimes maladaptive behaviors in order to reinstate that balance (Mcleod, 2014). From the perspective of this analysis, it seems appropriate to apply the CDT to the potential racial motivations of Americans that self-radicalize as one can easily be influenced to change their perception of terrorism after consistently being the target of attacks against their race. Determining the motivation may help prevent future Americans from self-radicalizing and prevent future homegrown terrorist attacks. With the CDT used to research and analyze motivations of homegrown terrorist attacks.

It’s impossible to know how relatively ordinary, rational individuals are able to justify their involvement in terrorist organizations. The radicalization process is extremely personal and as a result varies from one individual to the next. This makes it difficult to know who is susceptible to radicalization and who is not. In an attempt to understand this, I’ve tried to reduce the process down to three key elements. Dubbed the three C’s of radicalization; The Catalyst, The Course and The Cause, these describe the environmental, facilitators and triggers that inform an individual’s decision to resort to terrorism.