terrorism Essay

“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

?Psychology of Terrorism.? Center for International Research on Terrorism. 2007. http://www.terrorismresearchcenter.org/psychology-of-terrorism.html, accessed 16 Aug 2010.

Throughout the world, terrorism affects cultures in a myriad of ways. The United States Department of Defense defines terrorism as, “ the calculated use of violence or the threat of violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological” (DOD). Terrorism has emerged in the last ten years as one of the most crucial issues governments attempt to tackle. Many movies and documents can help people better understand the major strain of terrorism. As seen by the effects of the September eleventh attacks on American security, tourism and economy, the Taliban, and Somali piracy, terrorism has had an utmost impact on the world.

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

A multitude of factors contribute to any type of reasoning or psychological makeup of an individual; whether it is a person’s history of behavioral problems, inability to maintain a functional relationship, or in this case becoming part of a terrorist organization. In Sarah Kershaw’s “The Terrorist Mind: An Update”, we are able to see what drives a person to commit acts of terror where it is praised in a given community.

The Report of the Task Force on Disorders and Terrorism, assembled by the National Advisory Committee, provides the following typology of terrorism: Political Terrorism - “violent criminal behavior designed

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.

In spite of the fact that the distinctive types of terrorism may emerge for various arrangement of reasons however a portion of the real causes might be recorded as political disappointment, financial hardship, local incongruities and intercession into religious, social; and individual opportunity of the general population . Any or these may on occasion make circumstance where worldwide personal stakes discover t simple to mediate and to animate the propensities towards terrorism for further their own particular targets at the expense of honest individuals .

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

As we move past defining terrorism we are now looking to give it an identity. Terrorism is an act that is acted out by groups and individuals. There are always some command grounds in differences when you evalute one terrorist to another. Person or group. Some command areas might be methods of employement and desired end result. One of the biggest difference between terrorists (group or person) is politics or motivatoin behind the act and a countinuing agenda. In order to obtain data and provide comparisons to such items as mentioned two executors of terrorism were selected. One individual Timothy McVeigh(domestic) and one group al-Shabaab (international). The intent of this paper will be to compare the key similarities and differences between Timothy McVeigh and al-Shabaab, reference one terrorist activity and the motives of the attacks for each and provide an assessment of which is a greater threat to the United States (threat should be interpreted as threat to the national security of the United States).

Terrorism has been an important part of social behavior for over 2,000 years. Between the years of 1980 and 1995, terroristic groups motivated by religious beliefs had increased by 43% (Hoffman). Religious beliefs and culture are a main reason groups and individuals resort to terrorism. Groups resort to terrorism as a consequence of seeing their culture demolished, as well as religious motives. Terrorist groups have many intentions when it comes to acts of terrorism. They main ones are they want to create fear globally, weaken the government, and obtain universal recognition for what they have done. Religiously motivated terrorist groups usually have high authority targets. These targets include government offices, banks, and national airlines. From the group’s perspective, terrorism is the only practical option. Groups are formed centered on certain factors like culture and religion. Many terrorists will receive support from their followers

In the article “Profile of a Terrorist” by Cindy Combs, the author maps out and discusses the different causes of terrorism committed by people. Understanding and determining what drives people to terrorism is no easy task. Why do people choose to commit acts of terrorism? Why do people choose to become rebellious and wreak havoc on so many innocent civilians? Combs discusses the different types of terrorists as suggested by Frederick Hacker who was a Vienna-born psychiatrist and psychoanalyst and expert on aggression and terrorism.

"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

Is a terrorist a rational or irrational person based on what they do to people and the world? This is not an easy thing to understand since each individual person’s reasons that set them down this path is different. This will not be easy since the reader looking at a terrorist may see the group as being irrational for what it does because how can someone bomb a school, or attack an aid convoy, and still be rational? This essay believes that the terrorist groups have rational reasons based on what they believe is right and wrong.