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The Emotive & Psychological
Context of Terrorism:
Academic Status of Getting
Into the Minds of Terrorists
MU MVZ 203 / 448
Spring 2010
Sonoma State University
Dave McCuan
Class Meetings, Rest of the Semester
* Here's the schedule for the rest of the term:
­ 07 April: Psychology of Terrorism
­ 12 April: Release of Midterm Study Sheet & TWO
Midterm Exam Prep Lectures on MU IS
­ 14 April: Terror Networks; Terrorism Funding
­ 21 April: MIDTERM EXAM
­ NO CLASS: Wednesday, 28 April 2010
­ 05 May: Suicide Terrorism; Case Study of Bombings
­ 12 May: Terrorism Symbols & Signs
­ 19 May: Trajectory of Terrorism / Al Qaeda / Final
Exam Study Sheet released
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Major Themes for This Section
* What do we know about the Psychology of Terrorism as an Explanatory
Variable for action?
* How do we know this?
* Where should we be going in terms of research? (and how?)
* How to we use the resulting knowledge to affect national responses to
terrorism?
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."
- Voltaire
The Emotive Quotient & the
Psychology of Terrorism:
Why focus on the fear factor?
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The Scope of Study With
Psychology of Terrorism
"There is a broad spectrum of terrorist
groups and organizations, each of
which has a different psychology,
motivation and decision making
structure. Indeed, one should not speak
of terrorist psychology in the singular,
but rather of terrorist psychologies"
- Jerrold Post, 2001:2.
Popular Beliefs and Misconceptions
about Terrorism
* There is a widespread, but misguided belief that:
­ Terrorists are psychotic or mentally ill
* And/or that terrorists suffer personality disorders
* Usually not the case. Why?
­ Terrorist violence is the result of poverty or ignorance
­ Terrorist violence is a reaction to personal grievances,
including personal humiliation, anger, or shame
­ Terrorists are victims of physical or psychological coercion
from mastermind recruiters ("brainwashing")
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What We Do Know
Terrorists are:
* Not just narcissists, with hostility toward parents or
authority figures.
* Not subject to mental illness as a critical factor
("necessary & sufficient" variable) -most not
"psychopaths."
* No terrorist profile.
* Not all promote violence.
* Not much research on recruitment.
* Recent research on gender as well as "de-
radicalization."
* Important qualifiers of `state-support' versus `statesanctioning'
as critical variables of activities & support.
The Process of Ideological Development
of Radicalization (Borum)
It'sNotRight
Socialand EconomicDeprivation
Context
It'sNotFair
InequalityandResentment
Comparison
You'reEvil
Generalizing/Stereotyping
Reaction
Dehmanizing/Deomonizing theEnemy(Cause)
Reaction
It'sYourFault
Blame/Attribution
Attribution
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Individual Psychology & Cognition:
Trauma & Brain Activity, Function
The Fear System in the brain:
* The Fear System in the brain ­ a "hostile
takeover of consciousness by emotion"
Common responses to fear:
* Common responses to fear ­ fight or flight,
freezing and numbing, submission
* Isolation, passivity, and disempowerment
exacerbate fear
* Problem solving action, affiliative coping,
and "tend and befriend" reduce fear
Art Spiegelman:
In the Shadow of No Towers
(2002)
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"The prefrontal cortex and amygdala are
reciprocally related. In order for the amygdala
to respond to fear reactions, the prefrontal
region has to be shut down. By the same logic,
when the prefrontal region is active, the
amygdala would be inhibited...Treatment of
pathologic fear may require that the patient learn
to increase activity in the prefrontal region."
Joseph LeDoux, The Synaptic Self, 2001
Individual Psychology & Cognition:
Fear's Worldview
* Narrowed lens
* Focus on dangerous intentions
* A world of "persons" - systems and
institutions are "cognitively invisible"
* Threats are viewed in interpersonal and
personal terms
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Post ­ 9/11 US Citizen Reaction:
"I want to feel like I feel when I lock my
doors and put on my security system at
night. If I have to lose some of my civil
liberties to get there, it is okay."
American Environics focus group participant, Chicago, 2002
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Research on the Psychology of Terrorism is
Making Real Progress
* The questions are evolving and improving in the field
­ Old question:
* What is wrong with these people?
­ New Question:
* Why do some people choose to engage in terrorism?
­ Newer Question:
* Why don't other people make the same choice in similar
circumstances?
­ Looming Present Day Question:
* How and why do people move away from terrorism?
* Multiple methods of getting into the mind of terrorists
* Research on the psychology of terrorism points toward new
ideas for dealing with terrorism
What do we Know About the
Psychology of Terrorism?
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There is no unique "psychology of
terrorism" that explains the motivations and
processes by which people come to engage
in terrorist activity.
* The behavior of terrorists is governed by and explained by the
same general processes and motivations as people in general.
* It is more important to understand why terrorist activity seems
acceptable, necessary and even admirable to many individuals
than it is to speculate about what is "wrong" with or "aberrant"
about terrorists.
No common personality profiles or patterns of
life-history have yet been found that define
members of terrorist groups or that identify
individuals willing to carry out terrorist attacks.
* Variables such as childhood abuse and trauma and
themes of perceived injustice and humiliation are
sometimes cited in terrorist biographies
* There is no evidence that these experiences are
more common among terrorists than among others
who do not engage in terrorism
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Terrorism is usually a group activity, and the
reliance of terrorists on social, logistical,
financial and moral support from others is a key
vulnerability that could be exploited in
combating terrorism.
* Members of terrorist groups depend strongly upon other group
members (especially when the group is isolated from the
broader society), and social support and comradeship can be
important in sustaining group membership.
* Breaking apart the social networks that make up and that
support terrorist groups should be a high priority in combating
terrorism
Risk factors that have been identified
in terrorism research include a range
of motivational, ideological and
social factors.
­ Perceptions of isolation or alienation from general society
­ Perceptions of individual or group humiliation, injustice,
shame or dishonor
­ Social isolation
­ Need for identity and the desire to belong
­ Sense of disillusionment with the available alternatives
­ Ideology that legitimizes terrorism
­ Role models and heroes
­ Sense of being or identifying with victims
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Conclusion is Thus:
Becoming a terrorist is a process that
unfolds over time
* The process of becoming an active terrorist involves change in
one's beliefs and attitudes that make it easier to attack civilian
targets.
* Interventions that are targeted toward the individuals who are in
the earlier parts of this trajectory are more likely to succeed than
interventions targeted toward individuals who are farther along
in this process
Terrorist groups evolve, and changes in
groups over time can influence attraction to
these groups
* Terrorist groups have a well-defined life-cycle, and most
eventually disperse or die out
* Providing alternatives to group members can accelerate this
trajectory of decline
* The experience of members with a group will change as group
develops and declines
* Attraction of new members is likely to change over this life cycle
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Terrorism is goal-directed behavior
* Terrorism is usually goal-directed behavior, which means that
understanding the political/social goals being pursued by
individual terrorists and terror groups is central to understanding
and reducing terrorism
* The links between the long-term goals of terrorist groups and
specific actions of terrorists are sometimes unclear to external
observers, but may appear very clear to the perpetrator
* Political, social and ideological goals are not the only ones that
drive the decisions of individuals and groups. Both strategic and
tactical decisions are influenced by organizational goals (to
grow, continue) as well as individual and social goals (support
your group, gain individual prestige, strike back at hated target)
Knowing the goals of terrorist
organizations provides useful information
* Detailed knowledge of the political and social goals of these
groups may not be sufficient for making specific tactical
predictions
* Knowledge of these goals can, however, be useful to identifying
alternatives to violent means that might achieve these goals
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Understanding how terrorists think about
their actions is important
* Few people engaged in terrorist attacks think of themselves as
terrorists
* Understanding how terrorists think about their own behavior and
actions is critical to influencing those actions
Terrorists regard their actions as
necessary, honorable, and justifiable
* Terrorist regard themselves as fighters engaged in a legitimate
and justifiable war
* One key to fighting terrorism is to change the perceptions of
terrorists and the social groups that support them about the
acceptability of terrorist attacks
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Terrorism requires some plausible
justification for targeting civilians
* Terrorist ideologies often provide a set of beliefs that justify
attacks on civilians. These belief systems often justify terrorism
on two bases, that such attacks are moral and that such attacks
are effective
* Undermining these beliefs is likely to decrease the
attractiveness of these groups
* Terror groups seek:
­ Normative considerations (political objectives to secure attention to
cause);
­ To maintain self-interests (in order to engage in goal-directed
behavior; maintain movement / organization & grow organization);
­ To have an internal logic;
­ To grow and maintain legitimacy;
­ Organize accordingly given the previous variables.
It is important for the success of terrorist
groups that their goals and the means used
to achieve these goals are seen as legitimate
by their supporters
* The belief on the part of terrorists and the social groups that
supports them that terrorists are waging a legitimate war helps
to attract adherents to the terrorists' cause and to justify attacks
* Terrorism is most likely when the goals being pursued by
terrorists are seen by the terrorist themselves and by the social
groups with which they interact (e.g., family) as legitimate and
praiseworthy
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Using Knowledge About the Psychology of
Terrorism to Influence Policymaking
* Understanding more about how terrorist groups attract new
members, retain current members, and deal with defections
opens up a number of new avenues for counterterrorism
interventions
* Rigorous, non-political analyses of terrorist goals is essential
­ "They want to destroy our freedoms" thinking is
counterproductive & self-perpetrating.
* Study public images and self-images of terrorists in order to
undermine those images
­ Used in Iraq as AQIM & AQ-affiliated groups attacked native,
sympathetic populace, turning locals against the terror orgs.
­ UK campaign against IRA and violent Loyalist groups in
Northern Ireland
Using Knowledge About the Psychology of
Terrorism to Influence Policymaking
* Change the rhetoric and imagery of public discussions of
terrorism
­ Terrorist think of themselves as soldiers in a war that is well-
justified
­ Terrorist groups benefit from being portrayed as powerful
and dangerous
* How do we change the discussion to undermine these
images?
* Identify and target the right set of weaknesses, using the right
set of approaches
­ Terrorists depend on large social networks of passive
supporters
­ How do we attack terrorists without strengthening their
support among the community of people not yet fully
committed?
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Conclusions
* The field of Psychology, informed by Political Science, &
the tools of Social Science, has much to offer a
comprehensive understanding of terrorism as well as
inform counterterrorism initiatives at a variety of levels
* In addition, the value of this inter-disciplinary approach is
that it places priority on empirical data-driven
approaches to scientific enquiry
* Terrorism studies have traditionally lacked rigor and
methodological soundness, but this inter-disciplinary
approach increases the research relevance to policymaking...is
that desirable?
* Terrorism can be understood as a series of
psychological processes
­ However, the use of certain analytical socio-psychological
frameworks is limited.
Conclusion - Tools for Understanding
the Psychology of Terrorism
* Pay attention to what terrorists say
­ What they say to their enemies
­ What the say to the public, and their victims overall
­ What they say to members of their own groups
­ Via interviews, autobiographies, intercepted communications
* Don't uncritically accept what terrorists say
­ Virtually any self-report should be viewed with skepticism,
especially when connected to violent, criminal activities
­ Triangulate - check against other known facts
­ Engage in empirical analysis via tried and tested methods to
ascertain knowledge
­ Test knowledge; test veracity; engage in games that educate &
move
* Analyze terrorists & their organizations for clues to motivations
(Networks? Hierarchies? Loose organizations? Frustrations?)
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Tools for Understanding
the Psychology of Terrorism
* Pay attention to what terrorists do
­ Use what we know about situations that have something in
common with terrorist operations
­ Analyses of patterns and commonalities in terrorist events
* Learn their literature, constitutions, & creed; simulations, "red
team" events; reconstructions / re-enactments; "act & think" like
terrorists
* But in doing all of this, acknowledging the relative limitations and
weaknesses to all of these sources of information
Most Important Tool - Know Your Target
* People become terrorists in different ways, occupy different
roles, and for different reasons. Some people drift into terrorism
in a series of small, seemingly inconsequential steps, whereas
others make very explicit decisions to join terrorist groups
* Some members of terrorist organizations occupy mundane roles
that keep them far removed from violence (e.g. fundraising)
whereas others are directly involved in attacks.
* Groups involved in terrorism differ considerably in their focus,
tactics, and even their involvement in activities other than
terrorism.
* There are many pathways into and out of involvement in
terrorism that do not involve direct action and/or violence.
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Sociology and Psychology of Terrorism ­ Who Becomes a Terrorist
and Why? By Rex Hudson [Report by the Federal Research
Division, Library of Congress]
USMC MCRP 3-02E, The Individual's Guide for Understanding and
Surviving Terrorism
Defeating Terrorism by Howard D. Russell, Reid Sawyer
Terrorism, an Introduction by Jonathan White, basic CCJ/CJA
focused primer
Preparing for the Psychological Consequences of Terrorism: A
Public Health Strategy [Board on Neuroscience and Behavioral
Health]
Suggested Readings
* SWOTT reading list for "Psychology of Terrorism," including John
Horgan's new book, The Psychology of Terrorism
* Aronson, Elliot, Wilson, Timothy D., Akert, Robin M. (2004). Group
Processes. Social Psychology 5th Edition. Prentice Hall.
* Moghaddam, Fathali M. (2005). The Staircase to Terrorism: A
Psychological exploration. American Psychologist. Vol 60, No. 2, 161-
169.
* Ruby, Charles L. (2002). Are Terrorists Mentally Deranged? Analysis
of Social Issues and Public Policy, 2, 15-26.
* Laqueur, Walter (1996). Postmodern Terrorism. Foreign Affairs, Vol
75, No. 5, 24-36.
* Hudson, Rex (1999). The Sociology and Psychology of Terrorism:
Who Becomes a Terrorist and Why? Federal Research Division, Library
of Congress.
* Miller, Laurence (2002). Psychological interventions for terroristic
trauma: Symptoms, syndromes, and treatment strategies.
Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice Training. Vol 39 No. 4,
283-296.
Works Cited