Abstract
Social psychology's focus on person-situation interactions has implications for who becomes a terrorist; for example, Moghaddam posits a “staircase model” of terrorism in which terrorism is viewed as sequential progress from lower floors to higher floors that occurs on a progressively narrowing staircase. Each floor is characterized by unique psychological processes and progressive restrictions on response options, such that “destruction of others, or oneself, or both” becomes the only option. Regarding what motivates terrorism, from a psychological perspective there is little evidence that terrorists have abnormally high levels of mental illness or psychopathy. They are rational actors with purpose, intent, high levels of commitment, and deeply held convictions. Cultivated perceived threats to group identity and values (social, cultural, religious, political, etc.) are at the core of motivations for terrorism. A similar dynamic operates in responses to terrorism.
TopIntroduction
The most dangerous type of violent crime committed both in a group and alone is terrorism - an extreme manifestation of extremism: explosions, arson, the use of radioactive and potent substances, organizing accidents and disasters, disabling life-supporting facilities that create a danger of death, seizure and the destruction of hostages - actions committed to violating social security, intimidate the population, and influence decision-making by authorities. In psychological terms, terrorism is dangerous not only because of its extremely negative specific consequences, but also because of the violation of the psychological balance in society, the violation of the peaceful existence of people, the generation of general anxiety and fear, the expectation of a threat, and the destabilization of public life.
Along with political, ideological, ethnic-psychological, and religious prerequisites, the behavior of terrorists is also determined by their psychological characteristics. The general psychological feature of terrorists is their extremist accentuation and emotional-conflict orientation in resolving life problems. The emphasis on the personality of a terrorist is manifested in an exaggerated desire for self-affirmation, an extremely high level of claims, the dominance of political and ethnic-psychological ambitions in his psyche, in taking on the halo of a martyr for an “idea”. All terrorists are characterized by hypertrophy of narrow group values. The whole world is categorically divided into “us” and “them”, the danger of alien influence is exaggerated. A confrontational behavioral attitude is formed, easily turning into a violent direction (Crenshaw, 2000).
In modern conditions, there is an escalation of the terrorist activities of extremist organizations, their nature is becoming more complicated, and the sophistication and inhumanity of terrorist acts are increasing. For an effective fight against terrorism, it is important to understand the psychology of terrorism, and the sources of aggression. The essence of the social order of psychological science today is to explain the nature of terrorism and offer society an effective means of countering the terrorist challenge. The problem of terrorism is multifaceted. In it, along with the social, political, legal, and economic aspects, the psychological aspect, which requires comprehensive consideration and in-depth study, should also be highlighted. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to prevent a terrorist act, even using all possible measures. Therefore, the problem of suppression of terrorist actions arises. Thus, when hostages are taken by terrorists, the problem of negotiating with them arises. And this is a completely psychological problem of communication, the possibility of influencing criminals to avoid possible victims. To effectively solve this problem, it is important to understand the psychology of terrorism.
It is customary to distinguish several types of motives that, as a rule, terrorists are guided by:
- 1.
Mercantile motives. For a certain number of people, terror is a way to make money.
- 2.
Ideological motives. Such a motive arises as a result of a person's entry into a certain community that has an ideological and political orientation.
- 3.
Motives for transformation and active change in the world. These motives are connected with the experience of injustice in the existing structure of the world and the desire to transform it based on a subjective understanding of justice.
- 4.
The motive of power over people. Through violence, instilling fear in people, the terrorist seeks to assert himself and his personality.
- 5.
The motive of the interest and attractiveness of terror as a field of activity. Terrorists may be attracted by the risk associated with terror, the process of developing plans, and the specifics of the implementation of terrorist acts.
- 6.
Comradely motives of emotional attachment in a terrorist group. Such motives can be the motive of revenge for the fallen comrades, the motives of traditional participation in terror because one of the relatives was engaged in it.
- 7.
The motive of self-realization. From the point of view of the terrorists themselves, their actions are a form of restoring violated justice. Terrorism is a perverted idea of justice in the world - it is an inadequate response of the weak side to the actions of the strong (Horgan, 2017).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Social Psychology of Terrorism: Has its focuses on person-situation interactions that have implications for who becomes a terrorist; for example, Moghaddam (2004) posits a “staircase model” of terrorism in which terrorism is viewed as sequential progress from lower floors to higher floors that occurs on a progressively narrowing staircase.
Social Psychological Factors: Pertain to all aspects of terrorism, including how terrorist organizations operate, and the impact of terrorism on everyday people. The present analysis focuses on the aspect of terrorism where social psychology's voice is perhaps most critical: radicalization (i.e., how terrorists are made) and deradicalization (i.e., how terrorists are unmade). In reviewing the literature, we identify three factors critical to radicalization: (1) the individual need that motivates one to engage in political violence, (2) the ideological narrative that justifies political violence, and (3) the social network that influences one's decisions along the pathway to extremism. Theoretical and empirical contributions are discussed. We end with an examination of interviews conducted with former extremists of various ideological leanings to highlight these same three factors as critical to their individual deradicalization experiences.
Terrorism: Premeditated violence perpetrated against non-combat targets by subnational or transnational groups or clandestine agents usually intended to influence an audience.