Download Terrorist Motivations: Why People Join or Support Terrorist Groups?

Psychology & Nation Security
Psychology of Terrorism
Kajumba Mayanja, PhD
What is terrorism?
• Is an unlawful act of violence
• perpetrated on civilian non-combatants
• Intimidates governments or societies
• Goal is to achieve ideological, religious or political objectives
• “terrorism seeks to hurt a few people and to scare a lot of people
in order to make a point” NYTimes, 1/6/2000
• The line between terrorism and political violence is often blurred
• Terrorism is a mode of communication.
• Terrorism is designed to make a point, through
psychological means, fear.
• Terrorism is a political act.
Who becomes a Terrorist?
• People become terrorists in different ways, in different
roles, and for different reasons.
• Common belief that terrorists are evil or psychologically
disturbed individuals
• but most terrorists are normal people
• few mentally disturbed terrorists
• symptoms due to their involvement in violence
• not the reason for their involvement in terrorism
Thus,
• Mental illness is not a critical factor in explaining terrorist
behavior.
• Also, most terrorists are not “psychopaths.”
• There is no “terrorist personality”, nor is there any accurate
profile of the terrorist
• Any normal person can become a terrorist
What motivates terrorists?
• Terrorism is product of:
•
•
strategic choice
psychological forces
• Terrorist ideologies tend to provide a set of beliefs
that justify and mandate certain behaviors
• Those beliefs are regarded as absolute
• the behaviors are seen as serving a meaningful cause
For example,
Sageman (2005) and Atran (2006) developed a people-based
database
• background information on over 500 global network terrorists
• psychology of terrorism and religious fundamentalism mainly relates to
the context of the group
• joined by normal people that come to embrace transcendent values
• e.g. “justice for their people”, as being of greater value than issues of
normal individual morality
Terrorist’s Objective
• promotion of the “cause” or destruction of those
who oppose it
• To affect political, social, economic, or religious change
through the use of fear and intimidation
• unable to accomplish objectives through democratic or other
legitimate process
• unable to directly confront their opposition militarily
• Terrorism is a phenomenon of intense but normal
group dynamics
• terrorist cell cut off from all other kinds of social
groups
• the power of the group over the individual depends
upon the number of groups to which the individual
belongs.
• When the individual’s social world is reduced to a
single group, the norms of that group have
enormous power.
•
group opinions and judgments more extreme in the
same direction
•
individuals above-average in their support of the group
favored direction are seen as better people
•
brainwashing
• No sane human has ever had the idea that he or she
alone was destined for some form of immortality
• it is participation in and contribution to a group--family,
religion, nation, cause--that offers some form of
immortality.
Terrorists:
• tend to identify with their cause and group
• view the violence as worth committing even if they
lose their lives, and those of others.
• Failure of their mission or cause is more disastrous to
them, than personal capture or death.
An Alternative View of the Terrorist
• In contradistinction to the often held stereotypic
view of terrorists as evil people desiring to inflict
pain and suffering on others
• the terrorist might be considered by some to be a victim of circumstances
• this “reactionary model” of terrorism suggests that the terrorist turns to
terrorist activity because it is the only means available to achieve their
objective involving a justifiable and positive societal change from their
perspective
• Terrorists in some cases may seem to have surprisingly
“altruistic” motives
• Common experience is that it is easier to hurt others if
they can be made distant or dehumanized
• A terrorist group is described as the activist apex of a
pyramid of more passive supporters and sympathizers
• the relations between the terrorist group and its
sympathizers are key to its strategies and its survival.
Process of Ideological Development
“It’s not right”
“It’s not fair”
“It’s your fault”
“You are evil”
Stereotype
Perception
of
deprivation
Inequality
and
resentment
Blame /
Attribution
Demonization/
Dehumanization
Context
Comparison
Attribution
Reaction
• Terrorists are not born, they are made
causes of terrorism
• citizens’ disbelief in the ability of the government and its lawenforcement agencies to protect the people.
• e.g. Feeling that the security organs such as the police and army
did not offer adequate security or were the instigators of the
violence.
• growing up in communities where the use of violence to solve political
problems has been maintained for generations
• the role models honored for their involvement in the historical violent
struggles.
• clash of religions, cultures, or political ideologies
• perceived “unfairness” or “injustice” E.g. tribal and
political favoritism
• emotional and prejudiced sense of humiliation,
disrespect, and injustice
• (relative) Deprivation-Frustration-Aggression
hypothesis
• Recruitment efforts tend to be concentrated in areas
where people feel most deprived and dissatisfied.
Some strategic objectives of terrorism:
•
Recognition: Gaining national or international recognition for their
cause; recruiting new personnel; raising funds; demonstrating their
strength
•
Coercion: Force a desired behavior of an individual or government
•
Intimidation: Prevent individuals, groups, or governments from acting
•
Provocation: Provoking overreaction by a government to the attack on
symbolic targets or personnel, thereby gaining sympathy for their
cause.
•
Insurgency support: Forcing the government to overextend itself in
dealing with the threat, thereby allowing the insurgency to gain support
and commit further attacks against the government.
Property of Terrorism
• Terrorism is different from regular crime because of
its strong political properties
• The definition of terrorism can vary from people to
people due to the differences in standpoint
• One person’s terrorist can be another’s fighter
Causes and Facilitators of Terrorism
i
i
i
i
i
I
C
= Individual influencers like
family, friends, small groups,
clubs, diasporas, religious
beliefs, education, etc.
Intersection of individual characteristics
and a terrorist organization’s
characteristics leads to his/her
affiliation with (or at least some support
for) that organization
O
C
i
C
C = A terrorist organization’s characteristics (leadership, reputation,
history, etc.) that contribute to the resonance of its ideology among
target audiences and influence an individual’s willingness to embrace
(or reject) terrorism as a reasonable course of action
OA
I = Individual
Characteristics
O = Organizational
Characteristics
I
PC = Precipitant
Conditions
ET = Environmental
Triggers
O
PC
ET
OA = Opportunities to
Act
GE = Global
Environment
GE
Prevention of Terrorism
•Primary prevention:
• Education!!!
• Understand the differences in cultures, religions,
beliefs and human behaviors
• Think of the peace, freedom and equality of all
human beings, not just “my group of people”
• Eliminate the root of terrorism
Prevention of Terrorism
•Secondary prevention:
• Establish surveillance and monitoring system on
terrorism attack
• Improve protective system for citizens
Prevention of Terrorism
•Tertiary prevention
• Early detection of the sources
• Prevent the extension of impairments
• Rescue the survivors
• Console the rest of the population
The only thing we
have to fear is
fear itself. FDR, 1933
Fears are educated into us & can,
if we wish, be educated out. — Karl A. Menninger