Psychological Factors in the Genesis of Terrorism - Essay Example

Why People Resort to Terrorism as a means of achieving their Goals Introduction Terrorism has been described as being a tool of warfare or a method of violence that is primarily employed to aid individuals in achieving some form of social, historical or political goal when they believe that they have somehow been stripped of their rights or land or even denied access to this. Terrorists are often of the belief that violence and the threat of violence will be effective in ushering in change and that violent means will eventually serve to justify the ends. A number of research studies examining the diverse goals and causational factors that drive individuals to engage in terrorism have been conducted in a bid to better understand the growing threat that is posed by this threat. This paper will seek to establish the factors that drive people to resort to terrorism as a means of attaining their goals. One reason as to why people can at times choose to resort to terrorism as a means of attain their goals is because as the world continues to become increasingly globalized, economic problems and poverty have often been cited as being a contributing factor that serves to promote terrorism. Terrorists are often driven by a lack of upward mobility and a sense of relative depravation within their societies. The modern media and globalization have served to give poor individuals a rather acute awareness of their situation as compared to those who are well off (Thakur, 153). This is noted to often lead to humiliation, victimization and frustration among the rapidly growing cohorts of uneducated and unemployed urbanized Muslim youth who are able to make comparisons across countries. The glaring economic differences between the Western world and themselves can often serve to infuriate individuals in the underdeveloped countries, a factor which can often have the effect of significantly increasing hostilities and tension. The development of such situations often allows organizations to gain the much needed attention and easy entry into societies that feel that they have been wronged by these perceived social injustices. A second reason as to why people can at times choose to resort to terrorism as a means of attain their goals is because of video games and mass media. In the essay appearing in an issue of Rolling Stone magazine, John Davidson points out that media video games violence can at times have the effect of causing increased violence among children (Qtd. in Ackley 290a). In the article Davidson highlights the results of a case study in which the results of a survey on 875 third-graders showed that children whose parents described as watching a lot of violent television would often turn out to be aggressive in school. The study also showed that the television programs that an 8 year old watches are actually the best predictor of adult aggression. It is these high levels of adult aggression tendencies that can eventually develop and cause individuals to engage in terrorist activities. By exposing children to violent mass media, parents can inadvertently cause their children to start adopting aggressive traits that might eventually culminate in causing them to become terrorists when they are older. A third reason as to why people can at times choose to resort to terrorism as a means of attain their goals is because of Ethno-nationalism. Ethno-nationalism, which can be defined as being the desire by a given population to break away from a country’s ruling power or government, has often been cited as being responsible for the formation of terrorist groups (Victoroff, 187). Numerous countries around the world tend to have minority groups that wish to eventually garner some form of independence or even break away from the country and become independent states. An example of ethno-nationalism is noted in the case of Chechen terrorist organizations. These organizations have been continually making attacks against not only the government, but also the people of Russia in a concerted attempt to form their own state. Another example where ethno-nationalism is noted to be the reason behind terrorism is seen in the case of Hamas. Hamas is considered to be the most active ethno-nationalist driven group and is engaged in conducting attacks and suicide bombings against the state of Israel with the ultimate objective of eventually creating a Palestinian state. A fourth reason as to why people can at times choose to resort to terrorism as a means of attain their goals is because of the influence of Hollywood. According to an article by Robert Roten, it is quite possible that the movies produced by Hollywood are responsible for the setting of a pattern that can be copied by terrorists (Qtd in Ackley, 280b). Arguably provide idea to terrorists as to how they can possibly engage and conduct attacks. They also serve to popularize the notion of terrorism among children and can possibly influence them to eventually become terrorists in future. A fifth reason as to why people can at times choose to resort to terrorism as a means of attain their goals is because of political grievances. Grievances against a given political order or a general lack of political inclusiveness in states may have the effect of causing individuals to create their own terrorist groups or join some of the already established groups. Frustrated political expressions can often turn to violence as an alternative to the frustrating exclusive political systems (Price, 50). Although political grievances are often found to be somewhat similar to separatist/ethno-nationalist cause, they however differ from these as they are not born from the innate desire to create a new state, instead, they seek to change order within the current system. In most third world countries radical political Islam is often a reaction to oppressive governments and their Western supporters. When people living in countries that lack political inclusiveness realize that people around the world actually live in countries that have representative governments, anger often tends to grow among these individuals a factor that can subsequently lead the disillusioned individuals into the arms of terrorism. The implication of this is that by supporting authoritative regimes for their own national interests, Western governments have made themselves targets of terrorism which is perpetrated by the angered populace within these regimes. The angered populace perceived acting out violently to be the only alternative to political expression. A sixth reason as to why people can at times choose to resort to terrorism as a means of attain their goals is because of religious influences. One of the most commonly held beliefs today is that terrorism is essentially caused by religion. Of note however is that although religion can be seen to play a significant driving role in some forms of terrorism, it is however not the main cause of terrorism. Religious terrorists primarily use terrorism as a tool through which they are able to punish what they perceived to be ungodly societal behavior or to avenge what they perceive as being attacks on their belief (Coolsaet, 63). Religion as part of terrorism has been primarily attributed to the emergence of Islamic fundamentalism which is noted to be a major driving factor in the global Salafi jihad which is a global religious revivalist movement that primarily aims to reestablish the past Muslim glory of the yester years in a great Islamist state that had previously stretched from the Philippines to Morocco and in the presence eliminating a number of national boundaries. As a major driver of terrorism, the main danger that is posed by religious doctrine is that it tends to encourage attacks of a relatively more violent nature as compared to other types of terrorism. As a result of being promised ample rewards in the afterlife, religious terrorists are easily swayed into carrying out violent and dangerous attacks such as suicide bombings which tend to be harder to amply defend against. It should be noted however that religious terrorism does not always pertain to one faith attacking another. Divisions between sects within the same religion such as Sunni and Shia Muslims as well as between Christians and Catholics have been responsible for instigating terrorist attacks through the ages. Another reason as to why people can at times choose to resort to terrorism as a means of attain their goals is because of ideological beliefs. Ideological beliefs are noted to often provide a basis for terrorism. Some groups and organizations resort to using terrorism so as to try and further the cause of a given ideology that they believe in. The beliefs advocated by these individuals often do not have to be of a religious or political nature. Racist groups, eco-terrorists and animal rights activists sometimes tend to use violence directed at property and individuals all in the name of their beliefs. Another common reason as to why people can at times choose to resort to terrorism as a means of attain their goals is because of discrimination and alienation. Feelings of alienation and discrimination by diasporas have been cited as being a driver for terrorism and especially so for those individuals living in Europe. These groups frequently face continuous discrimination in the countries that they reside in which is a factor that can potentially lead to further feelings of isolation. The discriminated individuals often move from poorer countries to the wealthier ones with the objective of either going to school, or finding suitable work. However, once these individuals move to these countries, they tend to start feeling alienated. The new host nations are usually less community oriented and substantially different from their own cultures. This causes the alienated individuals to start seeking for other individuals like themselves or communities that happen to have cultures that are similar to that which exists in their home countries. The groups can gradually become jaded towards the society around them as they feel excluded and do not fit in. The rapidly growing sentiments of discrimination can often lead these groups to start looking for more conservative and eventually some extremist ideologies. These groups are often subjected to a large number of discriminatory social policies. This poses a problem in that once these individuals become radicalized as a result of alienation from being in foreign societies, they sometimes travel within Europe with relative ease and are able to enter the United States with more ease as compared to non-Europeans. This has the negative effect of causing them to pose a significant threat not only in Europe, but also in the United States. Another reason as to why people can at times choose to resort to terrorism as a means of attain their goals is because of the influence of existing terror groups. The theory of the accidental guerilla has been used to describe situations whereby terrorist organizations move into conflict ridden areas or ones that have poor government. These organizations then use the safe haven as a base from which to spread their ideologies as well as carry out their violent acts. When outside forces attempt to intervene and tackle the threat posed by this group, this can at times cause the local population to reject the perceived foreign invaders and align themselves with the terrorist group and in the process creating more terrorists and popular support for terrorist movements (Nicholson and Schmorrow, 262). Conclusion For terrorism to exist, terrorists need to have a given cause that they can use in justifying the wanton use of terror tactics not only to themselves, but also to the larger audience that they hope to eventually reach. Although a large number of people tend to believe that religious fanaticism is the main cause of terrorism, this is largely untrue, however religious fanaticism is responsible for the creation of conditions that are favorable to terrorism. Other key causes of terrorism include globalization, economic problems and poverty, ethno-nationalism, grievances against a given political order, radical ideological beliefs, feelings of discrimination and alienation as well as the creation of accidental guerillas. Among the reasons that may lead individuals to resort to terrorism, there is none that can be described as being the main reason for terrorist activities and all these are noted to be factors that drive people to resort to terrorism as a means of attaining their goals. Works Cited Ackley, Katherine (a). “Essays from Contemporary Culture.” Is Hollywood Responsible for 9 -11. Thomson/Heinle, 2003. Print. 280-281 Ackley, Katherine (b). “Essays from Contemporary Culture.” Menace to Society. Thomson/Heinle, 2003. Print. 288-292 Coolsaet, R. Jihadi Terrorism and the Radicalisation Challenge: European and American Experiences. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate, 2011. Print. Nicholson, Denise M., and Dylan D. Schmorrow, eds. Advances in Design for Cross-cultural Activities. CRC Press, 2012. Price, Daniel E. Sacred Terror: How Faith Becomes Lethal. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger, 2012. Print. Thakur, Harish K. Gandhi, Nehru and Globalization. New Delhi: Concept Pub. Co, 2010. Print. Victoroff, Jeff . Tangled Roots: Social and Psychological Factors in the Genesis of Terrorism. Amsterdam: IOS Press, 2006. Print. Read More