Sociological Motivations for Recruitment in Terrorist Groups - Essay Example

(Frontline) Hence every country has used different methods to combat and recruit terrorist groups. People, and governments in almost every sphere of life are working to reduce terrorism "security, prevention, and suppression of terrorism, legal and ethnic dilemmas regarding democratic issues, such as the individual's human rights, as well as social and psychological and media related issues" (The Counter Terrorism Puzzle: A Guide For Decision Makers). Even though with increasing steps taken to oppose terrorism many innocent people are joining terrorist groups, thus increasing terrorist activities an example of this can be the increase in suicide bombing.

Therefore to diminish terrorism we need to know the reasons because of which a person joins a terrorist group. The reasons or motivations can be divided into two broad categories the psychological reasons and the sociological reasons. In psychological we will discuss the mental health leading to terrorism while in sociological we will evaluate how society, norms, crises result in leading an individual to terrorist groups. Marxists is a sociologist and according to him all violence should not be rejected.

"The bourgeois politicians who make such claims, while supporting wars, nuclear weapons, armies, prisons, etc are simply hypocrites". Marxists believe that in certain situations, such as wars of national liberation and mass revolutionary struggle, violence may be unavoidable and is good for the prosperity of the society. "While terrorism, as in planting bombs on government or civilian targets, or hijacking planes, or assassinations by small groups acting independently of class struggle, has always been condemned, been unacceptable and has received negative response".

According to Marxist perspective the division of classes is the root cause of terrorism. "Marx believes that the root cause of exploitation, oppression, tyranny and war was not bad individual rulers or bad governments but the division of society into classes, and the ownership and control of production by a minority class that live off the labor of the majority. According to him killing or frightening even large numbers of individuals, could not achieve any results he thought that to overcome the ruling class we need to start the struggle of a new class which is the bearer of a new economic system".

(Socialist review)Durkheims perspective on terrorism suggest that collective conscience is the only way to reduce terrorism according to him the concept of individual values is the root cause of terrorism. "Defined by mile Durkheim as the collective conscience was extensive and strong, ranging far and wide into people's lives, controlling them in detail through various religious or other traditional means of sanction. It emphasized the primacy of society over the individual and his or her dignity.

However, the growth of individualism, in Durkheim's view, undermined the collective conscience. Individualism decreased the social responsibility, the concept of sanctions was also undermined giving reduced and more opportunity was given to individuals to get involved in activities that might