Why Is It Difficult to Create a Psychological Portrait of a Typical Terrorist - Coursework Example

TERRORIST Contents Introduction 2 Nature and Cause of Terrorism 2 Psychopathology to Prevent Terrorism 4 Individual Personality of Terrorist 5 Vulnerabilities of Terrorist Group 5 Conclusion 6 References 7 Introduction Terrorism is not a new phenomenon; it has always been present in the recorded human history. There are various opinions about terrorism ranging from a tactic and a strategy to a crime and holy duty, a justified reaction of the oppressed, depending upon the point of view. In history terrorism has always been an effective tactic of the weaker side in a conflict. It is especially true when the conflict is asymmetrical in term of balance of power. Probably this characteristic of terrorism explains the recent resurgence of terrorism. It is argued that terrorism is one of the results of globalization, as it escalates ethnic conflicts in an attempt to secure one’s identity. Hence it will be present in some form or other in our lifetime and in the lives of our children. This paper aims at studying the nature, characteristics and causes of terrorism. What makes a person become a terrorist? Does psychopathology provide any help in understanding and preventing terrorism? It will also identify the vulnerabilities of the terrorist groups. Nature and Cause of Terrorism The nature and causes of terrorism are varied and diversified. People become terrorists in different ways in different roles and for different reasons. Although it can be helpful to identify reason of joining, staying with a terrorist organization and leaving it but no generic formula can be developed. The most common causes of terrorism are perceived injustices and need for identity and belonging. Nature of terrorism has changed over the years. If we compare the terrorist groups and terrorists of the 1970’s with the terrorists of the early 1990’s an emerging new trend can be observed. Religious fundamentalism is growing and these new religious groups use weapons of mass destruction. Earlier it was presumed that terrorists do not use weapons of mass destruction because it will alienate them from the public and they will have to face harsh retaliation. The key extremist religious groups are Hizballah, Al –Qaida and Aum Shinrikyo. According to Post the most dangerous terrorists are the religious terrorists. Political and social terrorist have a defined mission that can be measured in terms of their objective and government reaction, media reaction etc. whereas the religious terrorist can justify the most heinous crime. The perception about what constitutes terrorism also varies from country to country as well as within a country belonging to various sects. There are various approaches about the causes of terrorism namely Multi causal approach, political approach, organizational approach, physiological approach, Psychological approach. According to multi causal approach terrorism cannot be explained by just psychological factors but it is a result of many factors such as economic, social, political and religious etc. The political approach believes that the root causes of terrorism are actually present in the environment. These environmental influences include international, national and sub national influences. Crenshaw presented organizational approach and according to her terrorism is not an individual act but it is performed by groups, who reached on a decision based upon commonly held beliefs. The commitment level of individual and group however may vary. The physiological approach holds media responsible for spreading terrorism. It argues that through media the goals, methods and demands of terrorists are made known to potential terrorist and hence media coverage become a source of terrorism (hudson, 1999). Psychopathology to Prevent Terrorism Psychology has been unable to identify and explain violent behavior especially across many contexts, motivations and actors. Some of the psychological theories applied to understand violence are as under. Instinct theory uses the psychoanalytic model that is most widely recognized for addressing the root of all forms of violence. This model has weak logical, theoretical and empirical foundation. According to Freud aggression is seen as displacement from natural course. Another instinct theory is Ethology that argues that aggression arises from very basic biological need i.e. fighting spirit that has evolved in humans. This theory suggests that aggression builds over time that is further aggravated by emotional and psychophysiological forces. Drive theory is also used to explain behavior. This theory links frustration and aggression. It is a twofold theory that states aggression is always produced by frustration and frustration always produce frustration. Frustration is created when someone is prevented from attaining a goal or engaging in behavior. According to social learning theory behaviors are linked with consequences. It states that if aggression is a learned behavior then terrorism, a specific type of aggression is also a learned behavior. The cognitive theory suggests that aggressive people lack the ability to generate non aggressive solutions to conflicts and they have hypersensitivity to the aggressive cues in the environment. There is no such theory that identifies biological factors as the only source affecting aggression but it is of vital importance in explaining aggressive behavior. Some of the biological factors affecting aggression are Neurochemical factors, hormonal factors, psychophsiological factors such as low resting heart rate and neuropsychological factors such as self awareness and self control. There is no such single theory that explains violence because of the diverse and complex nature of terrorism and human behavior. Research to find the relationship between psychopathology and terrorism proved that mental illness and abnormality are not the determining factors in terrorist behavior. (Borum). Individual Personality of Terrorist One of the easiest ways to curb terrorism is to try to develop an understanding about the individual who decides to break away from societal norms and decides to have a career in terrorism. Can terrorist personality profile be developed to prevent terrorism? Studies conducted to identify the personality traits of terrorist fail to chart a single terrorist personality. In fact the studies conducted by psychologists reveal that personality traits alone are not a very good predictor of human behavior. (John Horgan, 2008). Dynamic network analysis (DNA) is an emergent field that provides an insight into the dynamics of individual and group behavior by developing an understanding of the relationship of various factors such as actors, events and resources by collecting understanding, analyzing and predicting their behavior. DNA provides reasoning of the terrorist group as complex dynamic social structure that evolves over time. DNA tool chain is used to assess terrorist group by identifying an actor’s sphere of influence, emergent leaders and paths among critical actors. All these helps in assessing the impact of potential various courses of action and helps in preventing terrorism (Carley, 2006). Vulnerabilities of Terrorist Group The alternative view is that to identify terrorist tendencies one should concentrate on vulnerabilities that leads to extremist ideologies and terrorism. The most common three vulnerabilities are perceived injustice and humiliation, need for identity and need for belonging. These vulnerabilities that lead to frustration and aggression are present in all terrorist. Studies prove that terrorist are generally normal people and most of them are not psychopaths as expected. The vulnerabilities of terrorist groups are their funding. They try to solve this vulnerability by diversifying their funding resources. Another important vulnerability of terrorist groups is their reliance on the leaders. This vulnerability can be enhanced by spreading disinformation about leaders and hence encouraging defection. It can also lead to formation of divisions or factions within the terrorist organization (Linden, 2007). Conclusion The form and nature of terrorism has evolved and changes over the years. The recent trend in terrorism is more tilted towards religious extremism. There are various causes of nature ranging from personal to economic, environmental, social and political reasons. Psychologist have failed to make a terrorist profile that defines the characteristics of a terrorist because it is far more complex phenomena to be defined only on personality traits. By developing an understanding of the terrorism and terrorist can help in preventing terrorism by eliminating or minimizing the factors that lead to terrorism. Certain vulnerabilities of the terrorist and terrorist groups should be exploited to prevent terrorism. References Borum, R. (2010). Psychology of Terrorism. University of South Florida , 9-18. Carley, K. M. (2006). TitA Dynamic Network Approach to the Assessment of Terrorist Groups and the Impact of Alternative Courses of Action. DTIC . Hudson, R. A. (1999). The Sociology and Psychology of terrorism: who becomes a terrorist and why? The library of congress , 9-23. John Horgan, A. S. (2008). Terrorrists, victoms and society. UK: John Wiley & sons. Linden, E. V. (2007). Focus on Terrorism, Volume 9. New York: Nova Science Publishers. Read More