|
Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
|
The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 618, No. 1,
80-94 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0002716208317539
From Profiles to Pathways and Roots to Routes: Perspectives from Psychology on Radicalization into Terrorism
John Horgan
Attempts to profile terrorists have failed resoundingly, leaving behind a poor (and unfair) impression of the potential for a sound psychological contribution to understanding the terrorist. However, recent work in the area has delivered promising and exciting starting points for a conceptual development in understanding the psychological process across all levels of terrorist involvement. Involvement in terrorism is a complex psychosocial process that comprises at least three seemingly distinct phases: becoming involved, being involved—synonymous with engaging in unambiguous terrorist activity—and disengaging (which may or may not result in subsequent de-radicalization). A critical implication of these distinctions is the recognition that each of them may contain unique, or phase-specific, implications for counterterrorism. An argument is made for greater consideration of the disengagement phase with a clearer role for psychological research to inform and enhance practical counterterrorism operations.
Key Words: psychology • terrorism • radicalization • process • disengagement
References
- Atran, Scott. 2003. Social science review: Genesis of suicide terrorism. Science 299:1534-39.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
- Bloom, Mia. 2005. Dying to kill: The allure of suicide terrorism. New York: Columbia University Press.
- Bjørgo, Tore, ed. 2005. Root causes of terrorism: Myths, realities, ways forward. London: Routledge.
- Bjørgo, Tore, and John Horgan, eds. Forthcoming. Leaving terrorism behind: Individual and collective perspectives. New York: Routledge.
- Boucek, Christopher. 2007. Extremist re-education and rehabilitation in Saudi Arabia. Terrorism Monitor 5 (16). http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2373620.
- Burgess, M., Neil Ferguson, and I. Hollywood. Forthcoming. From individual discontent to collective armed struggle: Personal accounts of the impetus for membership or non-membership in paramilitary groups. Political Psychology.
- Cordes, Bonnie. 1987. Euroterrorists talk about themselves: A look at the literature. In Contemporary research on terrorism, ed. P. Wilkinson and A. M. Stewart, 318-36. Aberdeen, UK: Aberdeen University Press.
- Cusack, Jim, and Max Taylor. 1993. Resurgence of a terrorist organisation: Part 1-The UDA: A case study. Terrorism and Political Violence 5:1-27.
- Hassan, Nasra. 2001. Letter from Gaza: An arsenal of believers-Talking to the human bombs. The New Yorker, November 19.
- Horgan, John. 2005. The psychology of terrorism. London: Routledge.
- ---. 2007. From profiles to pathways: The road to recruitment. Countering the Terrorist Mentality: E Journal USA. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of State. http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itps/0507/ijpe/ijpe0507.pdf.
- House of Commons Report of the official account of the bombings in London on 7th July 2005. 2006. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
- Hundeide, Karsten. 2003. Becoming a committed insider. Culture and Psychology 9:107-27.[CrossRef]
- McCauley, Clark R., and Mary E. Segal. 1989. Terrorist individuals and terrorist groups: The normal psychology of extreme behavior. In Terrorism: Psychological perspectives, ed. J. Groebel and J. H. Markstein, 41-64. Seville, Spain: University of Seville Publications.
- Post, Jerrold M., Ehud Sprinzak, and Laurita M. Denny. 2003. The terrorists in their own words: Interviews with thirty-five incarcerated Middle Eastern terrorists. Terrorism and Political Violence 15 (1): 171-84.
- Sageman, Marc. 2004. Understanding terror networks. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
- Sherman, N. 2005. Stoic warriors-The ancient philosophy behind the military mind. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Silke, Andrew. 1998. Cheshire Cat logic: The recurring theme of terrorist abnormality in psychological research. Psychology, Crime and Law 4:51-69.[CrossRef]
- Taarnby, Michael. 2005. Yemen's committee for dialogue: Can jihadists return to society? Terrorism Monitor 3 (14). http://jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2369745.
- Taylor, Maxwell. 1988. The terrorist. London: Brassey's.
- Taylor, Maxwell, and John Horgan. 2006. A conceptual framework for addressing psychological process in the development of the terrorist. Terrorism and Political Violence 18 (4): 1-17.[CrossRef][ISI]
- Taylor, Maxwell, and Ethel Quayle. 1994. Terrorist lives. London: Brassey's.
- Victoroff, Jeff. 2006. The mind of the terrorist: A review and critique of psychological approaches. Journal of Conflict Resolution 49:3-42.[ISI]
 CiteULike  Connotea  Del.icio.us  Digg  Reddit  Technorati What's this?
|
