Title: Chapter 1. Psychological nature of terrorism. 1.1. Terrorism in the past and in the present. 1.2. Role of the mass media. 1.3. Fear as a main weapon of terrorists.
1Chapter 1. Psychological nature of
terrorism.1.1. Terrorism in the past and in
the present.1.2. Role of the mass media.1.3.
Fear as a main weapon of terrorists. Chapter
2. Terrorists. Who are they?2.1.
Psychological motivation of terrorists.2.2.
Peculiarities of terrorists psychology.2.3.
Suicidal terrorism.
2Terrorism has a psychological nature from two
perspectives1) Citizens are influenced
psychologically, the number of victims plays not
the dominant role. 2) Terrorists have the
psychology of their own, which is determined by
- Religion - Social prejudices.
3Chain of communication between terrorists and
citizens terrorists mass media
public mechanism of fear
4 The psychology of terrorists-
There exists a peculiar terrorist type (Raymond
Lloyd Richmond).- Terrorists are not
necessarily crazy suicidal people with
pathologies, anybody can be a terrorist under the
peculiar circumstances (Clark R. McCauley).
5Terrorism in the past- Aiming at
political leaders or representatives of
power. Examples - In 1991 during an
election campaign Rajiv Gandhi was killed by a
suicide bomber - In 1996 Japanese Embassy in
Lima was captured by the terrorists of Tupak
Amaru. Terrorism in the present-
Aiming at civilians. Examlpe - New York,
World Trade Center, Sept. 11, 2001.
6Power depends on
public opinion. It is mass media that shapes
public opinion. Mass media is willingto cover
sensations. Psychological attack
is violence not against the representatives of
power, but directed against peaceful, unprotected
citizens. It is always accompanied by the
demonstration through the mass media of the
results of terror.
Thats why today the most effective method of
terror is psychological attack.
7 Terrorism is an act of communication
Terrorism cant exist without mass
media For terrorists the message
matters, not the victim. For
example - IRA, ETA - Timothy
Mc Veigh - Bin
Laden - Moscow theater
hostage crisis.
8- Fear as a main weapon of terrorists. -
Mechanism of fear.- Phenomenon of deferred
fear. Psychologically, terror is the fear,
which appears not at the moment of danger, but
follows people after the act of terror for a long
time, inducing them to the actions, advantageous
for terrorists.
9 Terrorists. Who are they?Differences
- Social backgrounds
- Spheres of life. Common feature
- Desire for self-identification.
10 Terrorists motivation. The
main reason is the strong necessity to be
included into some social group.- In most of
the cases terrorists are people from one-parent
families.- People, who have lost a job or
never could get one. Those with little
education join a terrorist group - out of
boredom - out of a desire to have an adventure
in pursuit of a cause they regard as just- out
of a desire to use their special skills (
bomb-making skills). The more educated youths
may be motivated by genuine political or
religious convictions.
11The Personal Pathway Model, by which terrorists
enter their new profession. The main four
factors are1. Early socialization
processes.2. Narcissistic
injuries.3. Confrontation with
police.4. Personal connections to
terrorist group members.
12Differences that separate the psychopath from the
terrorist- Psychopath's inability to
profit from experience.- The
purposefulness of a psychopath's actions is
personal, while terrorists have the mutual goal
of the terrorist organization. -
Psychopaths are too unreliable and incapable of
being controlled to be of use to terrorist
groups.
13Terrorist's interpersonal world is limited to
only three categories of people - The
terrorist's idealized heroes- The
terrorist's enemies - People one
encounters in everyday life, whom the terrorist
regards as shadow figures of no consequence.
14The major examples of suicide terrorism before
1985 are- The bombing of the U.S.
Embassy in Beirut on April 18, 1983, which killed
63 people.- The bombings of the U.S.
Marine barracks, 241 U.S. Marines killed in
Lebanon, October 23, 1983.- The bombing
of the French military headquarters in Lebanon on
October 23, 1983, 58 French paratroopers killed .
Among the recent instances of suicide
terrorism- World Trade Center Bombing,
September 11th, 2001.- Moscow theater
hostage crisis, Nord Ost, October 2002.
15 A better understanding of the circumstances
that cause a person to become a terrorist may
help us prevent it in the future.The study of
the psychology of terror is directed
towards - Prevention. -
Detection. - Capture.