E-Book Overview
Easily the most thorough treatment of terrorism's complexities on the market today is how one reviewer described the set from which this single volume is drawn: the 4-volume Psychology of Terrorism. Here, Editor Chris E. Stout presents seven classic chapters from across that multivolume set, which brought together experts from around the world in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Stout includes a new introduction with this condensed version, along with appendices that will enable lay readers and professionals to recognize and treat symptoms of biological attack, take basic steps to prepare for terrorist incidents, and find resources for more information.
E-Book Content
PSYCHOLOGY OF T E R R O R I S M CONDENSED E D I T I O N Recent T i t l e s in Contemporary P s y c h o l o g y Resilience for Today: Gaining Strength from Adversity Edith Henderson Gratherg, editor T h e Destructive Power of Religion: Violence in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Volumes I-IV J. Harold Elle?is, editor Helping Children Cope with the Death of a Parent: A Guide for the First Year Paddy Greenwall Lewis and Jessica G. Lippman M a r t y r d o m : T h e Psychology, Theology, and Politics of Self-Sacrifice Rona M. Fields with Contributions from Coilin Owens, Valerie Rosou.r, Michael Berenbaum, and Reuven Firestone Redressing the Emperor: Improving Our Children's Public Mental Health System John S. Lyons Havens: Stories of T r u e Community Healing Leonard Jason and Martin Perdoux PSYCHOLOGY OF TERRORISM, CONDENSED E D I T I O N Coping with the Continuing Threat Edited by Chris E. Stout Contemporary Psychology PRAEGER Westport, Connecticut London Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication D a t a Psychology of terrorism : coping with the continuing threat / [^edited byj Chris E. Stout.—Condensed ed. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 0-1275-981207-6 (alk. paper) 1. Terrorism—Psychological aspects. 2. Terrorism—Prevention. I. Stout, Chris E. HV6K31.P797 12004 303.6'2 5—dci2l2 200KX )46\ restraint. They may be either reactionary or revolutionary; however, they gravitate to right-wing groups because members in these groups are gullible. Skilled social dominators present whatever image will bring them power, without necessarily believing in what they say they stand for. For example, they tend to agree that it is more important to look religious than to actually be such, and are likely to strongly believe in letting other people die for "the cause," and profess their own willingness to do so too, but have little intention of actually letting that happen. (Altmeyer, 1998) Implications for counter-terrorism (p. 5) We can understand some of the precipitating causes that make people more likely to join terrorist groups to the extent that we can assess those who are terrorists independently of their particular cultural and political contexts. For example, educational institutions that develop and maintain very strict fundamental religious beliefs or very strict Marxist-Leninist doctrine are equally likely to be places where young people can be recruited into terrorist groups. We also can increase the rate at which such individuals are identified because of how personality variables are likely to cluster together. For example, because individuals who score high on authoritarianism also are highly prejudiced in terms of attitudes about race, ethnicity, and sex, these prejudices can be a way of identifying individuals who are more vulnerable to joining terrorist groups. W h a t can be done to reduce the motivation of others to engage in terrorist violence against the United States and its allies? (p. 11) From the perspective of Terror Management Theory (Pyszczynski, Solomon, & Greenberg, 2002), aggression, human conflict, and war are rooted, at least in part, in the threat posed by tho