Psychology of Terrorist Pertemuan 09 Matakuliah : L0472 - Psikologi Forensik Tahun : Feb -2010 Psychology of Terrorist Pertemuan 09

“One person’s terrorist is another person’s freedom fighter “One person’s terrorist is another person’s freedom fighter.” (cited from Bozarth, 2006)

Theories of Terrorism (O'Connor, T., 2009) Political theory of anarchism Political theory of facism Philosophical theory of religion The economic theory of rational choice The global theory Sociological and psychological theory Traditional criminological theory Theories unique to domestic terrorism

Major Psychological Approach To Terrorism Syndrome: a conception of terrorism as an entity, or a monolith, with a set of identifiable characteristics Tool: an instrument, an immoral means employed by groups some of which have just causes, some of which don’t

As far as we know, most terrorists feel that they are doing nothing wrong when they kill and injure people. They seem to share a feature of the psychological condition known as antisocial personality disorder or psychopathic personality disorder, which is reflected by an absence of empathy for the suffering of others.  However, they do not appear unstable or mentally ill for this.  A common feature is a type of thinking such as “I am good and right. You are bad and wrong.”  It is a very polarized thinking which allows them to distance themselves from opponents and makes it easier for them to kill people. It is not the same kind of simplistic thinking one would expect from someone with low intelligence or moral development. Most terrorists are of above average intelligence and have sophisticated ethical and moral development.  A closed-minded certainty is a common feature of terrorist thinking.  (Merari 1990)

There is no unique “psychology of terrorism” that explains the motivations and processes by which people come to engage in terrorist activity  Actuarial approach of criminal profiling No common personality profiles or patterns of life-history have yet been found that define members of terrorist groups or that identify individuals willing to carry out terrorist attacks  Case study approach of criminal profiling

Path to Terrorism: Model #1 (from Bozarth, 2006)

Path to Terrorism: Model #2 Social, Political, Economic, or Religious Strife Feelings of Empowerment and Ability to Affect Change Psychological Despair and Feelings of Hopelessness Adaptive Coping Response Blame Self Blame Others Social-Political Activism Psychological Depression Indoctrination into culture of hatred Democratic Reform or alternative evolution of social structure Suicide Homicide Psychopathologial Criminal (from Bozarth, 2006) Terrorist

Path to Terrorism: Model #3 Learning, conditioning, and social modeling are important factors for understanding the spread of terrorism “Brain Washing” Small Large Group Dynamics Modeling Behavior Social Contagion Theory Psychological Sociological Factors (from Bozarth, 2006)