Contemporary Psychological Research on Terrorism

Description

The term “research” is used loosely, as virtually none of the professional literature was based on any empirical studies. Rather, the writings that were produced were based largely on clinical speculations and theoretical formulations, most of which were rooted in a psychoanalytic tradition. Terrorism was pathologized as manifestation of psychological and behavioral deviance. Psychology of Terrorism is a collection of the best classic and contemporary writings about the mind of the terrorist. Carefully selected by a panel of world-renowned authorities for value and readability, this collection provides the reader with deep knowledge and unique insights into the ideas, feelings, and social influences of modern terrorist groups. Psychology of terrorist does not exist: it is only a common psychology or a psychology of common people related to a societal object called terrorism and where “terrorism as such represents a psychologically coherent concept” as Kruglanski and Fishman (2006a) put it. More interesting then is the psychology of terrorism as a tool to reach political, social and psychological goals. In addition, terrorist’s psychological structure is embedded within the terrorism psychology, i.e., which psychological goals could be served by being part of a terrorist movement or believing that terrorism is a good means for political action. The psychology of the self is clearly very important in understanding and dealing with terrorist behavior, as in incidents of hostage-barricade terrorism. Crayton points out that humiliating the terrorists in such situations by withholding food, for example, would be counterproductive because "the very basis for their activity stems from their sense of low self-esteem and humiliation." This book nations hospitable to organized crime and terrorism has been written for the students of graduate and post graduate of all Indian Universities.