terrorists | suicide terrorists
victims & society | general

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see also terrorists: who are they?

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Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.
--- Voltaire
• Terrorists ___[return to top]
  • see also radical fundamentalism

  • see also suicide terrorists below

  • see also mind of the terrorist internet search

  • See also Terrorists on the CPC International Rivals page

  • Terrorism: Psychology and Kinetics, presentation by Wilson, posted by Defense and the National Interest, 2007

  • Countering the Terrorist Mentality (local copy), eJournal from State Department, Foreign Policy Agenda: Volume 12, Number 5, May 2007

  • Global Network Terrorism: - I. Sacred Values and Radicalization, II. Comparative Anatomy and Evolution (local copy), by Scott Atran, National Security Council briefing, White House, 28 Apr 2006
  • The Moral Logic and Growth of Suicide Terrorism, by Scott Atran, in The Washington Quarterly, Spring 2006
    -- see also other terrorism materials by Atran

  • An Agent-Based Model Component to a Framework for the Analysis of Terrorist-Group Dynamics (local copy), Backus and Glass, Sandia Labs, Feb 2006

  • A Military Guide to Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century (local copy), from U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command
    • including sections on nature of terror, terrorist behaviors and motivations, terrorist group organization, and terrorist planning

  • Understanding Jihadi Networks (local copy), by Sageman, in Strategic Insights, Volume IV, Issue 4 (Apr 2005)

  • Terrorist Motivations for the Use of Extreme Violence (local copy), by Gomez, in Strategic Insights, Volume IV, Issue 5 (May 2005) - compares Aum Shinrikyo and al Qaeda

  • Terrorist Beheadings: Cultural and Strategic Implications (local copy), by Jones, Strategic Studies Institute, June 2005

  • The Psychological Sources of Islamic Terrorism, by Mazarr, in Policy Review, June & July 2004

  • The Sources Of Terrorist Conduct (local copy), Mar 2004 speech by the Chairman of the National Intelligence Council (NIC) (PDF)

  • Psychology of Terrorism, by Borum, Psychology of Terrorism Initiative, Univ. of South Florida, 2004
  • Psychology of Terrorism - expanded literature search, by Borum, Psychology of Terrorism Initiative, Univ. of South Florida - excellent annotated citations of reference materials

  • The Origins of the New Terrorism, by Morgan, in Parameters, Spring 2004

  • Socio-economic roots of radicalism? : towards explaining the appeal of Islamic radicals (local copy), by Richards, SSI, 2003
  • Socioeconomic Roots of Middle East Radicalism (local copy), by Richards, Naval War College Review, Autumn 2002

  • Sociology and Psychology of Terrorism - Who Becomes a Terrorist and Why? (local copy), report by the Federal Research Division, Library of Congress

  • When Devils Walk the Earth - The Mentality and Roots of Terrorism, and How to Respond (local copy), by Ralph Peters, for the USMC Center for Emerging Threats and Opportunities (CETO)

  • The Psychology of the Terrorist Mind, by Weisbach, 17 Apr 2004 - "Attempting to Understand as a Possible Means towards Prevention"

  • Understanding the Terrorist Mind-Set (local copy), by Borum, in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, July 2003 - includes diagram of the Process of Ideological Development

  • The Seven-Stage Hate Model - The Psychopathology of Hate Groups (local copy), by Schafer and Navarro, in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, March 2003 - including use of symbols and mythologies (HTML version)
    • Group gathers
    • Group defines itself
    • Disparages target
    • Taunts target
    • Attacks target without weapons
    • Attacks target with weapons
    • Destroys target

  • Al Qaeda’s Fantasy Ideology, by Harris, in Policy Review, August 2002
    • "Rather than interpreting 9-11 as if it were a Clausewitzian act of war, Bush instinctively saw it for what it was: the acting out of demented fantasy. When confronted with the enigma of 9-11 he was able to avoid the temptation of trying to interpret it in terms of our own familiar categories and traditions."

  • "Cultivated Terror: Holy Warriors Are Made, Not Born," ABC News interview with a senior Muslim academic, 10 Jan 04
  • "Roots of Rage" by Beyer - from Time, October 01, 2001
  • Inside Jihad U. - The Education of a Holy Warrior, addressing the Haqqania madrasa
  • Bosnia ... IFOR Soldiers Raid Alleged "Terrorist Training School"; Iranians Seized

  • Modeling decision-making and behavior. Local copies of following copyrighted papers are provided here courtesy of the authors. More of their papers may be found at http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~barryg/HBMR.html (which appears to be blocked for many .mil users ... don't know why)
    • How Emotions and Personality Effect the Utility of Alternative Decisions: A Terrorist Target Selection Case Study, by Johns and Silverman, U. of Penn. -- local copy
    • Modeling and Simulating Terrorist Decision-Making: A "Performance Moderator Function" Approach to Generating Virtual Opponents, by Weaver, Silverman, Shin, and Dubois, U. of Penn. -- local copy
    • Constructing Virtual Asymmetric Opponents from Data and Models in the Literature

  • Rogue Leader Profiles (local copy), briefing by Dr Jerrold Post at CPC November 2000 Conference -- includes psychology of the various terrorist groups and which type groups are likely to use which modes of attack
    • WMD Risk - by Terrorist Group Type

  • Assessing Threats of Targeted Group Violence: Contributions from Social Psychology (local copy), Pynchon and Borum, in Behavioral Sciences and the Law, vol 17, 1999
  • Threat Assessment: Defning an Approach for Evaluating Risk of Targeted Violence (local copy), Borum et al, in Behavioral Sciences and the Law, vol 17, 1999

  • Rational Fanatics, in Foreign Policy -- "What makes suicide bombers tick? While most of the world sees them as lone zealots, they are, in fact, pawns of large terrorist networks that wage calculated psychological warfare. Contrary to popular belief, suicide bombers can be stopped-but only if governments pay more attention to their methods and motivations."

  • The Modern Terrorist Mindset: Tactics, targets and technologies, by Hoffman, Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence

  • Constant Conflict, by Peters, in Parameters, Summer 1997
    • Most citizens of the globe are not economists; they perceive wealth as inelastic, its possession a zero-sum game. If decadent America (as seen on the screen) is so fabulously rich, it can only be because America has looted one's own impoverished group or country or region. Adding to the cognitive dissonance, the discarded foreigner cannot square the perceived moral corruption of America, a travesty of all he has been told to value, with America's enduring punitive power. How could a nation whose women are "all harlots" stage Desert Storm? It is an offense to God, and there must be a demonic answer, a substance of conspiracies and oppression in which his own secular, disappointing elite is complicit. This discarded foreigner's desire may be to attack the "Great Satan America," but America is far away (for now), so he acts violently in his own neighborhood. He will accept no personal guilt for his failure, nor can he bear the possibility that his culture "doesn't work." The blame lies ever elsewhere. The cult of victimization is becoming a universal phenomenon, and it is a source of dynamic hatreds.

  • Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence, U. of Calif. Press

• Suicide Terrorists ___[return to top]
  • see also terrorists above

  • Suicide Terrorism bibliography, Air University Library

  • The Moral Logic and Growth of Suicide Terrorism, by Scott Atran, in The Washington Quarterly, Spring 2006

  • Dying to Kill; The Allure of Suicide Terror, by Bloom, Columbia University Press, June 2005

  • The Surprises of Suicide Terrorism: It's not a new phenomenon, and natural selection may play a role in producing it, by Atran, in Discover magazine online

  • Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kill, by Stern, Harper Collins Pub.s, Aug 2003

  • The Social Psychology of Terrorism, Arie Kruglanski, U. of MD
    • The Psychology of Terrorism: “Syndrome” versus “Tool” Perspectives, by Kruglanski, paper presented at Conference on “Working Together: R & D Partnerships in Homeland Security”, April 27-28, 2005, Boston, MA

    • Individual Motivations, The Group Process and Organizational Strategies in Suicide Terrorism, by Kruglanski and Golec, in E.M. Meyersson Milgrom (Ed.) Suicide Missions and the Market for Martyrs, A Multidisciplinary Approach. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2004

    • Terrorism as a Tactic of Minority Influence, by Kruglanski, Apr 2003 paper presented at Active Minorities: Hoping and Coping. Grenoble, France

    • Inside the Terrorist Mind, by Kruglanski, Apr 2002 paper presented to the National Academy of Science

  • Suicide Bombings in Operation Iraqi Freedom, by Bunker and Sullivan, in Military Review, Jan-Feb 2005 - discusses which groups use which methods against which targets

  • Psychology of Terrorism, by Borum, Psychology of Terrorism Initiative, Univ. of South Florida, 2004
  • Psychology of Terrorism - expanded literature search, by Borum, Psychology of Terrorism Initiative, Univ. of South Florida - excellent annotated citations of reference materials

  • Martyrdom and murder, The Economist, 8 Jan 2004

  • Female Suicide Bombers (local copy), by Zedalis, SSI, June 2004

  • Rational Fanatics, in Foreign Policy -- "What makes suicide bombers tick? While most of the world sees them as lone zealots, they are, in fact, pawns of large terrorist networks that wage calculated psychological warfare. Contrary to popular belief, suicide bombers can be stopped-but only if governments pay more attention to their methods and motivations."

  • 'My Time Has Come' Says the diary of a suicide soldier in war-torn Kashmir, article in AsiaWeek.com

  • The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism, by Pape, U. of Chicago, in American Political Science Review, 13 Jul 2003
  • other references by/about Pape re: suicide terrorists

  • The Logic of Suicide Terrorism, by Hoffman, in Atlantic, June 2003

  • Suicide Terrorism: Rationalizing the Irrational (local copy), by Madsen, in Strategic Insights, Aug 2004

  • The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terror, briefing from Warfare Studies Institute

• Victims and Society ___[return to top]
  • Countering the Terrorist Mentality (local copy), eJournal from State Department, Foreign Policy Agenda: Volume 12, Number 5, May 2007

  • The Effects of Media Coverage of Terrorist Attacks on Viewers (local copy), by Hamblen, National Center for PTSD Fact Sheet

  • Understanding and Preparing for the Psychological Consequences of Terrorism, by Tanielian and Stein, RAND reprint of Chapter 44 of the McGraw-Hill Homeland Security Handbook, Oct 2005

  • Mental Health Response to Mass Violence and Terrorism, 2004, from the National Mental Health Information Center
    (local copy, PDF)

  • The Eye of the Believer: Psychological Influences on Counter-Terrorism Policy-Making, by Schachter, 2002 RAND publication
    • Chapter Four - Deterring al-Qaidah: Past, Present, Power and Perception

  • OVC Handbook for Coping After Terrorism - A Guide to Healing and Recovery, from the Justice Department's Office for Victims of Crime

  • USMC MCRP 3-02E, The Individual's Guide for Understanding and Surviving Terrorism (local copy)

  • "Human Behavior and WMD Crisis / Risk Communication Workshop," March 2001 report from DTRA, FBI, and US Joint Forces Command (local copy)

  • Sam Donaldson Interview with Dr. Robert Ursano (at USUHS) regarding stress after terrorism or disaster events
    (local copy of transcript)

  • New Study Offers Insight to Why Many are Having Trouble with Concentration and Normalcy after Terrorist Attack, summary by American Psychological Association
  • Psychological Effects of Chemical and Biological (CB) Terrorism: Lessons from the Past -- paper presented at the World Congress on Chemical and Biological Terrorism, April 2001 -- includes discussion of trauma effects on the targeted population

  • National Mental Health Association
    • Coping with Disaster - Tips for Adults
    • Coping with Disaster - Tips for College Students
    • Coping with Disaster - Tips for Young Adults
    • Coping with Disaster - Tips for Older Adults
    • Helping Children Handle Disaster-Related Anxiety
  • Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA)
  • Disaster Mental Health: Dealing with the Aftereffects of Terrorism, National Center for PTSD

  • Coping with a National Tragedy, National Association of School Psychologists
  • Terrorism and Children, Purdue U.
  • Terrorism and Children, National Center for PTSD, includes symptoms of trauma in various age groups -- and good links to other material
  • Public education materials to help kids cope with terrorism, American Psychological Association
  • Disasters and Terrorism, American Psychological Association (APA)

  • See Terror Management Theory (TMT) references

• General Resources ___[return to top]
  • Countering the Terrorist Mentality (local copy), eJournal from State Department, Foreign Policy Agenda: Volume 12, Number 5, May 2007

  • Psychological issues in understanding terrorism and the response to terrorism, by McCauley, U. of Penn. - in The Psychology of Terrorism, Christopher Stout (ed.), Greenwood Publishing

  • Psychological Operations and Counterterrorism (local copy), by Post, in Joint Force Quarterly, issue 37, 2nd Quarter, 2005

  • National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

  • International Society of Political Psychology (ISPP)

  • Psychology of Ethnopolitical Warfare

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