ch2

1. Chapter 2
Babette Protz
University of
South
Carolina
Lancaster
THE SOCIAL
UNDERPINNINGS OF
TERRORISM

2. LEARNING OBJECTIVES: CHAPTER 2
 Outline differing approaches for understanding
social reality.
 Define the elements of netwar.
 Describe terrorism as a religious process.
 Define practical criminology as used by security
forces.
 Describe the differences between terrorist and
criminal behavior.
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3. LEARNING OBJECTIVES: CHAPTER 2
 Explain the reason terrorists and counter terrorists
need to justify violence.
 Summarize studies of the ways terrorist violence is
justified.
 Describe three views in the profiling debate.
 Outline differing points of view about radicalization
and alienation.
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4. TERRORISM AS A SOCIAL PROCESS
 The social process is influenced by individual
psychological interpretations of group members.
 Individuals take actions within associations
 Applying an individualized understanding of reality
 Reacting to environmental stimuli and motivators
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5. MEANING FRAMEWORK
 Theories about terrorism in the meaning framework
focus on:
 The interpretation individuals and groups give to the
actions of others
 The circumstances in which the subjects define their roles
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6. MEANING FRAMEWORK
 Violent religious movements and the organizational
structures they create are rooted in the ways certain
groups of people view reality
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7. STRUCTURAL FRAMEWORK
 Another social science tradition seeks to avoid
subjective meanings when examining events.
 Human societies create organizations to accomplish
certain required functions.
 Approaches to understand terrorist behavior by
looking at the way organizations function –
structural framework.
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8. STRUCTURAL FRAMEWORK
 Organizations develop according to the
needs of a society or a group of people
 Such organizations take predictable actions,
and serve predictable functions
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9. STRUCTURAL FRAMEWORK
 All groups, including terrorist organizations, take
action because they belong to a structure that
operates for a specific purpose – social geometry
 Terrorism develops when a group with inferior power
moves against a superior group- usually results in
mass civilian casualties
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10. STRUCTURAL APPROACHES | NETWAR
 There are other structural approaches to terrorism
that believe terrorists are united through networks
 Terrorist organizations are structured in the same
manner as communication and transportation
systems
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11. STRUCTURAL APPROACHES | NETWAR
 The traffic pattern on the highway is like a network
– the crucial intersections, merge ramps, and
expanded traffic lanes are nodes.
 If vehicles begin clogging at a node, traffic slows or comes
to a standstill at many points in the network.
 Disrupting terrorist networks has the same effect on terrorist
operations.
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12. STRUCTURAL APPROACHES | NETWAR
 Any point where information, weapons, or personnel
are gathered or exchanged is called a node
 The node is the critical target for counterterrorist
operations
 If the node is destroyed, the network is disrupted
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13. ANTHROPOLOGICAL AND
SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACHES
 Two primary factors account for the continued
influence of religion:
 First, religion has always been an important influence in
the history of humanity.
 Second, modernization tends to break down
communities, families, and social orientation.
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14. RELIGIONS, POWER AND VIOLENCE
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpKSTzziVTY
Discussion:
 What is your view regarding the connection between
religion and terrorism? Support your view.
 It was stated that the cause of violence is not religion
itself, but manipulation of religion; others say violence is
caused by religious teachings of intolerance. Which do
you believe, or do you believe it to be a combination.
Support your view.
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15. TERRORISM AS A RELIGIOUS PROCESS
 Strong religious beliefs increase:
 The likelihood of religious conflict.
 The intensity of fighting.
 Violence results when sacred traditions are
threatened.
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16. TERRORISM AS A RELIGIOUS
PROCESS
 Eschatology plays a major role:
 Messianic warriors in the end-time correct the heresies
of the past and fight for the ideal divine order of a deity.
 Empirical findings demonstrate that terrorism is
partially a religious process.
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17. LONE WOLF
 Religion helps to produce the “lone-wolf avenger” :
 A person who has a particular ideology but isn’t part of a
group
 An individual lone-wolf avenger needs to find some
type of justification for his or her actions, and
religion provides the perfect path
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18. LONE WOLF
 Lone-wolf avengers have a special, narcissistic
relationship with their deities.
 They create a god in their own image.
 They become the ultimate loners – they are the most
difficult type of terrorist to deter or detain.
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19. TERRORISM AS A RELIGIOUS PROCESS
 Despite utilization of sacred stories and cosmic
mythologies, there is a very limited official
religious basis for terrorism
 Religious terrorists are lethal – religious terrorist
groups killed more people with fewer attacks than
secular terrorists.
 Religious terrorists are deadlier than their secular
counterparts.
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20. TERRORISM AS A RELIGIOUS PROCESS
 People use stories to explain deep truths beyond
the immediate world
 Terrorist groups build their own mythologies to justify
their actions through a story.
 Stories change the nature of terrorist
organizations – they help to produce different
group organizations and styles.
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21. IS ISLAM A RELIGION OF PEACE?
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rh34Xsq7D_A&feature=!
Discussion:
 This presentation is a debate on the Islamic religion. The
motion of this debate is: Islam is a religion of peace.
 As did the audience in the clip, you will vote pre- and post-debate.
 Pre-debate: On a slip of paper write Yes if you agree; No if you do
not agree; or Undecided. Hand in your votes.
 Post-debate: Using the same method, vote again.
 What is the overall consensus of the class? Was there a
measurable change in views?
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22. CRIMINOLOGY
 Criminology as applied to terrorism looks at
prevention and apprehension
 Terrorists commit crimes as they struggle for a
cause; they sets them apart from ordinary street
criminals
 As first responders, law enforcement personnel
must recognize the differences between typical
criminal behavior and terrorist activity
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23. PRACTICAL BEHAVIORAL DIFFERENCES
Terrorists
1. Focus their actions toward a
goal
2. Are dedicated to a cause
3. Rarely cooperate with officials
because they do not wish to betray
their cause
4. Tend to attack
5. Strike against targets after careful
planning
6. Prepare for and rehearse their
operations
Criminals
1. Are unfocused
2. Are not devoted to crime as a
philosophy
3. Will make deals to avoid
punishment
4. Usually run when confronted
with force
5. Strike when the opportunity to
do so is present
6. Rarely train for crime
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24. ORGANIZED CRIME VERSUS TERRORIST
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7-klWyj7gA&feature=player_Discussion Questions:
 What distinctions does the analyst make between organized
crime and terrorism? Do you agree with her distinctions?
Support your response.
 Are there other distinctions she did not include?
 The analyst states that the Mexican Cartel has not yet reached
the level of what is considered terrorist activity. Do you agree
or disagree with her statement? Support your position.
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25. JOINT TERRORISM TASK FORCES
(JTTFS)
 Allows the FBI to coordinate law enforcement
resources in the face of domestic terrorism and to
expand investigations.
 Focus on ideology, group, and individual behaviors
 Information sharing over broad geographical
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26. JUSTIFYING TERRORISM
 Deadly force demands the greatest amount of
justification
 Terrorists have the same need for social approval,
but they rarely obtain it because their actions are
not sanctioned by the governments they attack
 Terrorists must look outside normative social channels to
gain approval for their acts
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27. JUSTIFYING TERRORISM
 Borum: no standard rationale for justifying
behavior.
 Victoroff: multiplicity of factors used to justify
violence.
 Post: us against them mentality.
 The rejection of external authority results in the
acceptance of internal authority
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28. JUSTIFYING TERRORISM
 In order for social acceptance to be gained, the
terrorist group must be isolated from mainstream
society.
 Processes used by American criminal gangs and
Arab suicide bombers are the same.
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29. PROFILING THE TERRORIST PERSONALITY
 Staub and McCauley believe that certain types of
people are drawn toward terrorist groups.
 McCauley sees four types of personalities:
 Revolutionaries drawn to a cause
 People who wander among terrorist groups,
 People who have a sudden conversion experience
 People who are attracted by peers
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30. PROFILING THE TERRORIST PERSONALITY
 Given the nature of the terrorist, profiling terrorists
has sparked heated debate.
 Researchers argue that the differences in
backgrounds and ethnicities prohibit accurate
profiles.
 Can an accurate profile be made, in your opinion?
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31. PATH AND ROUTES
 Horgan believes researchers should search for the
“routes to terrorism.”
 Horgan is concerned with:
 The psychological processes that lead people to terrorist
groups.
 The issues that keep them in the group.
 The support for people who want to leave.
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32. RADICALIZATION & ALIENATION
 As with other areas of terrorism, the areas of
radicalization and alienation are fraught with
differing views and suggestions for research.
 Researchers will obtain more fruitful results by
examining militant ideology and finding the
concepts that are shown to attract followers.
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33. HOMEGROWN RADICALIZATION
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCOp7nTTW1U
 Discussion:
 It was presented that data analysis and social network
analysis can be effective tools in the prevention of
terrorism. Does this align with your thoughts on
homegrown radicalization? Explain your view.
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34. RESEARCH IN GROUP PROCESSES
 A number of researchers believe members of
terrorist groups go through decision-making
processes as they are being radicalized
 The general knowledge of radicalization is incomplete
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35. SAGEMAN’S MODEL
 Radicalization is a six-step framework.
 Alienated young man
 Meets other alienated young men and form bond
 Groups gravitate toward religion
 Religion interpreted in militant terms
 Militant group meets terrorist contact
 Militants join terrorists as a group decision
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36. GROUPS IN PRISON
 Recent reports suggest that groups are being
radicalized in prison.
 A leader often targets selected prisoners or
dominate new inmates using intimidation to force
intimidating them until they join the group.
 Mark Hamm maintains recruitment is similar to
procedures used by street gangs.
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37. RADICALIZATION IN PRISON
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVh5amMncD0
 Discussion:
 What is your view on the radicalization of prisoners to
Islam? Support your view.
 Is this an area that requires attention by the prison
system, Homeland Security, or as a joint effort.
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38. INDIVIDUAL RADICALIZATION
 Evidence suggests radicalization is not always a
group process
 At the least – it involves individual reflection whether a
group plays a role or not.
 Research indicates individual psychological and
sociological factors create the framework for
interpreting reality.
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39. CASES OF RADICALIZATION
 Individual cases in the U.S.:
 Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab
 Destroy a Northwest airliner as it entered American airspace.
 James W. von Brunn
 Shooting in the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington,
D.C.
 Omar Hammami – Muslim father and Christian mother –
identity conflict
 His identity conflict ended when he embraced a violent, intolerant
form of Islam to become a commander in Al Shabaab.
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40. COMMONALITIES IN RADICALIZATION
 Using previous three individuals – several common
forms of behavior.
 First all three men all came from well-to-do, middle-class
environments.
 The New York Times reports that most international attacks against
the U.S. in the 21st Century have come from well-educated terrorists
from the middle class.
 Second, all three men became deeply angered and filled with
moral indignation.
 Alienated from mainstream thought as they expressed anger, and
they sought to address their situations by doing something
meaningful.
 Lastly, there was some type of event that triggered their final
decision to take violent action.
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41. COMMONALITIES IN RADICALIZATION
 Several common forms of behavior. (cont)
 Second, all three men became deeply angered and filled
with moral indignation.
 Alienated from mainstream thought as they expressed anger, and
they sought to address their situations by doing something
meaningful.
 Lastly, there was some type of event that triggered their
final decision to take violent action.
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42. RESEARCH CRITICIZED
 The idea that research in radicalization and
alienation will produce valuable knowledge is
debated.
 No general consensus about the definition of
radicalization.
 Term is utilized in a variety of different contexts.
 Suggested that more beneficial results would be
gained through the examination of militant ideology
and concepts that attract followers.
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43. CHAPTER TAKE-AWAYS
 Terrorism is a social process that can be studied with the
same methods used by social scientists.
 One method is to search for meanings behind actions.
 The second method used to analyze terrorism is to look for
structures.
 Social geometry shows movement within structures.
 The netwar metaphor represents a practical application of this
technique.
 Researchers who believe that modern terrorism has been
changed by religion look for meanings that drive actions.
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44. CHAPTER TAKE-AWAYS
 Security forces search for practical behavior clues that
can be used against terrorists.
 Researchers search for the ways in which terrorist
behavior differs from normal criminals.
 They seek an understanding of the ways terrorists justify
violence.
 Some researchers have tried to model terrorism by
profiling terrorists or looking for models of radicalization
and alienation.
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