Terrorist Motivations

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Terrorist Motivations
James JF Forest, Ph.D. Director of Terrorism
Studies
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Terrorist Motivations

• Key questions
• Why do people resort to violence in pursuit of
  political or ideological ends?
• What motivates terrorists?
• What role do economics, psychology, sociology or
  other grievances play in motivating terrorist
  groups?
• Topics
• Psychological
• Sociological
• Strategic
• Ideological

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3 Categories of Academic Theory

• What influences individuals decision to join a
  terrorist group?
• What local circumstances allow terrorist groups
  to thrive and grow?
• What organizational dynamics influence group
  motivations?

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Category 1 Individual Motivations

• Terrorism is an individuals strategic choice
  most often driven by combination of
• Intense grievances
• Sense of crisis
• Address a power imbalance - empower the
  disenfranchised
• Combination of ideology and psychology
• Religious ideology has replaced revolutionary
  ideology as most common
• Domestic terrorists tend to be forward-looking
  (apocalyptic future)
• International terrorists tend to be
  backward-looking (sense of grievance,
  humiliation, deprivation, or neglected duty)

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Category 1 Individual Motivations

• Psychological and Social dimensions
• Moral disengagement
• Displacement of responsibility
• Disregard for/distortion of consequences
• Dehumanization
• Moral justification
• Retributional Terrorist
• The ties that bind training camps, extended
  family, social networks trusted networks key

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Psychological Factors

• Two basic schools of thought in psychology
• Terrorism as strategic logic (rational choice)
• Terrorism as psycho-logic (psychological drives)
• Most well-known rational choice advocate is
  Martha Crenshaw, and most well-known
  psychological drive advocate is Jerrold Post.

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Psychological Factors

• Rational Choice Approach
• Cost/Benefit Calculation gt Strategic Bargaining
  gt Management of Effect gt Targeted Violence
• Cost/benefit learning takes place thru exhausting
  unsuccessful methods or by contagion (copycat
  effect)
• Bargaining treats terrorism as another form of
  blackmail or extortion (iterative game strategy)
• Effect management refers to propaganda and
  publicity (calculus of terrorism)
• Rationality most evident in choosing targets of
  violence or targets of influence

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Psychological Factors

• Psychological Drive Approach
• Delusional Logic gt Personality Traits gt Need to
  Belong gt Groupthink gt Violence for Sake of
  Violence
• Delusional logic is belief in rhetoric (us vs.
  them)
• Personality traits most like narcissism or
  borderline disorder (externalization and
  splitting)
• Need to belong (to a basic assumption group
  e.g., task force)
• Groupthink means excessive optimism and
  risk-taking (illusions of invulnerability,
  one-dimensional perceptions)
• Violence becomes very reason for being, and not
  well-targeted

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Psychological Factors

• Other Psychological Motivational Dimensions
• - ideological absolutism- necrophilia
  (obsession with death)- self-assertion -
  selfish ends- self-identity- youth romantic
  appeal and heroism- giving the special
  importance to the activity - challenge to
  estrangement- conformity, standardization,
  satiety of society- game motivation (one
  upsmanship)

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Sociological Factors

• Five ideas in sociology about terrorism
• The frustration-aggression hypothesis
• The relative deprivation hypothesis
• The negative identity hypothesis
• The narcissistic rage hypotheses
• The moral disengagement hypothesis
• Some of these discussed in Rex Hudsons (2002)
  book Who Becomes a Terrorist and Why
• These are also discussed at http//faculty.ncwc.ed
  u/toconnor/429/429lect02.htm

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Sociological Factors

• Frustration-Aggression
• Every act of aggression presupposes a
  frustration, which in turn, presupposes an
  instigation or stress.
• Instigation/Stress gt Frustration gt Aggression
• Instigations are repeated acts that bother or
  hassle
• Stressors are events perceived as linear and
  cumulative

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Sociological Factors

• Relative Deprivation
• A fraternal feeling of injustice develops when
  similar others are perceived as receiving favored
  advantages.
• Comparison with others gt Sense of Injustice gt
  Potential for Violence
• Sometimes called vicarious frustration or
  inequity
• Comparison group can be real or imaginary

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Sociological Factors

• Negative Identity
• A vindictive rejection of lifes role may
  develop from covert disappointments in identity
  development.
• Disappointments gt Vindictiveness gt
  Identity-Defining Violence
• Sometimes called Romeo Juliet Effect if
  reject familys plan
• Or Pastors Son Syndrome if reject how morally
  raised
• Called Negative Cases of Control Theory in
  criminology

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Sociological Factors

• Narcissistic Rage
• Inadequate reality testing and narcissistic
  injury during childhood creates need to blame
  others for inadequacies or shame.
• Narcissistic injury gt Need to avoid shame gt
  Rage
• Inadequate reality testing can be parents fault
  or own
• Narcissistic injury unique self-esteem problem
  for grandiose individuals who split self and
  project faults
• Rage takes form of maintaining high ideals for
  self and avoiding blame

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Sociological Factors

• Moral Disengagement
• Insulation of self usually accompanies
  disinhibition and deindividuation in horrific
  acts of violence. (A. Bandura)
• Insulation of Self gt Disinhibition/Deindividuatio
  n gt Violence
• Self usually seen as hero, functionary, or
  crusader (Hacker 1996)
• Disinhibition is freedom to act without moral
  restraints
• Deindividuation is state of decreased
  self-evaluation (crowd psychology)

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Psychiatric Factors

• Five main ideas in psychiatry about the terrorist
  as mentally ill
• Terrorist as psychopath
• Terrorist as alienated
• Terrorist as depressive
• Terrorist as suicidal fanatic
• Terrorist as Machiavellian
• None of these postulate insanity, a legal
  concept.
• Likewise, no one has found cases of psychosis.

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Category 2 Local Circumstances

• Root causes refers to political, economic and
  social conditions, before terrorism
• However, these conditions exist in numerous
  places without terrorism
• Also, conditions change once the conflict begins
• Will policies that address grievances actually
  reduce terrorism?

Expectations
Opportunities
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Category 3 Group Dynamics

• Terrorism as weapon in a strategy
• Terrorist attacks form of strategic
  communication
• Terrorism as a means to achieve goals and
  objectives
• Strategic goals include
• Political change (e.g., overthrow govt.)
• Social change (e.g., France headscarf ban)
• Economic change (e.g., stop resource export)
• Religious change (e.g., fundamentalism)

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Category 3 Group Dynamics

• Strategic objectives of terrorism include
• Recognition Gaining national or international
  recognition for their cause recruiting new
  personnel raising funds demonstrating their
  strength
• Coercion Force a desired behavior of an
  individual or government
• Intimidation Prevent individuals, groups, or
  governments from acting
• Provocation Provoking overreaction by a
  government to the attack on symbolic targets or
  personnel, thereby gaining sympathy for their
  cause.
• Insurgency support Forcing the government to
  overextend itself in dealing with the threat,
  thereby allowing the insurgency to gain support
  and commit further attacks against the government.

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Terrorism Works

• In 6 of the 11 campaigns that ended terrorists
  achieved at least partial political gains (Pape,
  2005)
• Target states
• Fully or partially withdrew from territory
• Began negotiations
• Released a terrorist leader
• Represents 55 success rate
• Other punishment strategies such as airpower or
  economic sanctions work no more 15 of the time
• Suicide campaigns have been successful against a
  variety of democratic governments -- even hawkish
  ones
• Reagan Administration
• Netanyahu

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Terrorism Works

• The successes of terrorism become part of a
  groups ideology, which feeds recruitment and
  internal motivation
• For al Qaida, the terrorism strategy has produced
  some results which benefit their ideological
  cause
• Understanding the ideology of al Qaida (and other
  groups) is vital to our understanding of
  terrorist motivation

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Al-Qaida Ideological Motivation Themes

• Palestinians plight and their liberation is a
  central cause for Muslims, as is fighting against
  the anti-Islamic campaigns in Bosnia, Chechnya,
  Afghanistan and Kashmir
• Bin Laden is not only the leader of AQ, but the
  imam for all Muslims, thus the Islamic nation
  should rally around him
• Muslims need to wake up to their depressed
  condition, not stand passively by but actively
  participate in the (armed) jihad
• Complicity of the Arab/Muslim agent regimes
  makes them legitimate targets of the jihad too
• The far enemy must be targeted first, but
  beware of the continuing threat from the near
  enemy
• Since the UN is a lackey of the US and its tool
  for oppression, and is itself against Islam, it
  is also a legitimate target

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Al-Qaida Ideological Motivation Themes

• Two forms of terrorism
• - Commendable the fight to stop
  Americas oppression of/injustice toward Muslims,
  and its support for the Zionists (Israel) and
• - Abhorred what Israel is practicing
  (and US supporting) in Palestine, and what
  America is doing in Iraq, Afghanistan, and all
  over the world
• Americas crusade against the Islamic world
  will fail Muslims adhere to their
  principles/faith they are more cohesive
  domest-ically and internationally Al-Qaida and
  the Taliban are now a major presence on the world
  political and psychological map and the Crusader
  enemy front is in conflict/disintegrating
• Fall of Baghdad marks the return of direct
  colonialism in the Arab world (and follows fall
  of Jerusalem, Beirut and Kabul)

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Al-Qaida Ideological Motivation Themes

• US is really out to control regions oil wealth,
  dominate Muslim territories veiled
  colonization
• The 9/11 ghazwah (raids) were legitimate and
  justified, due to US mistreatment of Muslims,
  continuing occupation of Saudi Arabia, and
  support to Israeli aggression
• US is mistreating, illegally holding the
  mujahidin at Guantanamo (in subhuman conditions),
  they are suffering for a noble cause, and must be
  freed
• Usama bin Laden is still alive, and Al-Qaida will
  stay the course in the fight against the US, in
  spite of losses in personnel and its base of
  operations in Afghanistan
• Women mujahidin are being mobilized to join the
  jihad (noble cause)
• Al-Qaida even took credit for the August 2003
  power outages in the Eastern US, and highlighted
  Americas structural weakness and ineffectiveness
  of response to the situation

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The Religious Dimension

• Hard for Westerners to understand what leads a
  person to cause his (or her) own violent end
  Death is inevitable, so pursue martyrdom the
  ultimate submission to God
• Promise to Muslims from a hadith that the gates
  of Paradise are under the shade of the swords
  meaning that death for Allahs sake (martyrdom)
  is the only assured way to personal entry (and
  favorable consideration for ones family) into
  Paradise
• Involves personal, spiritual, intellectual and
  emotional considerations -- martyr must love
  God more than life be willing to sacrifice
  himself against power of the devil and infidel
  forces see the answers to all of these questions
  clearly and must overcome the physical fear of
  death
• The purest joy in Islam is to kill and be killed
  for Allah Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
• Appears prominently in Al-Qaida literature
  heading for a key series of articles in al-Neda
  on Why We Fight America

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Summary Individual and Group Motivations

• Some Individuals who join a terrorist group
  willingly give up power over their behavior,
  personal decisions
• Some draw prestige from group membership being
  part of something greater than oneself
• Many groups exploit need for members ego
  validation
• Group membership in many cases offers individuals
  a sense of power over their destiny which they
  lack elswhere
• A powerful motivating message You can make a
  difference in this world, not only for yourselves
  but for your children and grandchildren

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Questions?

• You have to be lucky everyday We only have to
  be lucky once - IRA Bomber