Terrorism Psychology

There are many factors that come in to play when trying to establish the psychological and behavioral factors to terrorism. To summarize a few of these factors within al Qaeda's leadership and affiliate groups are the feelings of victimization or alienation. They believe that acts of moral violations by any of their adversaries will constitute the violence they shed in search of a higher ethical order. "Another foundational component is the idea that the terrorist’s ethnic, religious, or nationalist group is special and is threatened, and that the group lacks the political power to effect change without violence" (Kershaw 2010). Tactics used by terrorists can be slowed or put to a stop if a coalition of allies from other leadership can come …show more content…
To say that most of those take part because in the society they live, they may feel like they are not accepted. So to feel wanted, they join these terrorist groups to be a part of something, regardless of their beliefs. Once they join in, they are made to believe others things. Some question whether those individuals were mentally ill, as many thought, or easily brainwashed to follow the directions of another, by promises of becoming a martyr, family will be financially secure, and their place in afterlife will be secured by their acts. "Further, research suggests that the universal principles of psychology such as the desire for personal significance and meaning and the subconscious fear of death may offer more insights into some aspects of terrorism and the reactions to the terrorist actions" (DeAngelis, 2009). There are many reasons terrorist groups choose suicide-bombing missions. There is a higher success rate; easy to carry out the mission due to being able to blend in with the rest of the public; the acts are inexpensive because more are being homemade; and the missions have become very successful. Also, with the technology being used by terrorist to communicate, businesses must do more to strengthen public spaces just as government buildings, such as airports, are secured. Sports stadiums have already started to use technology systems that use fingerprints systems that scan fans as they enter. I believe the use of additional metal detectors, additional checkpoints and additional barricades should be added as part of our day-to-day lives. "Without sustained multilateral cooperation to collect intelligence, capture terrorists, disrupt funding, and wage military actions, counterterrorism efforts will take longer and be less effective" (Shirkey,