Why and How to people join terrorist organizations
When the study began in the psychology of terrorists in the 1960s to mid-1980s many “psychologists believed mental and psychological disorders were the basic explanation for terrorists' behaviors and motivations” (O’Connor, 2004, 1st par.), and that terrorism was “pathologized as a manifestation of psychological and behavioral deviance…believed to be driven by unconscious motives and impulse, which had their origins in childhood” (Borum, 2004, p18). However, contemporary research points that mental illness is not the link to terrorism and the “why” is a more complex issue then believed. “Why” entails that the terrorist wanted a discrete change and consciously chose to change; yet according …show more content…
The motives of a terrorist, however, can range from the opportunity for action to the need to belong, to a group of equal ideology, to the desire for social status, or even to the acquisition of material reward (Borum, 2004, p24). The reality is that terrorists’ motives vary from group to group and even very within the same group, and can change over time. Horgan believes that because of the few similar characteristics and the variety of motives in terrorists, it is more productive to study the “how” a terrorist becomes involved then the …show more content…
According to Borum (2004), it is rather difficult to study the “prevalence of psychopathology and maladaptive personality traits in terrorist populations” (p 30) and most research has only been prepared on those terrorists that have been captured and placed into mental health facilities. These captured terrorists only make up a small percentage of terrorists and “those viewed as needing a mental health assessment may be different from the general terrorist population” (Borum, 2004, p30). Nonetheless, even with the little research studied on the mental health of terrorists, psychologists today deem that “serious psychopathology or mental illnesses among terrorists are relatively rare, and certainly not a major factor in understanding or predicting terrorist behavior” (Borum, 2004,
When the study began in the psychology of terrorists in the 1960s to mid-1980s many “psychologists believed mental and psychological disorders were the basic explanation for terrorists' behaviors and motivations” (O’Connor, 2004, 1st par.), and that terrorism was “pathologized as a manifestation of psychological and behavioral deviance…believed to be driven by unconscious motives and impulse, which had their origins in childhood” (Borum, 2004, p18). However, contemporary research points that mental illness is not the link to terrorism and the “why” is a more complex issue then believed. “Why” entails that the terrorist wanted a discrete change and consciously chose to change; yet according …show more content…
The motives of a terrorist, however, can range from the opportunity for action to the need to belong, to a group of equal ideology, to the desire for social status, or even to the acquisition of material reward (Borum, 2004, p24). The reality is that terrorists’ motives vary from group to group and even very within the same group, and can change over time. Horgan believes that because of the few similar characteristics and the variety of motives in terrorists, it is more productive to study the “how” a terrorist becomes involved then the …show more content…
According to Borum (2004), it is rather difficult to study the “prevalence of psychopathology and maladaptive personality traits in terrorist populations” (p 30) and most research has only been prepared on those terrorists that have been captured and placed into mental health facilities. These captured terrorists only make up a small percentage of terrorists and “those viewed as needing a mental health assessment may be different from the general terrorist population” (Borum, 2004, p30). Nonetheless, even with the little research studied on the mental health of terrorists, psychologists today deem that “serious psychopathology or mental illnesses among terrorists are relatively rare, and certainly not a major factor in understanding or predicting terrorist behavior” (Borum, 2004,