ESSAY 4012

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Terrorism and Homeland Security, 9e

CHAPTER 2 Jonathan R. White

Learning Objectives, Part 1

Explain the value of practical criminology for law enforcement and security forces.

List the differences between terrorists and ordinary criminals.

Explain the importance of radicalization and alienation.

Summarize two recent case studies of radicalization.

Describe the opposing views about prison radicalization.

Learning Objectives, Part 2

Summarize the controversy regarding the use of the concept of radicalization.

Identify three different types of terrorism.

Define lone wolf terrorism.

Explain the ways small and large groups use terrorism.

Describe the manner in which guerrillas and insurgents use terrorism.

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.

Practical Behavioral Differences

Terrorists

Focus their actions toward a goal

Are dedicated to a cause

Rarely cooperate with officials because they do not wish to betray their cause

Tend to attack

Strike against targets after careful planning

Prepare for and rehearse their operations

Criminals

Are unfocused

Are not devoted to crime as a philosophy

Will make deals to avoid punishment

Usually run when confronted with force

Strike when the opportunity to do so is present

Rarely train for crime

Radicalization and 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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Groups in Prison

Recent reports suggest that groups are being radicalized in prison.

A leader often targets selected prisoners or dominates new inmates using intimidation to force them until they join the group.

Mark Hamm maintains recruitment is similar to procedures used by street gangs.

Questioning Prison Radicalization

Many terrorists have been in prison, but there is scant evidence that they were radicalized within the walls.

Exposure to radical theology was the most common denominator in their decision to engage in violence.

Terrorists should be separated from the general population to eliminate their influence.

Rejecting the Term

Some scholars question the value of the term.

Others vehemently reject it.

From the perspective of practical criminology, some practitioners believe that research in radicalization and alienation will produce valuable knowledge.

Neither scholars nor practitioners are quite sure about the meaning of radicalization.

Models of Terrorism

Three models represent general trends from 1945 to the present: (1) Lone Wolf, (2) Small group, (3) Tactics of insurgencies and guerrilla movements

Models help to explain the evolution and practice of contemporary terrorism.

They embody the philosophy behind particular types of terrorist movements.

Lone Wolf, Part 1

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.

Lone Wolf, Part 2

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.

Small Group Terrorism

The model for modern urban terrorism was intellectually championed by Frantz Fanon.

He produced two works as a result of his Algerian experiences:

The Wretched of the Earth (1982)

A Dying Colonialism (1965)

Frantz Fanon, Part 1

Western powers have dehumanized non-Western people by destroying their cultures and replacing them with Western values.

Decolonization was destined to be a violent process.

Achieving freedom was inherently violent.

Frantz Fanon, Part 2

Guerrilla warfare and individual acts of terrorism as tools of revolution.

Fanon argued that terrorism should not be used against the native population in general.

His proposed two targets for terrorism:

White settlers

Native middle class

Carlos Marighella

Brazilian legislator

Nationalistic Communist Party leader

Revolutionary terrorist

Designed practical guides for terrorism that have been employed for more than 40 years

Wanted to move violence from the countryside to the city

Guerrilla Warfare

The Cuban Revolution popularized guerrilla warfare throughout the world.

Guerrilla revolutions based on the Cuban experience are typified by three phases:

Phase one begins with isolated groups.

Phase two merges groups into guerrilla columns.

Phase three brings columns together in a conventional army.

Insurgency, Part 1

Focus on insurgency due to a small group of officers who began looking at military failures during the Vietnam War

Impossible to fight insurgencies with military tactics designed for terrorism or guerilla war

Insurgency, Part 2

At the end of the Cold War, various insurgencies began growing in the vacuums left by the superpowers.

Technology and weapons helped many insurgencies grow.

New political atmosphere made the rise of organizations like al Qaeda possible.

Chapter Take-Aways

Theories of terrorism are important, but law enforcement, intelligence, and military forces are also served by developing a practical understanding of the type of terrorism they are facing.

Radicalization is the process of adopting violent extremist views and acting them out with terrorist actions. Many social scientists believe this is caused by alienation.

Three types of terrorism involve lone wolves, small groups, and large groups. Lone wolf violence seems to be increasing and some groups encourage it.