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Running Head: Terrorism
Terrorism
Jasmine Vega
Professor Deese
CJUS 230 – B13
September 4, 2014
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Running Head:
Terrorism
Count of enemy strikes all over the world has been increasing and has also become a
more focused trend. Terrorism, according to Combs (2013) “it is a phenomenon that is
becoming a pervasive, often dominant, influence in our lives” (p. 2). Terrorism has been a major
security problem around the world. Death rates are increasing and the nature of terrorist attacks
is difficult to detect and almost impossible to prevent.
According to Combs (2013), it turns out that no one is all that sure just what terrorism is.
The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) “defines terrorism as the unlawful use of force
against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any
segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives” (Peak, 2012 p. 105). Although
terrorism has been hard to define, terrorism is obvious to many and includes violence,
noncombatant targets, intention of spreading fear, and political aims. Terrorism is a criminal act
and their strategy is to commit violence that grabs the attention of the government and the world.
There are many types of terrorist acts. Terrorism can consist of mass terror, dynastic
assassination, random terror, focused random terror, and tactical terror. According to Combs
(2013):
1. Mass terror is terror by state where the regime coerces the opposition in the
population, whether organized or unorganized, sometimes in an
institutionalized
manner”.
2. Dynastic assassination is an attack upon a head of state or ruling elite.
3. Random terror involves the placing of explosives where people gather to destroy
whoever happens to be there.
4. Focused random terror restricts the placing of explosives.
5. Finally, tactical terror is directed solely against the ruling government as a part of
a broad revolutionary strategic plan.
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Running Head:
Terrorism
Identifying terrorist is not an easy thing to do. Terrorist usually blend in with everyone
else. If profiling terrorist was easy, there would be no terrorism in this world. People believe that
we are able to point out who is a terrorist just by how the person looks. Unfortunately, we
cannot determine a terrorist by looks. Everyone should have knowledge about these certain
situations to be able to help and give information to authorities and possibly prevent terrorism
from happening. No one can point out who is a terrorist and who is not a terrorist and because of
this we need to be ready for these violent acts. The only way to probably determine if a violent
act is going to occur is if the individual looks suspicious. Security agents need to be ready and
know which type of person is likely to commit such acts.
According to Brown (2014) “profiling terrorists is much the same as profiling any other
group; view them as human beings with the same needs and desires as any other human”. “This
realistic approach will be more of an aid to understanding terrorism and how to handle it than
profiling terrorists as foreign villains that we cannot comprehend. Profiling is having an
understanding of human nature and logically applying that understanding to the culture,
circumstances and psychology of an individual or group”.
Terrorist beliefs cause terrorism around the world. According to DeAngelis (2009),
terrorist may believe that engaging in violence is not immoral”. “They also believe that it offers
social and psychological rewards such as adventure, camaraderie and a heightened sense of
identity and that their current political involvement does not give them the power to effect real
change”. Terrorist commit terrorist acts because everything else they have tried in good norms
has failed, so they turn to terrorism as last resort. They believe that committing those acts will
help them gain what they are looking for and make the world better by doing it. Terrorist do not
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Running Head:
Terrorism
see themselves as bad people. They believe they are soldiers, fighting for what they believe in,
and do whatever it takes to attain their goals.
Terrorist acts are always motivated by different things. Terrorist may commit such acts
because of economic status, rights and freedom and when they are deprived, they may rebel.
Terrorism is usually motivated by political objectives. According to Combs (2013), the ideology
of politically motivated groups frequently allows them to justify their violence and blame their
enemies for forcing them to choose the path of violence. These groups can have various reasons
for resorting to violence, such as the failure of not being able to fulfil their goals through non-
violent means or the suppression of non-violent agitation by the government.
Terrorist, according to Combs (2013) “these groups find a collective wealth and ability
to improve one’s financial situation that is enormously appealing to the impoverished”. They
usually resort to terrorism to get their point across. They feel that it is the only way that they will
achieve their goal. These groups believe that by bringing violence, it will be an effective way to
bring change. Also, although most terrorist do not lack education, there are some who do not
have proper education and can bring them to commit violent acts. “Lack of education provides a
breeding ground for extremism and terrorism, which is why education has to be promoted”
(United Nations Radio, 2014). Lack of education, money, rights and freedom might bring them
frustration and that frustration ends up in violence.
Terrorism continues to be a big threat in this world. Terrorism has cost a lot of human
lives over the years. Although there is no way to stop terrorism completely, there are ways to
prevent it from happening. Ways to prevent terrorism is to take away their resources,
increase
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Running Head:
Terrorism
security and share vital information. The ability to prevent terrorism depends not only on police
officers, but also on us. We can help prevent those acts by looking out for suspicious
individuals or packages and give that information to the authority.
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Running Head:
Terrorism
Reference
Brown, Pat (2014). How to profile a terrorist. The Pat Brown Criminal Profiling Agency.
Retrieved on September 4, 2014. http://www.patbrownprofiling.com/terrorist.html
Combs, Cindy C. (2013). Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century. Pearson Education Inc.
Seventh Edition.
DeAngelis, Tori (2009). Understanding Terrorism. American Psychological Association.
Retrieved on September 4, 2014.
http://www.apa.org/monitor/2009/11/terrorism.aspx
Peak, Kenneth J. (2012). Justice Administration: Police, Courts, and Corrections
Management. University of Nevada. Seventh Edition.
United Nations Radio (2014). Lack of education provides breeding ground for terrorism.
Retrieved on September 5, 2014.
http://www.unmultimedia.org/radio/english/2014/08/lack-of-education-provides-
breeding-ground-for-terrorism-ban/
