12 Jul 2022

72

Mind of a Terrorist

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Terrorism can be said to be the use of threat or violence by people who are not of the state to achieve a political challenge by targeting civilians who are noncombatant as their immediate victim. A terrorist is small groups killing noncombatants (Crenshaw, 2013) . Mental illness is usually linked to terrorism because it is typically used to explain the terrorist behaviors. The report is going to talk about the psychological and behavioral factors of terrorism. It will look at the means that the terrorist use to communicate and promote their terrorist activities. Al Qaeda and affiliated groups have specific behavioral factors which the report will talk about. The difference and similarities of radicalization model are outlined in the article. The story will finally talk about the behavioral and psychological factors associated with separating from terrorism.

Psychological and Behavioral Factors of Terrorism 

There is no terrorist personality or an accurate profile of the terrorist. Terrorist ideologies usually provide a set of beliefs which promote various violent characters (Hoffman, 2009) . The psychology of terrorism is not always a good science but rather a case of theory. Terrorist still has specific psychological and behavioral factors. One behavioral factor of terrorist is that they usually feel angry, alienated and disentranced. Terrorist is even angered by certain things that they lack a clear understanding. The lack of having a clear understanding of a particular issue always makes them feel that they are alienated or disinfected. Therefore, the ever end up rebelling and forming their terrorist groups.

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The terrorist also always have the urge to take action rather than just talking about it. Terrorist still believes that talking is a matter of wasting time and therefore they always try to be over-reactive towards something. The psychology is yet in such a way that they feel dissatisfied when something fails to take place. That ever led them to do things that are harmful to the noncombatants (Jenkins, 2010) .

The terrorist believes that violence against the state is not immoral. They always tend to engage in violence without any reason (Joseph, 2005) . They tend to feel more comfortable when they involve in intensity with the country. To them, that is very correct, and it makes them happy. Another psychological factor of terrorism is that they believe joining a movement makes them earn rewards both social and psychological. The awards include things such as adventure, camaraderie, and sense of identity.

Another behavioral factor of terrorism is that they always do not reasonably relate human physicality. They always believe that the bodies of the terrorist operatives are tools. The purpose of the device is to bring a means to an end. They do not think that body is a foundation to their personhood. They use the body as a weapon, and the bodies of the victim are used as a message for the rest.

Terrorist brains are always brainwashed to believe that hijacking the attention of the public is the way to live. They do that so that they can lock the attention of the viewers thus creating a sympathetic horror. They tend to exploit the compassion of audience by using the victims (Pearlstein, 2008) . Their psychology has been confined towards that believe thus making them to always hijack the attention of the public.

Means of Communication and Influence upon Developing Terrorist Narratives 

The initial mean of communication that the terrorist use is the social media. They love social media because it is cheap and accessible. That allows them to quickly pass the message that they want. The social media usually enable the pass their word in an unfettered manner. The social media will allow the terror groups to communicate with one another without any fear. It is through the social media that they always plan their attacks. They use the social media to pass out their information to the world. If they are planning to perform, any terror attack, they will use platforms such as Twitter to inform people. They as well use the social media to advance their terrorist narrative by recruiting new members. They realized that it is straightforward to lure people into terrorism using the social media. That is because information can be passed among peers using social media (Royance, 2007) . They come up with lovely words that are convincing, therefore, convincing very many people to join.

Another mean of communication that the terrorists use is the use of coded words referred to as veil speech. The terrorist always come up with their own coded words that are very difficult for other people to understand. Those coded words are made in such a way that every code has an absolute meaning. They use those coded words to ensure that their secrets are not known. Also, they use the code words to identify themselves thus it is complicated for the authority to notice them. It is also straightforward to recruit individuals into their terrorist groups because the coded words are unfamiliar to many people not unless you are one of them.

Other means of communication that they use to advanced terrorist narrative is by using disposable sim cards. They are cheap and legally available. They are bought over the counter, used to do their terrorist communication and then dumped (Schaefer, 2007) . Dead drops are another means of communication that they use. USB sticks are also another means of communication that they use where one carries large quantities of data.

Psychological and Behavioral Factors within Al Qaeda Leadership and Correlated Groups 

Al Qaeda and the other affiliate groups have specific psychological and behavioral factors that push them to participate in terrorist activities. One of the mental factors is the need for Muslims to avenge all the wrongs that the Christians and the Jews have committed. The al Qaeda and affiliated groups believe that the Christians together with the Jews have made severe mistakes against the Muslims and therefore they have to be punished for that. That has led to the terrorist groups being against the Christians and the Jews (Joseph, 2005) .

The al Qaeda and the affiliate groups want to reshape the Muslim world. They believe that all the other states are secular and therefore they need to be replaced by a single political leadership that is Islamic. They think that Saudi Arabia is the home of Islam holiest sites and consequently Americans and non-Muslims should be chased away from there. Those are the psychological and behavioral factors that propel Al Qaeda and other affiliated groups to perform in terrorist activities.

Comparison and Contrast of Radicalization Models 

One of the similarities that exist between the radicalization models is the involvement of hatred. The entire radicalization model always tries to make the enemy look less human. That makes the radicalized individual violent to the enemy. The next similarity of radicalization models is martyrdom. In the entire radicalization model, the person in question is made to be willing to die for a cause (Jenkins, 2010) . The difference that exists between the radicalization models is that they all depend on social status. Another gap that exists is that they all rely on the state of mind.

Behavioral and Psychological Factors Associated With Extricating From Terrorism 

One of the psychological factors for extricating from terrorism is studying de-radicalization. The studying of de-radicalization leads to softening of the hearts and the minds of terrorist. The perception that one initially had has to be changed entirely through the learning of de-radicalization. Behavioral factor for extricating from terrorism is upholding cultural values. Things like death are very crucial in every culture. Therefore, one should take care of his or her life and realize that there is nothing worth dying. Violence against the state is immoral, and thus one should not participate in violence. Cultural values such as dialogue should be employed. When there is no understanding people can sit down and solve their issues amicably. Another factor for extracting from terrorism is to realize nobody is better than the other. The question of one’s culture, behavior or religion is better has to be done away with. One should notice that everybody is equal and has a right to his or her own cultural and religious beliefs. Another factor for disengaging from terrorism is to be a lover of peace (Jenkins, 2010) . One you love peace you will not participate in things that threaten the order of the people.

References 

Crenshaw, M. (2013). The Mind of the Political Terrorist.  Political Psychology 14 (1), 169. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3791401 

Hoffman, B. (2009). The Mind of the Terrorist: Perspectives From Social Psychology.  Psychiatric Annals 29 (6), 337-340. http://dx.doi.org/10.3928/0048-5713-19990601-07 

Jenkins, B. (2010). The Terrorist Mindset and Terrorist Decisionmaking: Two Areas of Ignorance.  Terrorism 3 (3-4), 245-250. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10576108008435463 

Joseph, K. (2005). The Mind of the Terrorist. Science 307 (5709), 511b-511b. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.307.5709.511b 

Pearlstein, R. (2008). The mind of the terrorist: the psychology of terrorism from the IRA to al-Qaeda. Choice Reviews Online 46 (01), 46-0554-46-0554. http://dx.doi.org/10.5860/choice.46-0554 

Royance, K. (2007). The terrorist identity: explaining the terrorist threat. Choice Reviews Online 44 (11), 44-6463-44-6463. http://dx.doi.org/10.5860/choice.44-6463 

Schaefer, A. (2007). Inside the Terrorist Mind.  Scientific American Mind 18 (6), 72-79. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/scientificamericanmind1207-72 

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