Terrorism can be defined as the acts of using violence and intimidating threats in pursuit of religious, political or ideological aims. Terrorism is a violent and illegal crime and is considered a great menace to the immediate society and the world of today. Many innocent lives have been lost especially civilians and militants; hence most jurisdictions classify terrorism as a war crime. Down the history lane, terrorism has been in existence and the difference between now and the past years is that the degree of the atrocities done increases with time. (Victoroff J, 2016). Furthermore, the rates at which younger individuals both male and female take part in terrorism as suicide bombers and recruits have increased immensely. We shall take a look at the reasons that perpetuate the desire to take part in acts of terrorism and in addition expound on the behaviors of the individuals involved.
Terrorism affects every individual worldwide. The ‘petty’ and continuous disagreements between governments and the inability of governments to provide and meet the needs of its citizens are the reasons that fuel acts of terrorism.
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Behaviors of Potential Terrorists and Recruits
There are so many reasons and causes of individuals taking part in acts of terrorism. Their thoughts and ideology in most cases are similar since the course they are undertaking is a goal with a common denominator. The key factors that have been on the frontline to help in understanding why, how and who will take part in terrorist recruitment and the processes of recruitment include the motives and the level of vulnerability. On the contrary, individuals involved in terrorism have different roles within the terror group, they joined the sect in different ways and definitely, they have different reasons for joining and taking part in the acts of terrorism.
Motives or Motivation
As mentioned earlier, these individuals join terror groups with different motives. Some of the issues that motivate terrorism include the belief and ideologies that encourage and mandate particular behaviors. They regard the beliefs as noble and absolute, hence the characters and actions are considered to be of great meaning and of high rewards. Vengeance for self and in most cases for others is another strong motivator for violence. The needs to avenge are probably caused by the injustices faced or grievances particularly on areas like ethnicity, religion, political, racial among others. These grievances may target institutes, individuals, groups or a certain collection of people. (Torres, 2016)
Some individuals are motivated by the desire to be separated from the rest or have a sense of freedom from existing entities. These individuals are referred to as ‘separatists’ and their common ideology is to support the fight for social justice, promote equity or resist foreign power ( Crumption, 2007). In other instances, the individuals of terrorism may be influenced by ‘patriotism’ or the devotion and loyalty to their nation. In such cases, these individuals place the interest and beliefs of their nation above the interests of other nations and countries leading to a collaboration of nations with similar interests against those whose interests differ from theirs.
Revolutionary group are focused on overthrowing the reigning government and replace it with new political and social ideologies and structure. In order to achieve their goals, these revolutionary groups are in most cases associated with other political movements who are able to link them with revolutionary methods that can boost their activities (Borum, 2016).
The effectiveness of the leaders of the terror groups always maintains a system of tangible beliefs that must be followed making sure the organization’s routines are established and maintained, controlling and maintaining a consistent flow of communication, manipulating the purpose goals & incentives, and making sure their acts are running. These consistencies of the leaders may be attractive to the recruits since the leaders sound passionate about what they are involved in. Furthermore, the desire to meet the set purposes and goals are essential tools for motivating and encouraging the recruits of what is expected of them. Hence the efficiency and results of terrorist leaders’ are key in luring individuals into terrorist groups and sects. In summary, the motivation among terrorists and recruits may be categorized into; the chance to act, the desire of belonging, social status, and the reward from the acts (Hudson, 2016).
Vulnerability
Some individuals become recruits into the terror groups due the experiences of hostility and injustices from their childhood. Psychological trauma of the events they had to witness or undergo fuel the need and desire to take part in terrorism either for revenge or voicing out their cry for justice. Hence the need for identity and sense of belonging is a common factor of vulnerabilities in recruits and potential terrorists. To some, the terrorist groups become families that some recruits never had after a lifetime being disowned and rejected. The terrorist groups compel and encourage such individuals into joining, and staying in the group by offering protection and shelter from the harsh or hostile world. Furthermore, they are lured by being welcomed into a family and a group of friends and community they never had before (Kruglanski and Gelfand, 2016).
There are individuals especially the youth and children who are forcefully recruited into terrorist groups and are equipped with weapons and ideologies of the group. These children and youths are mentored until they grasp what they are expected to know. Furthermore, some families are fully involved in terrorism, hence, the children born in these families will have no option but take part and practice the family ‘norms’ (DeAngelies, 2016).
Process of Radicalisation
According to Prof. Fathali M. Moghaddam, terrorism is influenced by different factors to different people and society, and it is vital to understand the root causes of these vices within our society in order to be able to combat them. The mindset of becoming a terrorist is conveyed as a movement or a way of climbing up a ‘staircase of a building’. The level of the ‘floors’ that each individual is at depends on their needs, dreams, and desires within the terrorist group. These ‘terrorism building’ tends to have fewer choices for its recruits on every floor leaving them with the only choice of destruction either for others or for themselves and in some instances destruction for both, hence the cases of suicide bombings. It is categorized into six levels that is from the ‘ground floor’ to the ‘fifth floor’. At the ground floor, individuals are driven by the need to fight for their rights and injustices within the society. Individuals are not hindered by any circumstances at this level. In fact, this level contains all sorts of individuals the learned and illiterate and also both the wealthy and poor. Their common denominator is the desperation for justice and freedom. At the first floor, the individuals are driven by the need to find solutions to outdo the social injustices. For those individuals who are daring enough to go to any extent of fighting for their rights, then they without any limitation move to the second floor where there is the displacement of aggression. Every level demands courage to move to the next and hence with this in consideration they definitely move to the third floor where ‘moral engagement’. Terror groups as viewed earlier have ideologies that differ from each other and so does the moral of each group. Most groups find ways of persuading its recruits to disengage on the morals that are expected by the society and instead to embrace the terrorists’ morals. After succeeding in persuading the recruits, they eventually move to the fourth floor where there is the solidifying of the ways and thinking of the terrorist organization. Here, the recruits are engaged in the activities, norms and purposes of the group (Moghaddam, 2016). With the knowledge of the group and the goals needed, it is very hard for individuals to back out at this level and hence they move to the fifth floor where the acts of terrorism, suicide bombings and target for civilian innocent blood are done.
Conclusions
Terrorism has been an issue that has affected individual and government worldwide. The major reasons as to why people get involved in acts of terrorism or become terrorists has not been clearly identified but as it has been noted some of the reasons are psychological and cuts across almost all the individuals involved. The desire to have a sense of belonging or fight for justice and freedom from certain entities has been major reasons for terrorism. Furthermore, the difference in beliefs between governments, races, ethnic groups, religions and institutes have are other contributors to terrorism.
References
Crumption, H. (2007). Terrorist Motivations and Behaviors a military Guide to Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century Retrieved from http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/army/guidterr/ch02.pdf
Borum, R. (2016). Understanding Terrorist Psychology Mental health law & policy faculty publications (1st ed.). Retrieved from http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/mhlp_facpub/576/
DeAngelis, T . (2016). Understanding terrorism America Psychological Association http://www.apa.org Retrieved 28 September 2016, from http://www.apa.org/monitor/2009/11/terrorism.aspx
Hudson, A. Rex. (2016). FRD -- The Sociology and Psychology of Terrorism Fas.org Retrieved 28 September 2016, from http://fas.org/irp/threat/frd.html
Kruglanski, W, Arie, Gelfand . J. Michelle (2016). Motivation, Ideology, and the Social Process in Radicalization Association for Psychological Science Retrieved 28 September 2016, from http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/observer/2013/april-13/motivation-ideology-and-the-social-process-in-radicalization.html
Maghaddam, F. (2016). The Staircase to Terrorism: A psychological Exploration Retrieved from http://www.uni bielefeld.de/ikg/zick/Moghaddam%20 (2005) %20staircase%20model.pdf
Torres A. Julian (2016). Exploring the Causes of Islamic Radicalization and Recruitment and the General Strain Theory in Identified Terrorists: Epublications.regis.edu Retrieved 28 September 2016, from http://epublications.regis.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1231&context=theses
Victoroff Jeff (2016). The Mind of the Terrorist a Review and Critique of Psychological Approaches Retrieved from http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/IMG/pdf/critik_psychoterrorisme.pdf
