Terrorism has dominated the domestic and international landscape since 9/11. Determining what drives people to commit acts of terrorism is no easy task. The important new book fills a gap in the psychology and psychiatry literature by examining the relationship between evil and mental illness, and in particular amongst terrorists. How can evil, a characteristic of human nature, become extreme, intent on destruction and lead to acts of terrorism? Featuring contributions from leading experts in this field, Evil, Terrorism and Psychiatry explores whether there are specific personality traits, psychological characteristics or psychopathological conditions that may favour a lack of control of violence in terrorists. It also offers possible novel prevention strategies to help understand and prevent these acts in future. Featuring articles from a special issue of CNS Spectrums, this book also includes brand new chapters found exclusively in this book.
Substate terrorism now represents one of the gravest threats to human civilizations. As the frequency of interstate wars has declined since the end of the Second World War, terrible violence against innocent civilians is increasingly perpetrated by non-state groups with extreme agendas and virtually no restraints. Why do people become terrorists? Are terrorists crazy? Simply evil? Normal people driven to extremes? What social factors and tensions are most likely to provoke terrorist behaviors? And how can we use our rapidly growing understanding of the psychology of terrorism to anticipate oming attacks and protect the international community? Psychology of Terrorism is a collection of the best classic and contemporary writings about the mind of the terrorist. Carefully selected by a panel of world-renowned authorities for value and readability, this collection provides the reader with deep knowledge and unique insights into the ideas, feelings, and social influences of modern terrorist groups. General readers who wish to understand this deadly phenomenon, students and scholars of human psychology or political science, and decision makers facing the challenge of designing effective counterterrorism policies will enjoy and profit from these essential readings and the inescapable conclusion they suggest: By ignoring the psychology of terrorism, Western nations have been making grave errors in the so-called war on terrorism. Understanding the deep roots of terrorist behaviors gives us tools that are absolutely vital to any effort in reducing this escalating threat.
In contrast to the widely held assumption that terrorists as crazed fanatics, Jerrold Post demonstrates they are psychologically "normal" and that "hatred has been bred in the bone". He reveals the powerful motivations that drive these ordinary people to such extraordinary evil by exploring the different types of terrorists, from national-separatists like the Irish Republican Army to social revolutionary terrorists like the Shining Path, as well as religious extremists like al-Qaeda and Aum Shinrikyo. In The Mind of the Terrorist, Post uses his expertise to explain how the terrorist mind works and how this information can help us to combat terrorism more effectively.
In compiling this annotated bibliography on the psychology of terrorism, the author has defined terrorism as "acts of violence intentionally perpetrated on civilian noncombatants with the goal of furthering some ideological, religious or political objective." The principal focus is on nonstate actors. The task was to identify and analyze the scientific and professional social science literature pertaining to the psychological and/or behavioral dimensions of terrorist behavior (not on victimization or effects). The objectives were to explore what questions pertaining to terrorist groups and behavior had been asked by social science researchers; to identify the main findings from that research; and attempt to distill and summarize them within a framework of operationally relevant questions. To identify the relevant social science literature, the author began by searching a series of major academic databases using a systematic, iterative keyword strategy, mapping, where possible, onto existing subject headings. The focus was on locating professional social science literature published in major books or in peer-reviewed journals. Searches were conducted of the following databases October 2003: Sociofile/Sociological Abstracts, Criminal Justice Abstracts (CJ Abstracts), Criminal Justice Periodical Index (CJPI), National Criminal Justice Reference Service Abstracts (NCJRS), PsycInfo, Medline, and Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS). Three types of annotations were provided for works in this bibliography: Author's Abstract -- this is the abstract of the work as provided (and often published) by the author; Editor's Annotation -- this is an annotation written by the editor of this bibliography; and Key Quote Summary -- this is an annotation composed of "key quotes" from the original work, edited to provide a cogent overview of its main points.
Overcoming Evil describes the origins of genocide, violent conflict and terrorism, principles and practices of prevention, and avenues to reconciliation. It considers societal conditions, culture and insitutions, and the psychology of individuals and groups. It aims to promote knowledge and "active bystandership" by leaders, the media and citizens. It uses both past cases such as the Holocaust, and contempoary ones such as Rwanda, the Congo, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and contemporary terrorism as examples.
This is a spin-off from Stephen M. Stahl's new, completely revised and updated version of his much-acclaimed Prescriber's Guide, covering drugs to treat depression.
A noted expert on terrorism uncovers the clandestine and sinister ways that Islamic terrorist groups finance their global network. Dr. Ehrenfeld's investigation also details how undected billions of dollars are spent to bring about chaos and destabilization.
Evil is a ubiquitous, persistent problem that causes enormous human suffering. Although human beings have struggled with evil since the dawn of our species, we seem to be no nearer to ending it. In this book, Lionel Corbett describes the complexity of the problem of evil, as well as many of our current approaches to understanding it, in ways that are helpful to the practicing psychotherapist, psychoanalyst, or Jungian analyst. Psychotherapists often work with people who have been the victim of evil, and, occasionally, the therapist is faced with a perpetrator of evil. To be helpful in these situations, the practitioner must understand the problem from several points of view, since evil is so complex that no single approach is adequate. Understanding Evil: A psychotherapist’s guide describes a range of approaches to evil based on Jungian theory, psychoanalysis, social sciences, philosophy, neurobiology, mythology, and religious studies. The book clarifies the difference between actions that are merely wrong from those that are truly evil, discusses the problem of detecting evil, and describes the effects on the clinician of witnessing evil. The book also discusses what is known about the psychology of terrorism, and the question of whether a spiritual approach to evil is necessary, or whether evil can be approached from a purely secular point of view. In Understanding Evil, a combination of psychoanalytic and Jungian theory allows the practitioner a deep understanding of the problem of evil. The book will appeal to analytical psychologists and psychotherapists, psychoanalysts, and academics and students of Jungian and post-Jungian studies. It will also be of great interest to researchers approaching the question of evil from a variety of other fields, including philosophy and religious studies.
The Political Psychology of Terrorism Fears examines how emotional responses to terrorism, and specifically, fear, impact on political processes in multiple international contexts. The volume presents an integrated collection of empirical and theoretical studies and discusses the implications of this body of research.