Suicide terrorism and psychology of suicide bomber (original) (raw)

The phenomenon of suicide bombing: A review of psychological and nonpsychological factors

… of Crisis Intervention and Suicide …, 2006

This article reviews the literature on the phenomenon of suicide bombing. It addresses the question of just how much a psychological understanding of the individuals involved can aid in prevention. The article looks at historical, epidemiological, and cultural perspectives and compares the nonpsychological and psychological approaches to suicide bombing. On the basis of the material available it seems that social processes such as group-dynamic indoctrination and political factors are decisive in analyzing this problem. Cultural, nationalistic, and religious factors are important. The conclusion is that in suicidal bombing, suicide is instrumental in the context of war, not in the context of psychopathology. Suicide bombing is instrumental in realizing fatalities, and it is only one of many weapons. The act of killing in warfare is more important to understanding suicidal terrorism than the act of suicide. This explains why psychological profiling of suicidal terrorists has to date not been successful.

The Phenomenon of Suicide Bombing

Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention, 2006

Understanding suicide terrorism: Insights from psychology, lessons from history

Investigating Terrorism, 2015

History and psychology give us some powerful tools for understanding suicide terrorism. History quickly teaches that this tactic is not the reserve of any one religion and there are many examples from the past of individuals with very different motivations who are willing to sacrifice their life in an effort to kill others. Thus it is a mistake to see modern suicide terrorism as inherently an ‘Islamic problem’. Similarly, history also teaches us that perspective is important. The more you sympathise with the perpetrators’ cause, then the more you tend to explain the perpetrators’ decisions and motivations in very different (and usually much more positive) ways. If we disagree with the aims, then explanations begin to cluster around issues such as brainwashing, indoctrination, grooming, and radicalisation of vulnerable personalities. The truth almost certainly lies somewhere in between. The lesson from psychology is that there is no obvious suicide terrorist personality. Individuals reach the point of carrying out a suicide attack through a process which generally has more to do with social psychology then with the tenets of clinical or abnormal psychology. Used effectively, these insights can be tremendously helpful in stripping away many of the myths and assumptions which surround debates on suicide terrorism and leave us with a more realistic assessment of the perpetrators, who they are, how they see themselves and what forces motivate and drive them. A realistic understanding here is a vital first step in developing more effective approaches for both countering and preventing suicide terrorism.

The mind of suicide terrorists

CNS Spectrums, 2017

After reviewing the available literature about the main hypotheses on suicide terrorism and the psychological characteristics of terrorists that have been proposed throughout the years, the present authors have put forward some personal considerations on what the distinctive traits of today’s suicide bombers might be. In spite of the heterogeneity and paucity of “real” data, it is evident that there is no peculiar familial, educational, or socioeconomic factors that may account for religious radicalization leading to suicide terrorism. On the contrary, some common psychological features can be highlighted: such as isolation, feelings of emptiness, cold rationality, a lack of empathy, and a lust for martyrdom and death. To die to kill: this is the core feature, a sort of organizer that can twist higher cognitive and emotional processes, resulting in the supreme and highly rewarding suicidal and killing behaviors.

Devising a Theory of Suicide Terror

2004

This article explains why suicide bombing has been effective in some conflicts while in others it has been rejected or abandoned. What motivates organizations to employ violence, and how does suicide terrorism inflame or respond to public opinion?

Family Suicide Bombing: A Psychological Analysis of Contemporary Terrorism

Walisongo: Jurnal Penelitian Sosial Keagamaan, 2018

Terrorist organizations are now transforming into small cells and spreading their ideology to various parts of the world. The acts of terrorism in the Surabaya bomb case provide a new paradigm of the involvement of family members or an inner circle in their actions. The involvement of family members is considerably related to some psychological aspects. This study aims to provide a psychological analysis of suicide bombing terrors involving family members. The data obtained were analyzed using the perspective of Moghaddam's theory, 'staircases to terrorism'. The result indicates that the suicide bomber who has brought their family members in the action has gone through these six stages of psychological aspects: (1) Search for meaning. Actors seeking self and social meaning and finding reasons from the radical ideology adopted; (2) Presenting the ideology. The idea arises to fight those who are considered to do injustice, and the desire to change the system of government and politics is legitimate; (3) Cultivation stage. The process of ideology processing justification for resistance to those who are considered to be doing injustices; (4) Control over members. The stages of correct or wrong assessment based on the fatwa of the leader; (5) Moral engagement. The stage of identity confirmation and the process of polarization of groups of friends and opponents; (6) Recruitment, which is the stage of active in

Suicide Terrorists: Are They Suicidal

Suicide and Life-threatening Behavior, 2007

This paper investigates whether suicide terrorists are suicidal. A review of the worldwide literature on suicide terrorism uncovered five published empirical studies describing data collected from potential suicide terrorists or the surviving friends and families of deceased terrorists. The many discrepancies uncovered between suicide terrorists and other suicides, on key factors known to underpin suicidality, suggest that such terrorists are not truly suicidal and should not be viewed as a subgroup of the general suicide population. Nonetheless, methods developed by suicidologists, such as the psychological autopsy, will help increase our understanding of the individual and group factors which underpin suicide terrorism.

Suicide terrorism -Physical and mental destruction

International Journal of Advance Research Ideas and Innovations in Technology

Suicide terrorism is a troublesome phenomenon for all of us, the masses, to conceptualize and to entirely understand. Its very presence appears to straightforwardly negate quite a bit of what we think about fundamental human survival impulses, which obviously has consequences for the mannerisms by which we look to gauge such elusive factors as radicalization and ideological duty. Our comprehension of suicide psychological warfare can likewise shift contingent upon whether it depends on the subjective examination of specific contextual investigations, some other experimental strategy, or assaults executed by explicit gatherings or sorts of gatherings, groups, mental institutions. Terrorist activities and government responses to them portray a strong and dynamic transaction, with the moves of one side affecting those of the other. As one model, if any terrorist organization attacks and a state sends in their arms and army as the power to send a rebuffing message back, the terrorists may utilize that activity to negatively persuade the commoners or the mob, resulting in turning the mob against the state. This is seen happening on the grounds of communal bias, power trip, inhumane methods of segregation from the nation which would only conclude in angering the civilians as well. Therefore, the findings would only address the terrorist activities and neglect the other end as that is something subject to the less important part of humanity and our community. Terrorism isn't legitimately characterized in all locales; the rules that do exist, in any case, by and large offer some normal components. Terrorism or lethal acts, to be psychological or physical violence include the utilization or danger of viciousness and looks to make fear, inside the immediate exploited people as well as among a wide gathering of people. How much it depends on dread recognizes fear based oppression from both traditional and guerrilla fighting. No doubt, customary military powers perpetually participate in fighting against the foe, their key methods for triumph is quality of arms. With the end goal to draw in and keep up the exposure important to produce across the board fear, terrorists must participate in progressively emotional, vicious, and prominent assaults. These have included hijackings, hostage takings, kidnappings, vehicle bombings, and, habitually, suicide bombings. Albeit, clearly arbitrary, the people in question and areas of fear-based terrorist groups or organizations assaults frequently are precisely chosen for their stun esteem. Schools, malls, transport and train stations, and eateries and dance club have been focused on both on the grounds that they pull in substantial groups and in light of the fact that they are places with which individuals from the non-military personnel populace are commonplace and in which they feel calm. The objective of terrorism, by and large, is to obliterate general society's feeling that all is well with the world in the spots most commonplace to them. Real targets some of the time additionally incorporate structures or different areas that are vital monetary or political images, for example, government offices or army bases.

Suicide terrorism and psychology of suicide bomber (original) (raw)

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