Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

POLITICAL OFFENSE EXCEPTION • 535together may account for any psychological satisfactions associatedwith perpetrating terror:1) Biological predisposition: Being male and being relativelyyoung (17–22 years) seem to be frequent attributes of most terrorists.2) Individual psychological background: In their reviews of the psychiatricand criminological literature, Oots and Wiegele noted thatterrorists frequently came from single-parent homes or had frequentrun-ins with the law as juveniles, as well as having certain narcissisticpersonality traits, such as unrealistically high self-esteem and a lowregard for the intelligence or feelings of others. 3) Political cause orpretext: All terrorists claim that their acts of violence are justified asbeing in the service of a higher political or moral cause. 4) Reinforcement:The terrorist act gives relief to the hormonal stresses of theterrorist. The aggression and anxiety produced by high testosteronelevels produces increased levels of norepinephrine and epinephrine,the fight-or-flight response neurohormones. Engaging in violence(or flight) produces “release” from these stresses by triggering releaseof endorphins—naturally occurring morphine-analogue painkillers—whichcreates a natural “high” or euphoria. With repetition,these feelings of release and exhilaration from committing terroristacts are reinforced, becoming stronger and more pleasant.This model, if correct, has sobering implications: there is no wayto predict exactly which individuals out of the population of susceptible,young, narcissistic males will turn into terrorists. Since politicalcauses are merely invoked as pretexts for acting out physiologicallyand psychologically driven rages, there is no guarantee that terrorismwould cease even if all purported political and social root causes forgrievances were addressed and resolved. Finally, there is no way ina free and democratic society to forestall the contagion effect causedby media attention to the terrorist act.POLITICAL OFFENSE EXCEPTION. Legal doctrine that allowsnations to refuse requests for extradition in cases in which theperson being sought for extradition is being persecuted for his orher race, religion, nationality, ethnic affiliation, or political opinionand who cannot secure legal protection from such persecution in thecountry from which he or she is fleeing. Such a person has the rightto request political asylum in the country to which she or he has fled.The political offense exception, which would grant such refugees a