Psychology of Terrorism - National Criminal Justice Reference Service

technology and science.-Although most of the imprisoned terrorists objected to being isolated from their comrades andrefused to have contacts with “normal” prisoners, Mahler found such associations helpful. His“disputes with them moderated” his commitment to the terrorist cause and liberated his thinking. Hebegan to oppose terrorist attacks and switched to the Maoist communist camp. Mahler was“excommunicated” from the RAF which he had founded only a few years earlier.-The original goal of RAF had been to start a “socialist” revolution to fight humiliation ofGermany’s past and the country’s entanglement with the USA. After the jailing of members of theBaader-Mainhof group, the emphasis shifted to freeing prisoners.-The German terrorist movement appears to be multicasual phenomenon.-Horst Mahler, the founder of the RAF, provides valuable insights into the making of a terrorist.-Horst’s turning away from the extreme right was not only due to the Nazi regime’s defeat butprobably motivated by his objections to his father’s ideologies.-The terrorists became dependent on each other for support and considered the outside world an evilsystem to be eliminated.19. Birrell, D. (1972). Relative deprivation as a factor in conflict in northern Ireland. Sociopolitical Review,20(317-343).Call Number: Editor's Annotation: The author uses the concept of relative deprivation (a group seesitself at a disadvantage when it is compared to some other reference groups) to explain conflictsbetween Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. It argues that Catholics historically haveperceived themselves to be at a disadvantage and that this perception is supported by objective data.Runicman's three areas of inequality are used: economic, social and political. Author suggestsrelative deprivation can lead to violence in at least two ways: (1) via frustration-aggression (Gurr) or(2) via "creative rioting" (Geschwender) rioting accompanied by stated political demands andattempts to occupy or control an area. The author’s conclusion is that relative deprivation is a causalfactor on Northern Ireland violence and because the inequality is real, the only reasonable remedy toviolence is correcting the lack or equality.20. Bjorgo, T. (1997). Racist and right wing violence in Scandinavia: patterns, perpetrators, and responses. OlsoTano Aschehoughs Fonteneserie.Call Number: Editor's Annotation: This book began as the author’s dissertation. It focuses on thediversity in racist and right wing violence in Scandinavian countries (Norway, Sweden, &Denmark), with an emphasis on violence toward immigrants. Although some anti-immigrantviolence is committed by racist gangs, much of it is done by young gangs that subscribe to nocollective ideology.-The author describes Helmut Willams’ classification of perpetrators of racial violence: ‘ideologicalactivists’, ‘xenophobes’, ‘criminals’ and ‘fellow travelers’. He classifies the groups themselves aseither ‘national democrats’ (anti-immigration activists) or ‘racial revolutionaries’ (neo-Nazis). Thetext provides data on trends of the relevant offenses in each country. Sweden tends to have moreXenophobic violence. Group dynamics factor significantly into these attacks and the waves andpatterns cannot be completely explained by macro-social factors. Younger gang members(adolescents) seem drawn to racist gangs and their anti-immigrant activity just to be part of a group.Young adult gangs (17-25) tend to be economically deprived and blame immigrants for their plight.What will facilitate violence with the group is prior familiarity with vandalism and violence, accessto weapons, and proximity to hated targets. At the community level, law enforcement neglect,media publicity and a tacit anti-immigrant community sentiment also tend to breed such incidents.The revolutionary groups are driven by the notion of war against the Zionist occupied governmentand frenzied by “white power music.” In general, in racist groups racism tends to the result ratherthan the cause of group affiliation. The more individuals become included and socialized within thegroup (and insulated from extra-group influences), the more difficult it becomes to leave. Theauthor discusses the differing dynamics in Scandinavian groups adhering to “anti-Muslim” versus“anti-Jewish” conspiracy theories. He concludes with a lucid and insightful summary of the corevalues areas over which racist groups, communities, the media, etc. all vie for control: ideology andimmigration politics, identity, scarce resources, sexuality, territory, and security. An excellent workon the phenomenon of racist violence, with insights that extend well beyond the Scandinavian