Psychology of Terrorism - National Criminal Justice Reference Service

one’s own group and towards others that stand in certain relationships to it).-Tajfel defines "social identity" to mean that part of an individual’s self concept that derives from hisor her knowledge of membership of a social group (or groups) together with the value and emotionalsignificance attached to that membership.-With in the context of social identity theory, stereotypes are reconceived as generalizations aboutpeople based on category membership.-Social identity theory itself is developing a sophisticated battery of ideas for resolving intergroupconflict. Three prominent areas (among many) are crossed categorizations (using one socialcategory to cancel out another), recategorization (bringing members of two categories togetherunder an inclusive, superordinate one), and decategorization (dissolving the problematic categoriesaltogether, especially by facilitating contact between members of rival groups).28. Brockner, J. , & Rubin, J. K. (1985). Entrapment in escalating conflicts: A social psychological analysis. NewYork: Springer-Verlag.Call Number: Editor's Annotation: This book is a technical treatise on how and why people continueto move forward on a decision they think is stupid or at least doomed to a bad outcome. The socialpsychologicalterm for being stuck is “entrapment.” The authors use the following formal definitionof entrapment: "a decision making process whereby individuals escalate their commitment to apreviously chosen, though failing, course of action in order to justify or 'make good on' priorinvestments." Most of the book focuses on pure, experimental social psychological research, whichhas very little relevance to counterterrorism operations. In fact, there is no discussion of terrorism,per se, anywhere in the book. Although this text thoroughly analyzes the research on social andnonsocial factors that effect “entrapment,” it is highly questionable whether these results wouldtranslate into any meaningful understanding of terrorist groups. It is interesting to note, though, thatthey found no compelling or even promising evidence for “entrapment prone personality.” Perhapsof some interest are the findings in chapter seven describing psychological effects of entrapment,including the way in which it can alter motivations and lead to a lack of attention to any “outside” orperipheral factors. Chapters nine and ten ostensibly discuss some implications, but the applied valuefor counterterrorism is rather limited. In essence, the research would suggest that if one thinks aheadabout what could happen as a result of a decision and what the downsides or “costs” may be, thismay build some resistance to entrapment.29. Bruan De Dunayevich, J., & Puget, J. (1989). State Terrorism and Psychoanalysis. International Journal ofMental Health, 18(2 ), 98-112.Call Number: Editor's Annotation: Between 1976 and 1983, state terrorism produced a type ofviolence in Argentina with specific characteristic types that contained within it death, sophisticatedcruelty and terror.-Focuses on the victimization of victims of this oppressive state of violence.-Describes tactics of repression used by the regime.-A methodology of repression: Disappearance - Disappearance, employed as a method of ideologicalrepression, involving kidnapping, clandestine detention, and later murder of adults, adolescents, andchildren of a specific social-cultural and ideological background, who may or may not have beenpolitical militants.30. Bruce, S. (1990). Protestant resurgence and fundamentalism . Political Quarterly, 61, 161-168.Call Number: Editor's Annotation: In this brief essay I will describe three movements which aresometimes called 'fundamentalist': Pentecostalism in Latin America and other parts of the ThirdWorld, the new Christian right in American, and Paisleyism in Northern Ireland. After a briefaccount of each I will offer some general and comparative observations about 'fundamentalism'.-There are undoubtedly political causes and consequences of the spread of Pentecostalism. Ratherthan seeing the spread of Pentecostalism as a sinister right-wing plot, one should appreciate theparallels between the social and psychological roles of Methodism in urban England in the secondhalf of the eighteenth century.-To take a positive side of appeal of Pentecostalism, it offers to those people who are, as DavidMartin put it, outside the downward thrust of elite power and free from the lateral ties of the organiccommunity, a new character.