Sociological and Psychological Characteristics

¶ … Terrorists

Profile of a Terrorist

It is common for people to assume that a potential terrorist might be influenced by political causes or social pressures. While this may be true in some cases, the actual motivations for joining a terrorist group could be among a plethora of various reasons. Furthermore, it is very difficult to study terrorism. Primarily because a terrorist is unlikely to participate in studies on their own free will (DeAngelis, 2009). Terrorist are not likely to volunteer as experimental subjects or offer reliable data through interviews. Therefore the data pool surrounding terrorism is extremely limited and must of the research takes are more subjective approach given these limitations.

There are three primary approaches to studying terrorism which include macro-sociological, psychological, and psychosocial (de la Corte, 2007). The macro-sociological perspective considers social dysfunctions or conflictive trends in the society and social systems. This perspective will try to identify a root cause such as riots, revolutions, civil wars, or other sociological events that have worked to shape the environment on a macro level. This route tries to find patterns in the society and social structures that might create an environment in which could facilitate the attractiveness to a terrorist organization by some societal members.

The psychological perspective looks at the motivation on an individual level. Some explanations will explain the phenomenon by disruptive or psychopathological behaviors that might influence a person to join such a network. Interestingly, impulse aggressiveness has not been correlated as a common trait for a terrorist. In fact, there are many different psychological compositions that are used to explain a terrorist's mentality and there is not a standard profile. Some common traits include a lack of empathy for victims, dogmatic or ideological mentality, or a utopian worldview. However, a terrorist network is quiet complex and requires a wide variety of skills to maintain. Therefore, the psychological profiles of terrorists are commonly not someone who has a disabling psychological condition; rather they are required to function on a high level in many cases.

The psychosocial perspective is attracting more attention because of its ability to provide a more comprehensive explanation that the first two perspectives listed. Social psychologists describe one's environment as the place where a person's behavior is influenced by the social settings in which they live and their psychological predispositions (de la Corte, 2007). From this perspective, terrorism must not be seen as a syndrome but as a method of social and political influence and the attributes of terrorists are shaped by processes of social interaction.