Sophia Moskalenko

Mechanisms of Political Radicalization: Pathways Toward Terrorism

This article conceptualizes political radicalization as a dimension of increasing extremity of beliefs, feelings, and behaviors in support of intergroup conflict and violence. Across individuals, groups, and mass publics, twelve mechanisms of radicalization are distinguished. For ten of these mechanisms, radicalization occurs in a context of group identification and reaction to perceived threat to the ingroup. The variety and strength of reactive mechanisms point to the need to understand radicalization—including the extremes of terrorism—as emerging more from the dynamics of intergroup conflict than from the vicissitudes of individual psychology.

Measuring Political Mobilization: The Distinction Between Activism and Radicalism

In this paper we review and extend measures of political mobilization: the increasing extremity of beliefs, feelings, and behaviors in support of inter-group conflict. Building on previous research, we introduce the Activism and Radicalism Intention Scales (ARIS). The Activism Intention Scale assesses readiness to participate in legal and non-violent political action, whereas the Radicalism Intention Scale assesses readiness to participate in illegal or violent political action. In ad-hoc samples of U.S. and Ukrainian undergraduates, and in an Internet panel survey representative of the U.S. population, Activism and Radicalism intentions formed two correlated but distinguishable dimensions. The popular “conveyor belt” metaphor of radicalization (implying that activism leads easily to radicalism and that most radicals emerge from activism) found only mixed support in our results. Discussion suggests the potential usefulness of the ARIS for learning about how individuals move from political attitudes and beliefs to political action, including political violence and terrorism.

Toward a Profile of Lone Wolf Terrorists: What Moves an Individual From Radical Opinion to Radical Action

Research has shown that there is no profile of individual characteristics of group-based terrorists, but profiling the characteristics of lone wolf terrorists may yet be possible. In this article, we bring together suggestions about what a lone wolf profile might look like. We describe a two-pyramids model that distinguishes radicalization of opinion from radicalization of action, then use this model to review three case histories of lone wolf terrorists. We also review results comparing two kinds of mostly lone actor violent offenders: assassins and school attackers. Results highlight the gap between radical opinion and radical action, and suggest two profiles of lone wolf terrorists: disconnected-disordered are individuals with a grievance and weapons experience who are social loners and often show signs of psychological disorder; caring-compelled are individuals who strongly feel the suffering of others and feel a personal responsibility to reduce or avenge this suffering.

The psychology of lone-wolf terrorism

Lone-wolf terrorism is a growing concern for security and a puzzle for social science. We describe two very different cases of lone-wolf terrorism: a meek secretary in nineteenth century Russia who attacks a prison governor, and a criminal turned anti-abortion crusader in twenty-first century USA. These cases point to two explanations of how normal individuals can overcome the “free-rider problem” to undertake solo violence for a political cause. Strong Reciprocity establishes an evolutionary basis for human willingness to punish moral transgressors, even when the transgression is against someone else. Group Identification can enable self-sacrifice for the welfare of others, including actions against those who threaten the group. Discussion suggests that ideology, ideas of justice, and empathy may be more important for solo political action than for action embedded in radical groups or terrorist organizations.

Containing the Narrative: Strategy and Tactics in Countering the Storyline of Global Jihad

ABSTRACT It has long been recognised that telling a better story is an important part of countering the appeal of Global Jihad. The ‘War on Terror’ will be difficult to win if the ‘War on Ideas’ is lost. The mushrooming literature on terrorism notwithstanding, the counter‐narrative issue has been the subject of surprisingly scant academic attention. Part of the problem is that this is an issue with relatively little empirical work. Still, significant inferences for a counter‐narrative strategy can be drawn from existing research. Here we argue that counter‐narratives must be tailored to different audiences and must be designed to attack particular mechanisms of radicalisation. In contrast to the top‐down approach that has thus far been advocated to confront the claims of Global Jihad ‘head on’, what is actually needed is a bottom‐up approach that reaches vulnerable individuals early on by means of a nuanced approach that is sensitive to the multiple logics of radicalisation.

Understanding Political Radicalization: The Two-Pyramids Model

This article reviews some of the milestones of thinking about political radicalization, as scholars and security officials struggled after 9/11 to discern the precursors of terrorist violence. Recent criticism of the concept of radicalization has been recognized, leading to a 2-pyramids model that responds to the criticism by separating radicalization of opinion from radicalization of action. Security and research implications of the 2-pyramids model are briefly described, ending with a call for more attention to emotional experience in understanding both radicalization of opinion and radicalization of action. (PsycINFO Database Record

Moral mires and the grip of the group: Morality as internalized group norms

I argue that morality is a set of internalized group norms. It is a reliable guide in a complex social world where group status and membership are not guaranteed by birth, but have to be asserted and maintained continuously. Morality is acquired through the process of socialization when children learn in their experience with peers, from observation of adults, and by instructional stories, such as fairy tales. Failure to internalize group norms results in a clinical condition of Psychopathy, or Antisocial Personality Disorder. Research into Antisocial Personality Disorder suggests that likely pathways of group norm internalization are states of arousal associated with social situations.

The Political Power of Martyrdom

Suicide bombings may not be the most common form of terrorist attack, but they probably draw the most attention. Here we review three books which aim to illuminate jihadist martyrdom as choice and tactic. Creating Young Martyrs is an informal collection of the authors’ memories, experiences, and ideas regarding terrorism in general and child soldiers of terrorism in particular. The preface lays out three memories that explain the roots of the authors’ interest in terrorism. These roots, as for many Americans, reach back to the tragedy of September 11, 2001 as experienced through the mass media. The first chapter takes the reader with one of the authors to Sri Lanka to collect first-hand accounts of children’s experiences in war zones. The aim was to understand how children may join terrorist groups or become child soldiers in a civil

Do Suicide Terrorists Have Personality Problems? A Review of: “Ariel Merari. Driven to Death: Psychological and Social Aspects of Suicide Terrorism. Nancy Hartevelt Kobrin. The Banality of Suicide Terrorism: The Naked Truth About the Psychology of Islamic Suicide Bombing.”

No wonder you activities are, reading will be always needed. It is not only to fulfil the duties that you need to finish in deadline time. Reading will encourage your mind and thoughts. Of course, reading will greatly develop your experiences about everything. Reading the banality of suicide terrorism the naked truth about the psychology of islamic suicide bombing is also a way as one of the collective books that gives many advantages. The advantages are not only for you, but for the other peoples with those meaningful benefits.

Recent U.S. Thinking About Terrorism and Counterterrorism: Baby Steps Towards a Dynamic View of Asymmetric Conflict

Clark McCauley is Rachel C. Hale professor of sciences and mathematics and co-director of the Solomon Asch Center for the Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict at Bryn Mawr College. Sophia Moskalenko is a postdoctoral research fellow at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (NC-START). Support for this review was provided by the Department of Homeland Security through the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (NC-START), grant number N00140510629. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect views of the Department of Homeland Security. Address correspondence to Clark McCauley, Department of Psychology, Bryn Mawr College, 101 N. Merion Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010, USA. E-mail: cmccaule@ brynmawr.edu Terrorism and Political Violence, 22:641–657, 2010 Copyright # Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 0954-6553 print=1556-1836 online DOI: 10.1080/09546553.2010.508013