Understanding the Structures, Motivation, and Qualities of Terrorist Groups
Introduction
Fear and terror spread through violence has a communicative effect. In a sense, terrorist groups use fear and terror as a communication tool. However, understanding the structures, motivations, and qualities of most terrorist groups requires an understanding of three theoretical perspectives. In a sense, terrorism is a challenging topic embedded in political assumptions and social prejudices. The three theoretical perspectives are; macro-sociological, psychological, and psychosocial approaches. Macrosociological and psychological approaches have been a center of attention among many scholars. Unfortunately, none of these two gives a clear understanding of the structures, motivations, and qualities of terrorist groups. As such, this discussion is focused on the psychosocial approach in evaluating the structures, motivation, and qualities of terrorist groups.
Body
The macro-sociological approach views terrorism as a reflective action of a dysfunctional social trend in the social system. (De la Corte, 2007). In a sense, terrorism has been associated with several other vices such as political violence, riots, and street protests. These are generally referred to as the root causes. Some of the factors triggering these root causes include; poverty, authoritarian, or cultural and religious practices. (Borum, 2007). However, terrorism has been described to be promoted by the minority. As such, studies combining these root causes are inconclusive regarding their structure and qualities.
On the other hand, the psychological approach attributes terrorism to psychopathological personalities. Several researchers have attempted to analyze terrorists according to their propensity for violence or the inability to control aggressive impulses. (De la Corte, 2007). Studies have indicated that individuals who join a similar terror group have differing motivations and personality traits. Some of the common psychological traits among terrorists include lack of empathy, dogmatic ideological mentality, or a utopian worldview. (De la Corte, 2007). However, terrorists involve spreading one’s beliefs, carrying out attacks that require strategic plans, and other forms of support such as logistics, funds, and recruitment. This requires individuals with different abilities and personalities. The psychological approach does not offer a distinct explanation of terrorism arising from psychological traits or fixed traits from experiences as terrorists. As such, these two perspectives do not offer a clear explanation of the structures and motivations of terrorist groups.
Their environment influences an individual’s behavior. The social setting of an individual’s environment has a massive impact on their behaviors and actions. As such, the psychosocial approach offers a distinct explanation of structures, motivation, and qualities of terrorist groups. This approach views terrorism as a combination of several interactive processes in groups inter and intra environment. A major structural component of terrorism is propaganda. Terrorism has been depicted as propaganda by facts. (De la Corte, 2007). A major motivating factor of many minority groups into terrorism is impacting a social change. These groups have opinions based on religious beliefs and political positions. These minor groups attempting to derive a social change are commonly referred to as active minorities. These active minorities attempt to gain the majority’s attention by using violence in a bid to communicate their beliefs in religion and political stands. In a sense, the structural compound of terrorism is rooted in directing people’s attention towards a specific issue. The issue may be exaggerated or factious, but these groups use violence to publicize their political or religious beliefs. Nevertheless, from the psychological approach, we see that most of these active minorities lack empathy for their victims and have a certain ideological mentality. (De la Corte, 2007). These form the qualities of terrorist groups.
Conclusion
Terrorism is a result of social interactions and the environments surrounding these terrorists. As such, it is a combination of several processes within society. In a sense, joining a terrorist group might influence the prevalent political and social conditions. Agreeably, a person growing up in areas marked by radical values has a higher possibility of joining terrorism. Similarly, interactions between individuals embracing extremist political or religious ideology might also influence one into joining terrorism. Therefore, the structures, motivations, and qualities of terrorist groups are well understood from the psychosociological perspective. As such, there is a need for societies to develop strategies and measures of influencing social interactions and their environment to curb the growth of terrorist groups.
Reference
Borum, R. (2007). Psychology of terrorism. University of South Florida Tampa Dept Of Mental Health Law And Policy.
De la Corte, L. (2007). Explaining terrorism: A psychosocial approach. Perspectives on Terrorism, 1(2).