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8/23/2013
Lecture Week 1:
Terrorism and Terrorism Viewed
Through Psychology
PSY 344: PSYCHOLOGY OF
TERRORISM
Terrorism Viewed Through Psychology
• The purpose of this course is to analyze and synthesize
what has been reported from the scientific and
professional literature about the “psychology of
terrorism”
• This focus is not intended to suggest that the scientific
discipline of psychology provides the only analytic
framework for understanding terrorism.
• Nevertheless, since psychology is regarded as “the
science of human behavior,” it seems a reasonable, and
potentially productive way to view the topic.
Terrorism Viewed Through Psychology
• What is Psychology? The study of human behavior
• What is Terrorism? The unlawful use of – or
threatened use of – force or violence against
individuals or property to coerce or intimidate
governments or societies, often to achieve political,
religious, or ideological objectives.
• What is Counter-Terrorism? The policies, strategies and
tactics that states use to combat terrorism and deal
with its consequences.
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Terrorism Definitions Currently in Use
Terrorism is
the use or
threatened use
of force
1910
Terrorism
constitutes the
illegitimate use
of force
1910
Terrorism is
premeditated
deliberate
systematic
murder
1910
Terrorism –
unlawful use
or threat of
violence
1910
Terrorism Definitions
• Simple: Violence or threatened violence intended to
produce fear or cause change.
• Legal: Criminal violence violating legal codes and
punishable by the state.
• Analytical: A specific political and/or social factor
behind individual violent acts.
• State sponsored: National or other groups used to
attack Western or other vested interests.
Terrorism Definitions
• Vast array of definitions in literature
• Common ground
– Violence toward civilian populations
– Instill fear
• May be perpetrated by individuals, groups,
governments
• Domestic and international
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Terrorism Viewed Through Psychology
• Why is Psychology relevant?
• Essential to understand why humans engage
in terrorism in order to prevent terrorism
• Why? Behavior is explainable & predictable
Psychology Applicable to Terrorist Behavior
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Frustration-aggression
Displacement behavior (beyond above)
Modeling behavior
Social contagion (beyond above)
Social cognition
Moral disengagement
Classical and operant conditioning
Terrorism Viewed Through Psychology
• Walter Laqueur concluded based on more than a
quarter century of personal research on the
topic: “Many terrorisms exist, and their character
has changed over time and from country to
country. The endeavor to find a "general theory"
of terrorism, one overall explanation of its roots,
is a futile and misguided enterprise. ..Terrorism
has changed over time and so have the terrorists,
their motives, and the causes of terrorism.”
(Laqueur, 2003).
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Psychology’s Areas of Study
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Psychology of violence
Understanding Motivation
Frustration, Solidarity
Psychopathology
Understanding other Cultures
Political Psychology
Psychology of Religion
Socialization
Gang Research
Mind Control
Group Behavior
Psychology’s Areas of Study
• “There is a broad spectrum of terrorist groups
and organizations, each of which has a
different psychology, motivation and decision
making structure. Indeed, one should not
speak of terrorist psychology in the singular,
but rather of terrorist psychologies” (Post,
2012).
What Is Terrorism?
•A complicated phenomenon
•Specialized form of political violence
•Viscous species of psychological warfare
•The target is different from the intended audience
•The goal is not to kill, but to make an impact on another
•The goal is symbolism
Dr. Jerrold Post
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Lasting Impact of Terrorism
• It has been said that the terrorist attacks of
September 11th, 2001 serve to define a
generation, much the same as the
assassination of President John Kennedy and
the end of the Cold War did for previous
generations.
• This may be a very different form of
milestone, however, as this milestone appears
to be on-going.
Lasting Impact of Terrorism
“The violence of the attacks against the Twin
Towers and the Pentagon has revealed an abyss
of terror that is going to haunt our existence and
thinking for years and perhaps decades to
come.”
Borradori, Philosophy in a Time of Terror, 2003, p. 21
Lasting Impact of Terrorism
In the book, Psychological Counterterrorism and
World War IV, the authors argue that the attacks
of September 11th signaled more than a
generational milestone, they signaled the
beginning of a new world war - World War IV!
Everly & Castellano, Psychological Counterterrorism & World War
IV, 2005
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8/23/2013
Lasting Impact of Terrorism
“There’s no greater mental health issue facing us
as a nation than the effects of terrorism...”
Richard Carmona, MD, US Surgeon General, April 4, 2003
Definitions: Terrorism
The way in which one defines terrorism dictates
how one thinks about it and how one responds
to it.
Definitions: Terrorism
Terrorism may be understood from several
perspectives:
From a law enforcement perspective, terrorism may
be thought of as the premeditated and unlawful
use, or threatened use, of force or violence as a
coercive or punitive agent.
From a military perspective, terrorism represents
war waged against civilians (Carr, 2002)
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Definitions: Terrorism
From a psychological/ behavioral perspective, terrorism
represents psychological warfare. The explicit goal of the
terrorist act is not to kill nor destroy, it is to create a condition
of fear, uncertainty, and helplessness as a coercive and/or
punitive force. Terrorism is used as a tool to break down the
resistance and diminish the will of a population and/or its
government.
The psychoactively toxic mechanism inherent in terrorism is
demoralization. Its behavioral corollary is capitulation (Everly
& Castellano, 2005, Psychological Counterterrorism)
Terrorism
• Vast array of definitions in literature
• Common ground
– Violence toward civilian populations
– Instill fear
• May be perpetrated by individuals, groups,
governments
• Domestic and international
Primary Methods Used in Global Attacks, 2008
Source: National Counterterrorism Center, April 2009
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Deaths by Method in Global Attacks, 2008
Source: National Counterterrorism Center, April 2009.
Classification of Terrorist Groups
• FBI system classifies according to political
leanings
– Right-wing extremists
– Special interest extremists
• Radical environmental groups
– Nuclear/biological/chemical
Classification of Terrorist Groups
Right-wing Extremists
• Antigovernment or racist ideology
– Hate crimes and violence
• Often prompted to become active by the
passage of legislation or by government policy
in opposition to their beliefs
• Left-wing extremists
– Activities evolve from political activism to violence
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Classification of Terrorist Groups
Special Interest Extremists
• Activities revolve around one issue
– Violent antiabortion groups
• Radical Environmental groups
Classification of Terrorist Groups
Nuclear/Biological/Chemical
• NBC terrorism
• Recently accelerated
– Greater availability of information and weapons
technology
• Bioterrorism
Deaths by Victim Category in Global Attacks,
2008
Source: National Counterterrorism Center, April 2009
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Terrorist Typology
Rationally
Motivated
» Goals of group, consider
consequences
Psychologically
Motivated
» Psychological benefit to
joining group
Culturally
Motivated
» Fear damage to culture,
heritage, religion
Terrorist Typology
Q:
How is terrorism different from other
movements that have gained national
control?
(e.g.. Nazis,
Stalin,
Italian
fascists)
A:
We need to think of terrorism as a
spectrum.
The Spectrum of Terrorism
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8/23/2013
The Spectrum of Terrorism
There are different ways to group them:
•
International v. domestic
•
Common goal v. lone offender
•
Religious, political, socioeconomic, criminal or
psychopathological
(There is cross-over)
Dr. Post’s Classification System:
1. Political terrorists
2. Criminal terrorists
3. Psychopathological
terrorists
Classifications of Terrorism
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Political Terrorism
• 1. State: The state uses weapons of the state
against its own people. (Hitler, Saddam
Hussein)
• 2. State-supported: The state uses its
weapons to attack another country.
• 3. Sub-state: A small group within the state is
trying to use violence to accomplish its own
goal.
(6 kinds)
Sub-state Terrorism:
• 1. Social revolutionaries: rebel against corrupt
old ways (e.g. Baader-Meinhof gang in Germany,
Weather Underground in U.S. )
Sub-state Terrorism
2. National separatists: trying to carry on
the family mission (e.g. Palestinian terrorists,
Northern Irelanders)
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Sub-state Terrorism
Religious Fundamentalists: They kill in the name
of God. (e.g. Usama Bin Laden, abortion clinic
bombers)
" You shall not stand aside while your fellow's blood is shed.''
-Leviticus 19:16
Sub-state Terrorism
• 4. New Religion: cults defending new
religions, e.g. Shinrikyo in Japan (sarin gas in
subway)
Sub-state Terrorism
• 5. Right Wing: They see the government as
the enemy and illegitimate. (e.g. Neo-Nazis,
Timothy McVeigh, Klu Klux Klan)
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Sub-state Terrorism
• 6. Single Issue: e.g. animal rights, ecologic
terrorism
• (Usually single people willing to kill.)
Lone Wolf Terrorists
• Lone individuals have their own motivations
and agenda.
• They are not supported by group activities,
but may draw a few coconspirators in with
them.
• i.e. Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols.
(Oklahoma City Bombing)
The Goals of Terrorism
“The cause is not the cause”
•They are convinced that they’re acting on behalf of the
moral character of their group.
•They are “agents of righteousness” in the battle
between darkness and “truth.”
•The cause is the justification for violence.
•The cause is an outlet for anger.
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Psychological Goals
Outlet for anger
•
•
•
•
•
•
Convenient vehicle for change
Stirs up enthusiasm & excitement
Source of hope for the future
Provides a sense of power
A sense importance & purpose by an
identification with a holy cause
Overcoming feelings of incompetence: feeling
potent/ strong.
15
Labeling Theory
Dr. Gordon A. Crews
Applied Criminology
Relationships of Concepts
Increasing Impact of Environment on Behavior
Free Will
Soft Determinism
Hard
Determinism
Things to Know from this Lecture
1. What
is the Labeling
Theory?
2. What are it’s strong
points and
weaknesses?
Introduction
Labeling,
conflict, and radical theories set
out to demonstrate that individuals
become criminals because of what people
with power, especially those in the
criminal justice system do.
Their explanations largely reject the
consensus model of crime, on which all
earlier theories rested.
Theories of Crime Causation ~ Gordon Crews, Ph.D.
4
Labeling Theory
These theorists viewed criminals not as
inherently evil persons engaged in inherently
wrong acts, but, rather as individuals who had
criminal status conferred upon them by both
the criminal justice system and the community
at large.
Viewed from this perspective, criminal acts
themselves are not particularly significant; but
the social reaction to them is.
Theories of Crime Causation ~ Gordon Crews, Ph.D.
5
Labeling Theory
Derived
from the theory of Symbolic
Interactionism
An individual’s identity and self-concept
are seen as only existing in context of
society reacting to it
Deals with face-to-face interaction
between individuals
Concerned only with the symbolic nature
of this interaction
Labeling Theory
(Frank Tannenbaum --1938)
process of “making” the criminal
is a process of:
The
Tagging
Defining
Identifying
Segregating
Describing
Emphasizing
The
very traits complained of
Theories of Crime Causation ~ Gordon Crews, Ph.D.
7
Labeling Theory
(Frank Tannenbaum --1938)
We
often evoke in people
behaviors that we believe they
have
It becomes a self-fulfilling
prophecy
The behavior does not become “fixed”
~ rather it is formed and reformed,
repeatedly
Theories of Crime Causation ~ Gordon Crews, Ph.D.
8
The Origins of Labeling Theory
Social
Interactionists
Charles
Horton Cooley
William I. Thomas
George Herbert mead
Self
concept is built not only on what we
think of ourselves but what other people
think of us.
Creation of a criminal is a process:
Given
a criminal label, they begin to think of
themselves as a criminal and do criminal
acts.
Theories of Crime Causation ~ Gordon Crews, Ph.D.
9
“Looking Glass Self”
Our
own self-concepts are reflections of
others’ conceptions of us
We often become what others think we
are
They tell us what we are, by how they
interact with us
Labeling Theory
Labeling
Theory declares that the
reactions of other people and the
subsequent effects of those reactions
create deviance.
Once it becomes known that an
individual is an offender, they are
segregated and labeled.
Then they associate with others like
themselves.
Theories of Crime Causation ~ Gordon Crews, Ph.D.
11
Labeling in the 1960’s
Troubled
times in the 1960’s
What
all was going on?
Who are really the criminal here?
Protesters or Legislators?
Who
makes the rules that define deviant
behavior including crime?
Labeling
theorists will say the upper class
Very political theory – remember the 1960’s
and the times
Theories of Crime Causation ~ Gordon Crews, Ph.D.
12
Evaluation: Labeling Theory
Petty
crime leads to labeling and thus an
increase in the seriousness of crime.
Has
the opposite effect as well, those
that get into trouble once, make a
change in their behavior and it doesn't
happen again.
Theories of Crime Causation ~ Gordon Crews, Ph.D.
13
Process
Identified
Primary Deviance
Labeled
Secondary Deviance
Theories of Crime Causation ~ Gordon Crews, Ph.D.
14
Basic Assumptions of Labeling Theory
People are constantly involved in
behavior that runs the risk of being
labeled delinquent or criminal.
There are two kinds of deviant acts
1.
2.
Primary - Assumes that people first
violate a norm by chance or for
unexplained reasons.
Secondary - After the primary deviation a
label as a “troublemaker” is attached
which leads to a secondary deviation.
(this is the major concern)
Theories of Crime Causation ~ Gordon Crews, Ph.D.
15
Basic Assumptions of
Labeling Theory
Secondary
deviance sets in after the
community has become aware of the
primary deviance.
Once the label has been attached, then
the criminal career has been set in
motion.
Theories of Crime Causation ~ Gordon Crews, Ph.D.
16
Social
reaction
Deviant
act
Negative
Label
Degradation
Ceremonies
THE
LABELING
PROCESS
Secondary
deviance
Deviance
amplification
Selflabeling
Deviant
subculture
Labeling Theory
MAJOR
PREMISE
STRENGTH
People
enterthe
into
law-violating
Explains
role
of society incareers
creating
when
they areExplains
labeled for
and
deviance.
whytheir
someacts
juvenile
organize
their
personalities
around
the
offenders
do not
become adult
criminals.
labels.
Develops concepts
of criminal careers.
Theories of Crime Causation ~ Gordon Crews, Ph.D.
19
Problems with this Theory?
Does
not account for Primary Deviance
Is deviance/crime the only option once
labeled?
What about the number that go
“unidentified”?
What about the type that likes the label?
What else?
Theories of Crime Causation ~ Gordon Crews, Ph.D.
20
ANY
QUESTIONS?
Theories of Crime Causation ~ Gordon Crews, Ph.D.
21
NEW CRIMINOLOGY
Dr. Gordon A. Crews
Applied Criminology
The New Criminology
• A shift in the
philosophy of
Criminal Justice
thinking in the
1980s
• This “New”
Criminology shifts
the blame from the
individual back to
society itself
New Criminology
(Based on Marx’s Conflict Theory)
• The More Unequal the Distribution of Scarce
Resources in a System, the More Conflict of
Interest Between Dominant and Subordinate
Segments in a System
• Once the Subordinates Come Together They
Will Become Powerful and Will Seek to
Change the System Through Revolution
Relationships of Concepts
Increasing Impact of Environment on Behavior
Free Will
Soft Determinism
Hard
Determinism
Critical Criminology
Crime Is a Natural Response to
Existing Social Structure. Elite
Control Power and Manipulate the
System.
Critical Criminology
• When we develop a law we must view
several things
• We must see how it impacts
“EVERYONE” in a given society
• Any negative impact on any segment
must be considered
• If negative impact is found then we must
change the law
Critical Theory of Criminal Law
(Richard Quinney)
1. American society is based on Capitalism
2. The State is organized to serve the
interests of the ruling class
3. Criminal law is a tool for the state to
maintain present order
4. Crime control by police does the same
5. A large lower class must be maintained
6. Only with the collapse of capitalism will
society improve
Conflict Theory
Conflict Over Scarce Resources Is
the Primary Cause of Criminal,
Delinquent, or Nonconformist Acts
Conflict Criminology
Interest
Group
Individual
Group
A
Overlapping Area/
Cause of Conflict
Group
B
Amount of Resources in a System
The Conflict Model
• Has its roots in rebellion and the
questioning of values.
• Laws do not exist for the collective
good of society but rather for the
prosperity of the ruling class elite.
The Conflict Model
• Conflict Theory and Criminology
• People with authority use several forms
of power to control society's goods and
services:
– Police
– War power
– Economic power
– Political power
Radical Criminology
• Present System Is Based on
Power and Privilege
• Throw Out Our Present
System
• Start Over by Redefining
Crime and Our Entire Legal
System
Radical Criminology since
the 1970’s
• Radical criminology is also called
critical, new, and Marxist
criminology.
• 1973 the first text was published,
The New Criminology, formulated
new radial criminology.
Abolitionist and Anarchist
Criminology
• Dispute the existing systems of
supremacy.
• Rejection of state controls, as it focuses
on the punitive response of segregative
punishment.
• Wage war with the establishment with
chaos
Conflict Theory
MAJOR PREMISE
CrimeSTRENGTHS
is a function of class
conflict. Accounts
The definition
of the law
for class
is controlledinbythe
people
differentials
crimewho
rate.
hold
social
and
political
Shows how class conflict
power.
influences
behavior.
ANY
QUESTIONS?
8/30/2014
Lecture Week 2-3
Group Dynamics in Terrorism
Social & Group Psychology Primer:
Roles and rules
Norms
Rules that regulate social life, including explicit laws and implicit
cultural standards.
Role
A given social position that is governed by a set of norms for proper
behavior.
Culture
A program of shared rules that governs the behavior of people of a
community or society, and a set of values, beliefs, and customs shared
by most members of that community.
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The obedience study
Stanley Milgram and coworkers investigated whether people would
follow orders, even when the order violated their ethical standards.
Most people were far more obedient than anyone expected.
Every single participant complied with at least some orders to shock another person.
Two-thirds shocked the learner to the full extent.
Results are controversial and have generated further research on
violence and obedience.
Factors leading to disobedience
When the experimenter left the room
When the victim was right there in the room
When the experimenter issued conflicting demands
When the person ordering them to continue was an ordinary man
When the participant worked with peers who refused to go on
The Stanford prison study
Subjects were ordinary college students.
They were randomly assigned to be prisoners or guards.
Those assigned the role of prisoner became distressed and
helpless.
Those assigned the role of guards became either nice, “tough
but fair,” or tyrannical.
Study had to be ended after six days.
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Why people obey
Entrapment
A process in which individuals escalate their commitment to a course
of action to justify their investment of time, money, or effort
The first stages of entrapment pose no difficult choices. But as people
take a step, or make a decision to continue, they will justify that action
in order to feel that it is the right one and that they haven’t done
anything foolish or unethical.
Social influences on beliefs and
behavior
Social cognition
An area in social psychology concerned with social influences on
thought, memory, perception and beliefs.
Current approaches draw on evolutionary theory, neuroimaging
studies, surveys, and experiments to identify universal themes in how
people perceive and feel about each other.
Attributions
Attribution theory
Theory that people are motivated
to explain their own and others’
behavior by attributing causes of
behavior to a situation or a
disposition.
Fundamental
attribution error
Tendency to overestimate
personality factors and
underestimate the influence of
the situation.
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Biases
The bias to choose the most flattering and forgiving
attributions of our own lapses
The bias that we are better, smarter, and kinder than
others
The bias to believe that the world is fair
Just-world hypothesis: attributions are also affected by the need to
believe that justice usually prevails, that good people are rewarded
and bad guys punished.
Attitudes
A relatively stable opinion containing beliefs and
emotional feelings about a topic
Explicit: Attitudes we are aware of and that shape our conscious
decisions and actions
Implicit: Attitudes about which we are unaware and that
influence our behavior in ways we do not recognize
Cognitive dissonance
A state of tension that occurs when a person
simultaneously holds two cognitions that are
psychologically inconsistent or when a person’s belief is
incongruent with his or her behavior.
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Shifting opinions and bedrock
beliefs
Familiarity effect
The tendency of people to feel more positive toward a person, item,
product, or other stimulus the more familiar they are with it.
Validity effect
The tendency of people to believe that a statement is true or valid
simply because it has been repeated many times.
The genetics of belief
Genes and attitudes
Ideological belief systems may have evolved in human
societies to be organized along a left-right dimension,
consisting of two core sets of attitudes:
(1) Whether a person advocates social change or supports the system
as it is
(2) Whether a person thinks inequality is a result of human policies
and can be overcome, or is inevitable and should be accepted as part
of the natural order
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Methods of indoctrination
The person is subjected to entrapment.
The person’s problems, personal and political, are
explained by one simple attribution.
The person is offered a new identity and is promised
salvation.
The person’s access to disconfirming (dissonant)
information is severely controlled.
Individuals in groups
The need to belong may be the most powerful of all
human motivations.
This need explains why solitary confinement is considered
torture and social pain of being rejected equates to
physical pain.
Conformity
Subjects in group asked to
match line lengths.
Confederates picked wrong
line.
Subjects went with wrong
answer in one-third of trials.
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Groupthink
The tendency for all members of a group to think alike for the
sake of harmony and to suppress disagreement.
Symptoms
Illusion of invincibility
Self-censorship
Pressure on dissenters to conform
Illusion of unanimity
Counteracted by
Creating conditions that reward dissent
Basing decision on majority rule
The wisdom and madness of
crowds
Diffusion of responsibility
The tendency of group members to avoid taking action because they assume
that others will.
Deindividuation
In groups or crowds, the loss of awareness of one’s own individuality.
Bystander apathy
Individuals often fail to take action or call for help when they see someone in
trouble because they assume that someone else will do so.
Altruism and dissent
Situational factors in nonconformity
You perceive the need for intervention or help.
Cultural norms encourage you to take action.
You have an ally.
You become entrapped.
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Us versus them: Group identity
Social identities
The part of a person’s self-concept that is based on his or her
identification with a nation, religious or political group,
occupation, or other social affiliation.
Ethnic Identity
Ethnic identity
A person’s identification with a racial or ethnic group.
Acculturation
The process by which members of minority groups come to identify
with and feel part of the mainstream culture.
Ethnocentrism
The belief that one’s own ethnic group, nation, or religion
is superior to all others.
Aids survival by making people feel attached to their own
group and willing to work on group’s behalf
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Robbers cave
Boys randomly separated into
two groups
Rattlers and Eagles
Competitions fostered hostility
between groups.
Experimenters contrived
situations requiring cooperation
for success.
Result: cross-group friendships increased.
Stereotypes
A summary impression of a group, in which a person believes
that all members of the group share a common trait or traits.
Traits may be positive, negative, or neutral.
Allow us to process quickly new information and retrieve
memories
Distort reality
Exaggerate differences between groups
Produce selective perception
Underestimate differences within groups
Group conflict and prejudice
Prejudice
A strong, unreasonable dislike or hatred of a group, based
on a negative stereotype.
Central feature of a prejudice is that it remains immune to
evidence.
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The origins of prejudice
Psychological causes
People inflate own self-worth by disliking groups they see as inferior.
Social causes
By disliking others we feel closer to others who are like us.
Economic causes
Legitimizes unequal economic treatment
Cultural and national causes
Bonds people to their own ethnic or national group and its ways
Defining and measuring
prejudice
Measures of social distance and “microaggressions”
Measures of unequal treatment
Measure of what people do when they are stressed or
angry
Measures of brain activity
Measures of implicit attitudes
Typical stimuli used in the Implicit
Association Test
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Reducing conflict and prejudice
Both sides must have equal legal status, economic
opportunities, and power.
Authorities and community institutions must provide moral,
legal, and economic support for both sides.
Both sides must have many opportunities to work and socialize
together, formally and informally.
Both sides must cooperate, working together for a common
goal.
The question of human nature
Human nature contains the potential for unspeakable acts of
cruelty and inspiring acts of goodness.
Most people believe that some cultures and individuals are
inherently evil and therefore not fully human; if we can just get
rid of them, everything will be fine.
From the standpoint of social and cultural psychology, all
human beings, like all cultures, contain the potential for both
good and evil.
Why Join a Terrorist Group ?
Reactive depression/learned helplessness
Lack of self-esteem
Social learning theory
Risky shift
Peer influence
Increased social standing
Cognitive constructs
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Group Goals
“Faith in a holy cause is to a considerable extent
a substitute for the lost faith in ourselves.”
-
Eric Hoffer, The True Believer
Group Goals
When we lose faith in ourselves, we give
ourselves over to the group.
This “Self = bad, Group =good” thinking gives
way to self-sacrifice.
Group Dynamics
Small tactical groups, with seldom more than 100 members.
• Tight-knit, radical organizations.
•Today, we see more loosely knit groups with branches in other countries (Taliban).
•Ethnically and politically homogenous.
•Often made up of friends & relatives, thus difficult to infiltrate.
•Seldom operate from one location.
•Relatively little training and use of unsophisticated equipment.
•Funded by crime and/or drugs.
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Terrorism and Social Modeling
Modeling behavior can explain many aspects of
terrorist behavior for those born into a culture of
terrorism, but it fails to explain the genesis of the
terrorist movement
– Modeling behavior may offer an adequate explanation for
the ‘soldiers’ but not for the leaders of terrorist
movements
– Social learning approaches to understanding terrorism has
some utility
Levels of Involvement
Organizers/Leaders
Active Followers
Supporters
Sympathizers
Initiate the movement
Sustain the movement
Group Dynamics
Terrorist groups tend to view things as:
right and wrong (black & white without shades
of gray)
them and “us”
Terrorists tend to view their opponents as
evil, inhumane (dehumanized)
not like “us”
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Path to Terrorism: Model #1
From Borum, 2003
Path to Terrorism: Model #2
Social, Political, Economic, or Religious Strife
Feelings of Empowerment and
Ability to Affect Change
Psychological Despair and
Feelings of Hopelessness
Adaptive Coping Response
Blame Self
Blame Others
Social-Political Activism
Psychological
Depression
Indoctrination into
culture of hatred
Suicide
Homicide
Democratic Reform or alternative
evolution of social structure
Psychopathologial
Criminal
Terrorist
Path to Terrorism: Model #3
Learning, conditioning, and social modeling
are important factors for understanding the
spread of terrorism
“Brain Washing”
Modeling Behavior
Social Contagion Theory
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Motivational Analysis: Factor #1 —Intensified
Motivation for Change
Commonly experienced psychological condition
yielding varied responses
– Goal unobstructed
• Work merrily away pursuing ‘the good life’
– Goal obstructed
• Increased effort to obtain goal through normal
‘channels’
• Search for alternative methods of obtaining goal
• Search for substitute goals
Motivational Analysis: Factor #2 —Diminished
Competing Behaviors
Multiple ‘choices’ of goals complicate life and
diminish motivational focus for any single goal
People are much less willing to give-up their life when
they have something to live for and not just the
promise of a better afterlife
Motivational Analysis: Factor #3 —Diminished
Inhibitions for Violence
Single most important factor for understanding
why some people progress from activists to
terrorists
Moral disengagement can explain the
psychological transformation necessary for
otherwise ‘normal’ people to engage in terrorist
activity
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Killing Another Human Being
is Seldom Easy
Homicide
– accidental (most people are naturally capable)
– fit of rage (many people are naturally capable)
– premeditated (few people are naturally capable)
Moral disengagement facilitates the process
– unnecessary for a few people (e.g., “natural born killers”)
– can be serendipitous or systematically ‘programmed’ by
new group norms
Moral Disengagement
From Bandura, 1990
Moral justification
Sanitizing the language
Diffusion or displacement of responsibility
Attribution of blame to victims
Dehumanization of victims
Competing
alternative behaviors
Inhibition of violent
behavior
Motivation for
change
Activism
Terrorism
Three Variables Can Shift the Precarious
Balance from Activism to Terrorism
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Transitioning to Terrorism
Actual
terrorists
Active supporters
Passive supporters
Sympathizers
Group Conflict
The reasons for the group conflict are usually
quite obvious
The reasons for the transition into terrorist
action are often less clear
Group Conflict
What factors produce the transition from
inactivity to activity?
– Intensified motivation?
– Diminished competing behaviors?
From supporter to active participant?
– Diminished inhibitions?
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1/29/2017
"Gaslighting"
Psychology of Terrorism
"Gaslighting"
is a social psychology tactic of
behavior in which a person or
entity, in order to gain more
power, makes a person question
their reality.
Anyone is susceptible to
"Gaslighting". It is a common
technique of abusers, dictators,
narcissists, cult, and terrorist
leaders
It works a lot better than you may think
"Gaslighting"
• Gas Light (known in the United States as Angel
Street) is a 1938 play by the British dramatist
Patrick Hamilton. The play (and its film
adaptations) gave rise to the term gaslighting
with the meaning "a form of psychological abuse
in which false information is presented to the
victim with the intent of making him/her doubt
his/her own memory and perception".
https://youtu.be/0ToLfQU2xmg
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul7lLUwnI6
w
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"Gaslighting"
• "Gaslighting" is done slowly, so the
victim doesn't realize how much
they've been ‘brainwashed’.
"Gaslighting" Techniques
• People that gaslight use the following
techniques:
1. They tell you blatant lies.
• You might know it's an outright lie. Yet they are
telling you this lie with a straight face. Why are
they so blatant? Because they're setting up a
precedent. Once they tell you a huge lie, you're
not sure if anything they say is true. Keeping you
unsteady and off-kilter is the goal.
"Gaslighting" Techniques
2. They deny they ever said something, even
though you have proof.
You know they said they would do
something...you know you heard it. But they out
and out deny it. It makes you start questioning
your reality—maybe they never said that thing.
And the more they do this, the more you
question your reality and start accepting theirs.
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"Gaslighting" Techniques
3. They use what is near and dear to you as
ammunition.
• They know how important your kids are to you,
they know how important your identity is to you.
So that is one of the first things they attack. If you
have kids, they tell you that you did a disservice
by having those children. They will tell you that if
only you weren't _____________, you'd be a
worthy person. They attack the foundation of
your being.
"Gaslighting" Techniques
4. They wear you down over time.
This is one of the insidious things about
"Gaslighting"—it is done gradually, over time. A lie
here, a lie there, a snide comment every so
often...and then it starts ramping up. Even the
brightest, most self-aware people can be sucked
into "Gaslighting"—it is that effective. It's the "frog
in the frying pan" analogy: The heat is turned up
slowly, so the frog never realizes what hit it.
"Gaslighting" Techniques
5. Their actions do not match their words.
When dealing with a person or entity that
gaslights, look at what they are doing rather
than what they are saying. What they are saying
means nothing. It is just talk. What they are
doing is the issue.
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"Gaslighting" Techniques
6. They throw in positive reinforcement to confuse
you.
This person or entity that is cutting you down,
telling you that you don't have value, is now
praising you for something you did. This adds an
additional sense of uneasiness. You think, "Well
maybe they aren't so bad." Yes, they are. This is a
calculated attempt to keep you off-kilter—and
again, to question your reality. Also look at what
you were praised for; it is probably something that
served the gaslighter.
"Gaslighting" Techniques
7. They know confusion weakens people.
Gaslighters know that all people like having a
sense of stability and normalcy. Their goal is to
uproot this and make you constantly question
everything. And humans' natural tendency is
to look to the person or entity that will help you
feel more stable—and that happens to be the
gaslighter.
"Gaslighting" Techniques
8. They project.
They are a drug user or a cheater, yet they are
constantly accusing you of that. This is done so
repetitively that you start trying to defend
yourself, and are distracted from the gaslighter's
own behavior.
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"Gaslighting" Techniques
9. They try to align people against you.
Gaslighters are masters at manipulating and finding the
people they know will stand by them no matter what—
and they use these people against you. They will make
comments such as "____________ knows that you're not
right," or "___________ knows you're useless too." Keep
in mind it does not mean that these people actually said
these things. The gaslighter is a constant liar. When the
gaslighter uses this tactic it makes you feel like you don't
know who to trust or turn to—and that leads you right
back to the gaslighter. And that's exactly what they want.
Isolation gives them more control.
"Gaslighting" Techniques
10. They tell you or others that you are crazy.
This is one of the most effective tools of the
gaslighter - because it's dismissive. The
gaslighter knows if they question your
sanity, people will not believe you when you tell
them the gaslighter is abusive or out-ofcontrol. It's a master technique.
"Gaslighting" Techniques
11. They tell you everyone else is a liar.
By telling you that everyone else (your family,
the media) is a liar, it again makes you question
your reality. You've never known someone with
the audacity to do this, so they must be right,
right? No. It's a manipulation technique. It
makes people turn more to the gaslighter for the
"correct" information—which isn't correct
information at all.
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•
Dorpat, Theodore L. (1996). Gaslighting, the Double Whammy, Interrogation, and
Other Methods of Covert Control in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis. Jason
Aronson. ISBN 978-1-56821-828-1.
•
Pepper, R. (2001). The leader's oral greed and gaslighting in group psychotherapy.
The Group Psychologist, 11(3), 41-43.
•
Hayes, S., & Jeffries, S. (2015). Tools and Tactics. In Romantic Terrorism: An AutoEthnography of Domestic Violence, Victimization and Survival (pp. 26-40).
Palgrave Macmillan UK.
•
Jacobson, Neil S.; Gottman, John M. (1998-03-10). When Men Batter Women:
New Insights into Ending Abusive Relationships. Simon and Schuster. pp. 129–
132. ISBN 978-0-684-81447-6.
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1/7/2014
Our Biological Legacy: The Triune
Brain and Behavior
Triune Brain
• A structural model of the human brain that
divides its physical areas according to whether
the structures resemble those found in
reptiles, or whether the brain structures
evolved at a later time and resemble those of
early mammals, or of more recently evolved
mammals.
Triune Brain
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Quadrune Brain
Reptilian brain (our Lizard Legacy)
and our paleo-mammal brain (our Furry L'il
Mammal).
Evolved later is our human rational brain, the
Neocortex (our Monkey Mind),
and highly developed in the human are the
prefrontal cortex or frontal lobes (our Higher
Porpoise; higher purpose).
Reptilian Brain
• The oldest part of the brain and the part of
the “Triune Brain” structural model that
includes such early-evolved, inner structures
of the brain as the brain stem, pons, and the
cerebellum, and portions of the thalamus and
hypothalamus.
Paleo (Old-) Mammalian Brain
• A newer-evolved portion of the brain,
shared in common among many mammals,
that includes limbic system structures.
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Limbic System
• A group of brain structures including the
hypothalamus, amygdala, and hippocampus,
that together regulate motives, emotions,
memory, and physiological processes.
Neo (New-) Mammalian Brain
• The newest-evolved portion of the brain,
shared in common among primates and
including the thick outer later of the cerebral
cortex.
• Includes prefrontal cortex
Cerebral Cortex
• The outer surface of the brain including
massive inter-associations among neurons;
most responsible for higher mental processes
and reasoning.
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The Brain
Regions of the Brain
The Four Lobes of the Cerebral Cortex
The Brain
Regions of the Brain
Within the Lobes of the Cerebral Cortex Are:
The Somatosensory Cortex
Receives sensory information
The Motor Cortex
Sends impulses to voluntary muscles
The Association Cortex
Houses the brain’s higher mental processes
The Brain
Regions of the Brain
Language
Processing
Language Processing
Broca’s Area
Located in the left
hemisphere, directs the
muscle movements in
speech production
Wernicke’s Area
Located in the left
hemisphere, involved in the
comprehension of language
The brain operates as
an integrated system.
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The Brain
The Split Brain
The Corpus Callosum
A bundle of nerve fibers
that connects the left
and right hemispheres
If surgically severed for
treatment of epilepsy,
hemispheres cannot
communicate directly.
The Brain
The Split Brain
Visual Processing
Both eyes send
information to both
hemispheres.
Images in the right half of
the visual field go to the
left hemisphere.
Images in the left half of
the visual field go to the
right hemisphere.
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The Triune Brain
Paleo-Mammalian (Limbic
System)
.Fear, primitive learning, aggression
Responsible for the motivation and
emotion and memory involved in
feeding, reproductive behavior, and
parental behavior_
Neo-Cortex
Conscious thought, Imagination,
and Empathy
Self-reflection, planning Future
oriented
Reptilian
Responsible for arousal, body
regulation, homeostasis, and
reproduction
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