Abstract
ABSTRACTRecent research on lone-actor terrorism has found a high prevalence of mental health disorders among these offenders. This research note addresses two shortcomings in these existing studies. First, it investigates whether selection effects are present in the selection process of terrorist recruits. Second, it builds on the argument that mental health problems and terrorist behavior should not be treated as a yes/no dichotomy. Descriptive results of mental health disorders are outlined utilizing a number of unique datasets.
Highlights
Academic research on the link between mental health problems and terrorist activity has had a long, inconsistent, occasionally frustrating, and well-documented history
Over the past ten years, many of the citations that these reviews accrued made three fundamental misconceptions that have each impaired the study of mental illness and terrorist involvement
There is next to no acknowledgment that clinical diagnoses of mental health problems span a wide range, from common mental health disorders such as depression to severe pathology such as schizophrenia as well as disorders of personality and neurodevelopment.[6]
Summary
STUDIES IN CONFLICT & TERRORISM 2016, VOL. Cornera, Paul Gilla, and Oliver Masonb aDepartment of Security and Crime Science, University College London, London, UK; bDepartment of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, UK
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