Abstract
Religiously inspired terrorism is a broad and contested notion. In the literature it includes reference to acts including 'Islamist', ‘ultra-Zionist’ and 'Christofascist’ violence. A systematic review of quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods studies published between September 2001 and April 2018 highlighted 1275 papers of which twelve research studies met the inclusion criteria. CRITICAL FINDINGS Findings indicate both religious and nationalist motivators for terrorist activities, rooted in a sense of grievance, often fuelled by geopolitical sensitivities. Religious motivators tend to be associated with lower educational attainment, but education has a positive impact upon modifying violent extremist beliefs. IMPLICATIONS OF THE REVIEW FOR POLICY, PRACTICE AND RESEARCH Prisons form a ready setting for such educational activity although it should target the individual since group disengagement from terror networks is rare. There are significant methodological limitations to the retrieved evidence which presents a pressing need for further research to improve both conceptual understanding and effective responses to the phenomenon of religiously inspired terrorism.
Highlights
Inspired terrorism is a broad and contested notion
The authors postulate the difference could be due to the fact that some recruitment tactics are more effective than others at moving an individual to a point where socially and personally they are prepared to carry out and complete an attack. They suggest it may be the case that recruitment strategies are better at recruiting different types of individuals, and that males recruited through peer pressure are not people whose character is “suited” to suicide terrorism
Our review retrieved a number of papers pertaining to the phenomenon of Islamist inspired terrorism and highlighted both religious and nationalistic factors contributing to terrorist activity
Summary
Inspired terrorism is a broad and contested notion. A systematic review of quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods studies published between September 2001 and April 2018 highlighted 1275 papers of which twelve research studies met the inclusion criteria. Critical Findings Findings indicate both religious and nationalist motivators for terrorist activities, rooted in a sense of grievance, often fuelled by geopolitical sensitivities. Religious motivators tend to be associated with lower educational attainment, but education has a positive impact upon modifying violent extremist beliefs. Implications of the Review for Policy, Practice and Research Prisons form a ready setting for such educational activity it should target the individual since group disengagement from terror networks is rare. There are significant methodological limitations to the retrieved evidence which presents a pressing need for further research to improve both conceptual understanding and effective responses to the phenomenon of religiously inspired terrorism
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