Terrorism Psychology: Theory & Application

Abstract

Since the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre and the emergence of Al Qa’ida as a global terrorist threat, the theory and application of terrorism psychology has become a major interdisciplinary research area. With the intensification of home-grown terrorism at a time of resurgent levels of anti-Western rhetoric and global violence, security policy is focused upon maximizing efficiency in counter terrorism practices at local, national and international levels. Recent terrorist campaigns have shown that acts of terrorism have moved towards indiscriminate, mass impact activities that are often combined with targeted secondary attacks to maximize impact, attract worldwide media coverage, undermine public life, and generate fear. For successful counter-terrorism initiatives must integrate fundamental research with applied methods and approaches grounded in the practical issues faced by security personnel in the field. More specifically, research agendas are focused on: the psychology of terrorism by investigating contributing and causal factors of terrorism and the motivations and behaviours of those engaged in hostile intent; a broader view of the social factors and systems perspective of terrorism to improve emergency planning and response; and practical and useful techniques to be implemented in surveillance technologies and counter-terrorism policies. This special issue was motivated through involvement in a strategic security consortium ‘Shades of Grey’ funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) (EP/H02302X/1) from 2010 to 2013. Shades of Grey emerged in response to the requirement for novel surveillance interventions that elicit robust, reliable and usable indicators of notable behaviours in crowded public areas. A further aim is that counter-terrorism interventions should not frustrate, degrade, or restrict the general user experience of public spaces. Given the remit of the Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology this special issue focuses on a very specific aspect of criminal behaviour (e.g., terrorism) and the application of psychology and related disciplines to effective correctional practices (e.g., counter-terrorism policies and practises). However, in doing so the overriding principle is that terrorism shares attributes with many lower and more common forms of crime (e.g., pick-pockets, petty theft, burglary). Just as petty criminals will survey a public space for security measures and vulnerable targets, terrorists conduct hostile reconnaissance in the planning of an attack in a public space. The guest editors invited authors representing a number of disciplines including psychology, criminology, sociology, political science, ergonomics/human factors, art and media, engineering and computer science to contribute knowledge to this area of criminal psychology. Although the papers focus on counter-terrorism, they interpret and translate the problem in different ways ranging from social theory, applied and social psychology, interaction design, and user-centred approaches. The articles comprising this special issue explore the spectrum of terrorism psychology across a number of highly original themes such as: conceptualising terrorism; deception and interrogation; social, cultural and contextual factors in terrorism; and user-centred approaches for counter-terrorism. The authors of the collection of papers illustrate and discuss aspects of terrorist activities, hostile intent, and suspicious behaviour to inform counter-terrorism initiatives. A. W. Stedmon (*) Cultural, Communications and Computing Research Institute, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield S1 2NU, UK e-mail: alex.stedmon@nottingham.ac.uk