Norway Attacks Research Articles

Fragments Kadha Project

Fragments, a film by Kadha project, documents how a site form an artwork. The documentary film is part of the Autopoiesis Peoples Memories 22.07.11 art project about the far right terrorist attacks in Norway. Eight people were killed in Oslo and 69 people, mostly young, were killed on the island of Utøya. By connecting mental, physical and social experience levels linked to memories about a specific place and time, the documentary reflects on artistic strategies and how to make art that contributes to the conversation about a collective trauma?

The short-term impact of terrorism on public mental health: an emergency primary care approach

BackgroundTerrorist attacks commonly have mental health consequences for those directly affected. Existing research is, however, divided when it comes to how and whether terrorist attacks affect the general population’s mental health. There is a need for studies investigating a broader range of mental health reactions to understand more about how different groups of the population are affected by terrorist attacks, while also illuminating important systemic factors.MethodsIn this study we investigated whether there was any change in the number of consultations with out-of-hours emergency primary care for psychological reactions in association with the 2011 terrorist attacks in Norway. Data covering the entire Norwegian population’s primary care contacts in 2008–2013, where the reason for encounter was coded as psychological concerns or psychiatric disorders, were studied. A time series intervention analysis, using ARIMA modelling, was used to estimate whether there was indeed a change in healthcare utilisation associated with the terrorist attacks.ResultsThe analysis uncovered an increase in contacts with emergency primary care by the overall population for mental health concerns associated with the terrorist attacks. When divided into groups according to geographical proximity to attacks, no significant change was found in the area closest to the attack in Oslo, whereas an increase was found for the rest of the country. There was also heterogeneity across different age groups. An increase was found among youths, young adults, and middle-aged people, but not the other age groups, and an increase was found for both men and women.ConclusionsThese findings highlight the need for primary care services to be prepared to meet mental health reactions in the general population when planning for healthcare provision in the aftermath of terrorism. Simultaneously, it should be noted that needs may vary across different groups of the population.

THE MANIFESTO, THE TIMELINE, AND THE MEMORY SITE: THE 22 JULY 2011 ATTACKS IN NORWAY AND THE CHRONOPOLITICS OF GENRE

ABSTRACTIn addition to being heinous crimes, acts of terrorism are complex chronopolitical events. Perpetrators, victims, survivors, families, and authorities manage their relationship to the events by engaging with and giving shape to time, or, rather, to a plurality of times. To perform this time work, they avail themselves of different genres, which serve as chronopolitical tools. This article discusses three such genres: the manifesto, the timeline, and the memorial site. These genres belong not only to different phases of the terror attacks but also to different actors. They are used to shape temporal progression in ways that enable specific forms of action, survival, and memory. The article takes the 22 July 2011 attacks in Norway as an example to map and analyze the role of these chronopolitical genres in managing the multiple times of terror.

The Framing of the Terrorist Threat in Health Contingency: Implications for Response

Terrorist attacks threaten the security of states and individuals, and often spur widespread state responses once they have occurred. Recent research has focused on health contingency in relation to terrorism and unveiled divergence in terms of how European countries approach this task. To understand more about this divergence, it is relevant to investigate how states define the issue of terrorism in contingency policies. The current study utilized theories of framing as part of policymaking and document analysis with a thematic analysis approach, to scrutinize to what extent terrorism was framed as a security issue in health contingency in relation to terrorist attacks in Norway and France, and how this affected policy outcomes. The analysis unveiled that a securitized frame was not prominent in the Norwegian approach to health contingency. In the French material, however, terrorism was described as a threat to national security. Second, terrorism response within the healthcare field was described as a form of “nonmilitary defense,” clearly positioning the healthcare system in the response to this national security threat. The framing of terrorism in policy documents was linked to diverging policy responses in the two countries. The most distinct difference is that victims of terrorism hold particular rights in France, but not in Norway. This entails that in France, the definition of terrorism, and whether specific events are defined as terrorism or not, in part become decisive for the help received.

Far-right digital memory activism: Transnational circulation of memes and memory of Yugoslav wars

The terrorist attacks in Norway in 2011 and New Zealand in 2019 have revealed that the far-right worldwide uses the memory of the Yugoslav wars for online mobilization. Scholars working on memory activism usually deal with the liberal, self-critical memory emerging from the bottom-up activism of human rights groups while neglecting the activism of the far-right. This article fills the gap by addressing the global circulation of two memes, Remove Kebab and Pepe the Frog, as examples of far-right memory activism. In order to address the transnational circulation of memes as memory activism, this article employs the concept of ‘traveling memory’ while relying on multimodal discourse analysis to unveil the processes of memetic transformation, imitation, iconization and narrativization. The analysis reveals an alternative memory of Yugoslav wars that depicts Serbia as the first case of ‘white genocide’ in Europe, reversing the roles of war criminals and victims while propagating violence and celebrating genocide. The article argues that memory studies can no longer ignore memory production of far-right communities and, at the same time, outlines the method for examining far-right digital memory activism, revealing a whole set of mnemonic practices developed among the anonymous fringe communities of the far-right.

Psychosocial care responses to terrorist attacks: a country case study of Norway, France and Belgium

BackgroundThe international terrorism threat urges societies to invest in the planning and organization of psychosocial care. With the aim to contribute to cross-national learning, this study describes the content, target populations and providers of psychosocial care to civilians after terrorist attacks in Norway, France and Belgium.MethodsWe identified and reviewed pre- and post-attack policy documents, guidelines, reports and other relevant grey literature addressing the psychosocial care response to terrorist attacks in Oslo/Utøya, Norway on 22 July 2011; in Paris, France on 13 November 2015; and in Brussels, Belgium on 22 March 2016.ResultsIn Norway, there was a primary care based approach with multidisciplinary crisis teams in the local municipalities. In response to the terrorist attacks, there were proactive follow-up programs within primary care and occupational health services with screenings of target groups throughout a year. In France, there was a national network of specialized emergency psychosocial units primarily consisting of psychiatrists, psychologists and psychiatric nurses organized by the regional health agencies. They provided psychological support the first month including guidance for long-term healthcare, but there were no systematic screening programs after the acute phase. In Belgium, there were psychosocial intervention networks in the local municipalities, yet the acute psychosocial care was coordinated at a federal level. A reception centre was organized to provide acute psychosocial care, but there were no reported public long-term psychosocial care initiatives in response to the attacks.ConclusionsPsychosocial care responses, especially long-term follow-up activities, differed substantially between countries. Models for registration of affected individuals, monitoring of their health and continuous evaluation of countries’ psychosocial care provision incorporated in international guidelines may strengthen public health responses to mass-casualty incidents.

When the Medium Is Not the Message

Abstract While much academic effort has been devoted to exploring various aspects of right-wing extremist lone-actor terrorism, little attention has been devoted to establishing how the terrorists create meaning by locating themselves within a larger narration of history. This article tries to fill this gap, by analysing the conceptions of history and the historical narratives evoked in the manifestos that the right-wing extremist perpetrators uploaded online in relation to the terrorist attacks in Norway on July 22, 2011 and in Christchurch, New Zealand March 15, 2019. Employing a combination of discourse and narrative analysis, the article argues that a shared fascist ‘regime of historicity’ may be identified in the manifestos. Furthermore, it places the narratives found in the manifestos in relation to different right-wing extremist virtual communities.

Muslim Community in the Atmosphere of Populism in Norway

In the European nations, there has been a lot of discussions and arguments regarding the community who have a ‘migration background’. Migrants nowadays are more capable of competing against local residents in terms of looking for better employment and participating in the political activities in European countries. Consequently, it creates fear within ‘mainstream’ society since it is presumably able to threaten their way of life. This interesting moment can benefit the populist political parties for gaining voices from the majority population. But, in the aftermath of 22/7 terror attacks in Norway, it also created tension between locals and those who are considered having a ‘migration background’. The people who have migration background, especially Muslim community, already has long history of migration to Norway. Therefore, the research question is how the Muslim community adapt to the situation of populism in Norway. By using historical literatures and research articles regarding the aftermath of 22/7 terror attack, it shows that the intersectional approach is useful to see the intermingled aspects of class, identity, religion, nationality, gender, and ethnicity of marginalised communities. These migrants now are facing multiple discriminations. Protests in the public sphere as a way of adapting to the atmosphere of populism are considered as their struggles for citizenship since the government seems to fail at managing multicultural society, especially advocating the minority groups. This kind of situation is common in the era of populism emerging in many countries targeting minority groups as political manoeuvre in order to gain voices among the ‘common’ society.

Prison officers’ coping strategies in a high-profile critical situation: Imprisonment after the 2011 terrorist attacks in Norway

The terror attacks in Norway on 22 July 2011 had a significant and lasting impact on Norwegian society. This article discusses a study of the prison officers who worked with the convicted offender Anders Behring Breivik in the days and weeks following the attacks. The prison officers were emotionally affected by the case, to the point where they were concerned that their professional performance might suffer. When not at work, they were constantly reminded of the consequences of the terrorist attacks through media channels and conversations with family, friends and neighbours. To remain professional in a situation that they found personally very challenging, they developed particular coping strategies. These strategies allowed them to avoid conflicts between the work, family and society spheres in the sense of their personal lives affecting their work performance and vice versa. The officers were forced to make concessions in their personal lives, however, which meant that their professional lives as prison officers moved beyond the boundaries of the prison.

Does the Norwegian Police Force Need a Well-Functioning Combat Mindset?

This article discusses the apparent lack of a well-functioning combat mindset evident in the Norwegian Police Force during the terrorist attacks in Norway on July 22, 2011. We describe what a well-functioning combat mindset is and then continue to discuss challenges linked to the current mindset in the Norwegian Police Force. We then elaborate upon how the experience of an acute stress reaction may affect one’s ability to solve a mission. Then we describe how to cope with stress and the importance of a well-functioning combat mindset, and we then discuss techniques in order to build a well-functioning combat mindset. Furthermore, we describe how coping with an extreme cognitive load and a well-functioning combat mindset are related. Finally, we suggest a method for practicing combat mindset (CM-training). The combat mindset training needs to include both realistic training and systematic reflection in order to a better ability to deal with sudden and unforeseen events.

Value-talk after terrorism: articulating a united ‘we' and a divided ‘us'

ABSTRACT Whether Muslim immigrants can adapt to Western values is a recurring theme in European contestation over diversity. Yet, a review of literature that engages with ‘values’ in studies of race, ethnicity, and nationalism reveals a dominant and narrow conceptualisation: values as core trait of groups. This conceptualisation reinforces an idea that values mark strict boundaries between homogenous and dichotomous ‘us’ and ‘them’. ‘Values’ figure particularly prominently in post-terror public debates. An analysis of value-talk after the 2011 terror attacks in Norway shows a prevailing narrative of value-based unity: an enlarged ‘we’ that supersedes ethnic and religious divisions. Simultaneously, the post-terror setting shows an ‘us’ articulated in contrast to the extremist Other who attacks ‘our values’, the immigrant Other that threatens those ‘values’, and the multiculturalist Other who fails to protect them. Drawing on well-known insights on the complex dynamics of racial, ethnic, and national relations, this article untangles the variability in ‘us’ and ‘them’ articulated through value-talk. It thus challenges widely accepted approaches to values as core traits that divide cultural or political groups. Instead, it brings attention to how value-talk works as expressions of multiple and changing constellations of ‘we’, ‘us’, and ‘them’ in contestation over diversity.

Anders Breivik

This analysis considers the importance of general strain theory (GST) in understanding contemporary far-right movements and violence involving white heterosexual men. General strain theory describes how objective and subjective strains can contribute to antisocial behaviours including terrorism. The mass murder committed by Anders Breivik in July 2011 in Norway will be considered as an application of this theory to terrorism. The analysis remains relevant, as evidenced by the most recent 2019 New Zealand mosque terrorism incidents. It begins with an overview of Breivik’s turbulent childhood and adulthood, marked by isolation and failed business ventures. Next, an outline of the July 2011 Norway attacks provides further context. After providing a detailed exploration of these attacks, this analysis will consider general strain theory in relation to the situation outlined above and it will be argued that perceived subjective and objective strain contributed to Breivik’s actions. More specifically, the subjective strains he experienced included social isolation and poor parental relationships. Conversely, objective strains provide an analysis of how Anders Breivik and others like him perceive their privileged position as being strained by migration and increasingly liberal gender norms. This analysis concludes with suggesting a role for social work in deescalating far right movements in Western liberal democracies.

Scenekunstens (for)handlingsrom etter 22. juli

In this article I discuss theatre’s scope of action after the 2011 terror attacks in Norway (“22. July”), with an emphasis on independent theatre, aesthetic heteronomy and the public sphere. A theatre manager’s (Jon Refsdal Moe) retrospect account of and reflections upon a case of self-censoring is the starting point for my (re-)examination of the arguments and dynamics concerning some of the most prominent contentious 22. July performances. I discuss how the controversies can be understood and dealt with, and how they are connected to theatre’s scope of action and place in society today. In my argument, I differentiate between the public sphere as an arena for discussion and debate (which theatre, as an institution, more or less has lost its impact on), and the public, conceived as an imagined community (which theatre still is strongly connected to, as assigned a publics’ symbolic space). I argue that the controversies about the 22. July performances, as well as the usage of marginal spaces, have to be understood as part of a far-reaching cultural dynamics after the terror attacks, concerning not only the arts, but numerous sectors of society, and that the performances aesthetic heteronomy requires a work- and context specific approach.

Learning from crisis: The role of enquiry commissions

AbstractThe literature on crisis learning has thus far paid little attention to the institutional channels through which governments draw lessons from crisis events. This paper examines theoretically and empirically a key institutional site for crisis learning: enquiry commissions. The theoretical argument is illustrated by analysing the enquiry commission that examined the 2011 terrorist attacks in Norway. The paper argues that the work of enquiry commissions exhibits tensions that condition the subsequent opportunities of government to learn from crisis. The paper shows how the lessons drawn by the commission investigating the attacks were shaped by the commission's dual function, by the dominant professional perspectives within the group, and by the specific models of decision‐making and assessment standards that the commission adopted.

Persons injured in the 2011 terror attacks in Norway - Relationship between post-traumatic stress symptoms, emotional distress, fatigue, sleep, and pain outcomes, and medical and psychosocial factors

Purpose: The main aim was to assess long-term post-traumatic stress symptoms, emotional distress, fatigue, sleep disturbances and pain in individuals hospitalized with physical injuries after two terror attacks in Oslo in 2011, approximately three years after the events. A secondary aim was to explore the relationship between these outcomes and medical and psychosocial factors.Materials and methods: Thirty of 43 potential persons participated. Injury characteristics were collected from medical charts. Level of post-traumatic stress, emotional distress, fatigue, sleep disturbances and pain was assessed and the association with injury severity, resilience, optimism, neuroticism and extroversion, and perceived access to social support was explored.Results: Nine of 30 met criteria for full or partial PTSD, and 14 of 30 displayed clinical levels of emotional distress. Fifteen reported moderate to severe fatigue, and 16 said sleep disturbances affected their daily life. Twelve indicated that pain affected daily activities and work ability, and 15 that pain affected their quality of life. I Resilience, optimism, neuroticism, and perceived social support, were associated with outcomes, but injury severity was not. When controlling for pain, many of the psychosocial variables failed to reach significance.Conclusions: Injury severity was not associated with outcomes. On the other hand, psychosocial factors were, but seemed to be influenced by pain.Implications for rehabilitationPersons who have obtained physical injuries under extreme psychological conditions such as terror, are at high risk of poor long-term outcomes, and will often be in need of comprehensive interdisciplinary rehabilitation services.Psychological outcomes are not associated with severity of physical injury, but premorbid and current psychological variables such as resilience, optimism, personality, and access to social support are highly associated with long-term outcome.Longstanding pain seems to diminish or weaken the role of protective psychological factors and should be addressed in the rehabilitation context.

The challenge of transboundary coordination: The case of the Norwegian police and military

This article examines how the transboundary coordination capacity between the military and the police has changed since the terrorist attacks in Norway in 2011. We address changes in the arrangements that regulate how the police can ask for assistance from the military during a crisis and how the military and the police cooperate to implement the regulations designed to protect important public buildings and facilities. The processes and the outcome are analyzed from a hierarchical perspective, a negotiation perspective and an institutional perspective. A main finding is that there are many transboundary coordination challenges, which can mainly be explained from a negotiation and a cultural perspective. Both path dependencies and negotiations constrained the process and led to incremental changes.

O budowaniu znaczeń w dyskursie prasowym w ujęciu komparatywnym – na przykładzie zamachów w Norwegii w 2011 roku

About construction of meanings in the press discourse – the comparative approach, based on the example of Norway attacks in 2011The purpose of the article is to describe and analyse the meanings which the media construct in relation to real events ‘événement réel’ by the example of Anders Breivik’s attacks in Norway in 2011. The paper is a comparative analysis of the media productions in three countries – Poland, France and the United Kingdom. The authors use the French Linguistic Discourse Analysis FLAD methods to determine the keywords ‘mot vedette’ – the most common words or phrases naming the event – reconstruct referential paradigms ‘paradigme désignationnel’ – the lists of expressions that rephrase the keywords – and then deliberate their social meanings. The article textualizes similarities and differences of the social meanings of the event in different European countries and contemplates the collective memory of Europeans.

Clinical characteristics and physical functioning in persons hospitalized following the Norwegian terror attacks in July 2011: A follow up study.

To describe the clinical characteristics and physical functioning in persons hospitalized after 2 terror attacks in Norway in 2011. Cross-sectional study with retrospective acute medical data. Surviving persons hospitalized with physical injuries. Medical and psychological assessments 3-4 years after injury, with data on injury type and severity collected from medical records. A total of 30 out of 43 potential subjects participated (19 women, 11 men; age range 17-71 years (median 23 years)). Eighteen participants had suffered a severe injury, with New Injury Severity Scale (NISS) scores > 15. All body parts were affected. The number of surgical procedures ranged from 0 to 22 (median 3), and days in intensive care ranged from 0 to 59 (median 2.5), of which 16 had more than 24 h intensive care. Three to 4 years later, a majority of the participants had a broad spectrum of somatic and psychological problems and reduced physical functioning. Two-thirds of the participants reported their physical health to be unsatisfactory, and continuous need for healthcare and unmet needs were identified for all except 4 of the participants. Persons hospitalized following a terror attack experience a broad spectrum of somatic and psychological problems and need long-term physical and psychological follow-up. This study indicates specific needs for rehabilitation after injuries acquired under psychological traumatic circumstances.

The institutional context of crisis. A study of the police response during the 22 July terror attacks in Norway

In this paper we address the institutional context of the police response during the 22 July terror attacks in Norway. Our analysis shows how institutionalized informal practices, established over time, influenced the police response during the attacks. The response presented challenges in terms of management of actor complexity (the number of actors involved and the need for coordination) and uncertainty. The importance of these dimensions is discussed based on the police's response during the terror attack in Oslo in 2011. Our analysis of the course of events shows that the resources dedicated to strategic management were marginalized during the event and that insufficient attention was directed towards intelligence and investigation. This contributed to an ineffective police effort to track and capture the perpetrator and prevent or respond to the secondary attack. This is similar to what is often found in hindsight investigations of crises. The aim of this paper is to contextualize and analyze these findings in light of the institutional context of the Norwegian police. Reports from exercises before and after the terror attack indicate that the marginalization of strategic work, intelligence and investigation has been and remains a persistent problem in the Norwegian police. Interviews indicate that there are informal aspects of the police organization regarding status and established conventions of what “proper police work” is about that explain how the observed inadequacies are deeply embedded in the organization. As such, the paper is not a study of a failure in crisis management, but rather the institutional patterns of action that make actions and decisions stand out as meaningful for the actors involved in dealing with situations of high complexity and uncertainty.

Terrorism and Political Violence in the Nordic Countries

ABSTRACTThe introductory article to the special issue discusses terrorism and political violence in the Nordic countries and reviews the state of academic research on the topic. Even though the Nordic countries appear to have suffered from lower levels of terrorism and political violence than many other Western states, they have been less void and peripheral with regard to such phenomena than common wisdom and academic scholarship would suggest. While some notable acts of violence like the July 2011 attacks in Norway have been covered in research literature to a certain degree, other phenomena such as far-right violence in Sweden have attracted less attention. The article discusses the ways in which the analysis of Nordic countries could contribute to the field of research and how articles included in the special issue address existing gaps in literature.