Suicide Bombers Research Articles

No, Punitive House Demolition Does Not Reduce Suicide Bombing: Revisiting Evidence from the Second Intifada

ABSTRACT Punitive house demolitions were intensified by the Israeli government during the Second Intifada with the intent of curbing suicide bombings. Using econometric analysis, Benmelech et al. (2015) suggest that this policy is effective, citing deterrence as the driving factor. In 2014, the Israeli Supreme Court relied on the findings of an earlier draft of the Benmelech paper to reject a petition against the resumption of punitive housing demolition. In this research, I show that the Benmelech findings are spurious due to misspecified modelling and that the reported effect of punitive house demolition camouflages confounding factors. I also show that among the multiple security measures put in place during the Second Intifada, arrest campaigns did negatively impacted suicide bombings. I provide suggestive evidence that explains individual motives for suicide bombings and why punitive house demolition lacks a deterrence effect. The motives are likely related to the aggravation of grievances from excessive state oppression, willingness to exact revenge, and the glorification of self-sacrifice and martyrdom in asymmetric conflict.

Explaining the Decline Of Suicide Terrorism in Turkey

AbstractSince the 9/11 attacks, there has been a growing interest in the terrorism problem, in general, and the strategy of suicide bombing, in particular. Between 1996 and 2016, Turkey experienced several deadly suicide attacks by groups like the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front, al‐Qaeda, and the Islamic State. These attacks can be explained by individual‐oriented, institutional, socio‐psychological/economical/identity, and structural theories. However, a central question now is why there have been no suicide attacks since 2016—that is, until the attempted bombing of the Ministry of the Interior on October 1, 2023. This article advances five main reasons for this success: a shift in Turkey's antiterrorism strategy, the introduction of new technologies, terror groups’ concerns about losing legitimacy among supporters, the failure of these organizations to achieve their objectives through suicide terrorism, and changes in Turkey's external environment. The article concludes that, as the October 1 attack demonstrates, the renewal of suicide terrorism is likely, given Ankara's sole focus on the institutional and international/structural aspects of the problem, which does not allow enough attention on individual and sociological factors.

Correlation analysis of mental health conditions and personality of patients with alcohol addiction

BACKGROUND Alcohol addiction, or alcohol dependence, refers to a psychological state of strong craving for alcohol caused by drinking when both the drinking times and alcohol consumption reach a certain level. Alcohol addiction can cause irreversible damage, leading to mental illness or mental disorders, negative changes in their original personality, and a tendency to safety incidents such as committing suicide or violent attacks on others. Significant attention needs to be given to the mental health of alcohol addicts, which could reflect their abnormal personality traits. However, only a few papers on this issue have been reported in China. AIM To investigate the correlation between mental health and personality in patients with alcohol addiction. METHODS In this single-center observational study, we selected 80 patients with alcohol addiction as the research subjects, according to the criteria of the K10 scale to evaluate the mental health of patients with alcohol addiction, and divided these patients into four groups based on the evaluation results: Good, average, relatively poor and bad. And then analyzed the correlation between mental health conditions and personality characteristics from these four groups of patients. RESULTS The average score of the K10 scale (Kessler 10 Simple Psychological Status Assessment Scale) in 80 patients with alcohol addiction was 25.45 points, the median score was 25 points, the highest score was 50 points, and the lowest score was 11 points. Pearson 's analysis showed that the K10 score was positively correlated with the scores of these two subscales, such as the P-subscale and the N-subscale (P < 0.05). In contrast, the K10 score had no significant correlation with the scores from the E-subscale and the L-subscale (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION The mental health conditions of patients with alcohol addiction are positively correlated with their personality characteristics.

Dying with the enemy: Interrogating the roles of religion in social support for suicide terrorism

Suicide terrorism seemingly employed to settled conflicts between the Shiite and the Sunnis, mixed with the Salafis ideology of violence is also seen used for demand for State of Islam, national liberation, and propagation against democracies, mis-governance, and secularism amongst others. Terror cells groups could be seen aggravating suicide terrorism by substituting suicide for martyrdom. It was against this background that this study engage religious belief hypothesis to interrogate the roles of religion in garnering social support for suicide terrorism. The study decomposes roles of religion in suicide terrorism into crises between the Shiites and the Sunnis, substitution of suicide with martyrdom. The study employed desktop research design with reliance historical and secondary data from extant literature. The study concludes that the manipulation of the religious injunctions, extremist interpretation of religious teachings, as well as advancement of religion facade for economic gains stronger motivation for people who support suicide terrorism. Finding from the study showed that there would be no successful suicide terror campaign without the support of the society where the suicide terrorists reside and whose interest they claim to be defending. The study recommends that distorted ideology driven by religion can only be countered by respected Islamic clerics and leaders, especially from the Arab world with covert Western support to circumvent the perverted narrative of martyrdom as sacrifice for the good of the land, people or God, and rather brand it as common suicide and an honourless venture.

The Role of Algorithms and the Formation of Hate Speech Polarization on Twitter (Case Study of Video Content of KH Said Aqil Siradj's Visit after the Suicide Bomb Explosion at Makassar Cathedral)

After the 2021 suicide bombing at the Makassar Cathedral church, the general chairman of PBNU, Said Aqil Siradj, visited the Makassar Cathedral to provide moral support to Catholics. The video of thevisit provoked reactions both in the digital realm and offline. Even though this visit had a positive nuance, on Twitter there were comments containing insults and hate speech. This research uses qualitative text analysis to analyze the comments that appear andanswer why video content that has a positive nuance and contains tolerance can trigger negative comments. The results of this research prove that polarized comments are not much influenced by the content. The content becomes a trigger so that like-minded people can confirm the beliefs they have long held. Apart from that, from this study, researchers see that there are things outside humans (non-humans) that shape the interpretation of social media users. This network of people with the same beliefs is united by features of social media platforms that bring users closer together,namely comments, retweets and likes.

Female Mob Encounters and Boko-Haram in the North-East of Nigeria, 2009-2019

As African states grapple with the challenges of democratic governance, there are postcolonial experiences of mob-related violence. Such is manifest in the extrajudicial reaction of citizens across North-East Nigeria to suspected attacks by agents of the Boko Haram insurgency. Scholarly contributions have established various dimensions of the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria. However, little attention is given to the nuances of gender and mob-induced violence and their implications for the security and development of women. Thus, this work examines the contexts of mob justice meted out to women webbed in Boko Haram-instigated suicide bombing. Findings from the study reveal that female suicide terrorism and the resultant social sanctions have further positioned women as vulnerable instruments of terror and subsequently as bearers of the security burdens that accompany mob justice perpetration within contexts of the Boko Haram insurgency.

In the Name of Sovereignty

Abstract In a post-9/11 world, the figure of the female suicide bomber has emerged as a contentious figure in global discourse. Through the character of Saraswathi, Nayomi Munaweera’s novel Island of a Thousand Mirrors (2012) foregrounds how the construction of this subaltern figure hinges on her susceptibility to rape. This relationship between rape and suicide bombing is deployed differently by the counterterrorist institutions that target her and the ethnonationalist movements that recruit her to make her speak as both victim and agent while silencing her. This article thus argues that we need to move away from the framework of victimhood and agency, which assumes subjectivity without accounting for how the body of the female subaltern is excluded from inhabiting subjecthood as a construct of bounded national sovereignty. Using Jasbir Puar’s theory of queer assemblage, the author explains how Saraswathi’s suicide bomber in ITM is constructed as a figure of antinormative subjectivity through a discourse of U.S. exceptionalism in opposition to a normative U.S. national identity and sovereignty. The author builds on Puar’s insights, which draw on affect theory, to rethink Saraswathi’s violent protest as a moment that destabilizes these normative identities and their related social scripts. The author further posits alternative visions of antinormative subjectivity in the novel that allow for Saraswathi’s survival after her rape.

Tactical Strategies, Women Suicide Bombers and Terrorism in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Case of Boko Haram

Tactical Strategies, Women Suicide Bombers and Terrorism in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Case of Boko Haram

Bom Bunuh Diri dalam novel Junūdullah, karya Fawwaz Haddad: Studi analisis Altruism Suicide Emile Durkehim.

This study uses Emile Durkheim's theory of concepts altruism suicide as a basis for understanding the motive behind the act of suicide bombing in the novel "Junu>dullah" by Fawwaz Haddad. The research method used is descriptive qualitative method. This theory states that suicide bombings carried out by a person can sometimes be seen as an altruistic act, that is, an action taken for the benefit of a group or society, not for the sake of the individual alone. Through analysis of the novel "Junu>dullah”, the author finds that suicide bombings committed by jihadists are closely related to war situations with unequal forces militarily. So that the phenomenon of suicide bombings contained in the novel is more closely related to war tactics than as an expression of excessive religiosity. In addition, the suicide bombings are also driven by a very high sense of unity in society as reflected in the novel.

A Descriptive Study ofCasualties Evacuated Out ofAfghanistan by Critical Care Air Transport Teams During the Withdrawal ofU.S. Troops.

The War in Afghanistan ended in August 2021. Evacuation from the country was a large effort during the last days of the conflict. During evacuation efforts at Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport, a suicide bombing occurred necessitating emergent medical care for many injured troops and civilians. The U.S. Air Force Critical Care Air Transport Teams (CCATTs) played a role in the medical care provided during the operations in Afghanistan. We report on in-flight events and interventions that took place during the final days of the Afghanistan withdrawal. We performed a retrospective chart review of patients requiring aeromedical evacuation from the Afghanistan theater of operations by CCATT from July 1 to August 30, 2021. From the CCATT patient care record, data abstractors collected patient characteristics, flight information, vital signs, laboratory values, in-flight interventions, and in-flight events in a study-specific electronic database. We performed descriptive analyses of patient characteristics and in-flight interventions. This study was approved by the San Antonio Institutional Review Board. Nine patients were included in this analysis. Seven out of nine patients were foreign nationals; the remaining two were U.S. Marines. Five patients suffered penetrating injuries from gunshot wounds and four suffered blast injuries. Six received intravenous narcotic analgesia. Four received intravenous sedatives, and four received antibiotics in flight. Two patients required chest tube management. One patient received blood. Three patients were in acute respiratory distress. Severe injuries were sustained during the withdrawal efforts at the end of the War in Afghanistan. Critical Care Air Transport Teams played a role in the care and evacuation of patients out of theater during this unique and unprecedented time. Even given the limitations associated with retrospective studies and a small sample size, information reported in this study can help inform future decisions, and aid in preparatory efforts for future operations, that may require medical care by CCATT.

Connections between family violence and violence in the public sphere in Afghanistan

Afghanistan has endured over four decades of violence in the public sphere, such as war and suicide attacks. To effectively provide psychosocial counseling using a psychodynamic approach in Afghanistan, it is crucial to recognize the potential connection between ongoing public violence and high rates of family violence. In 2019, we conducted a study to explore the relationship between public violence and family violence among Kabul residents, including those seeking counseling and those who were not. Our cross-sectional mixed methods survey recruited 299 participants from a psychosocial counseling service as well as community members who were not receiving the service. The findings revealed a significant positive correlation between experiences of public violence and family violence. Both clients and non-clients reported experiencing high levels of violence, which led to impairments in daily functioning and increased suicidality. Additionally, a thematic analysis of open-ended questions indicated changes in attitudes resulting from exposure to violence, including feelings of helplessness and hopelessness both in and out of the home. We conclude that applying a psychodynamic approach to psychosocial counseling in Afghanistan requires awareness of the positive correlation between public violence and family violence in a society that has been exposed to violence in the public sphere for over forty years. Mental health care needs to contribute towards breaking cycles of violence by empowering clients to take control of their lives and become agents of change within their families and communities.

Suicide risk profiles among service members and veterans exposed to suicide.

Rates of suicide exposure are high among service members and Veterans and are especially concerning given the link between suicide exposure and subsequent suicide risk. However, to date, it is unclear which individuals who are exposed to suicide are subsequently at high risk for suicide. Latent profile analysis (LPA) can provide information on unique risk profiles and subgroups of service members and Veterans who have higher suicide risk after suicide exposure, which has not yet been empirically studied. The purpose of this study was to utilize LPA to identify subgroups of service members and Veterans who are at the highest risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors following suicide exposure. We analyzed data using LPA from 2570 service members and Veterans (82.1% male, 69.5% White, and 12.1% Latino/a/x) who completed the Military Suicide Research Consortium's Common Data Elements, a battery of self-report suicide-related measures. Psychopathology, substance use, mental health service utilization, interpersonal theory of suicide, and suicide exposure variables were used to validate classes. Three latent classes emerged from analyses, one low-risk class and two-high risk classes with differing profile compositions (one primarily differentiated by anxiety symptoms and one differentiated by substance use). Class-specific recommendations for suicide prevention efforts will be discussed.

Religiosity and Political Islam: Divergent Influences on Support for Terrorism

AbstractThis study examines the intricate relationship between religion and attitudes towards terrorist violence, with a specific focus on individual sympathy for al-Qaeda and justification for suicide bombings. While religion has the capacity to promote both harmony and social cohesion, as well as division and conflict, it is crucial to explore the complex and contradictory nature of religious beliefs in relation to individuals’ attitudes towards terrorism. To address this paradox, the study differentiates between religion as a belief and religion as an ideology. Drawing from a subset of the 2011 Pew Global Attitudes Survey, encompassing countries with substantial Muslim populations (Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey), the research investigates how religiosity and political Islam influence public attitudes towards terrorism, considering political and economic grievances in these contexts. Multivariate statistical analysis suggests that religiosity and political Islam exhibit distinct associations with the justification of suicide bombings and support for al-Qaeda, and these dynamics vary across countries. Ultimately, the study underscores the importance of perceiving religiosity not as a threat but as a potential remedy to prevent extremism by fostering an educated and deeper understanding of religious principles.

From Zin the Mythical Heroine to Zilan, the First Kurdish Female Suicide Bomber: The PKK’s Creation of a New Feminist Figuration

This article examines how the <i>Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan</i> (PKK) and its leader Abdullah Öcalan draw inspiration for their national struggle, through an appropriation of the female figure Zin from the 1692 classic Kurdish love myth <i>Mem and Zin</i> written by Ehmedê Xanî (1650-1707), turning her into a symbol of love for the nation. Based on interviews with some fully-fledged members of PKK and Abdullah Öcalan’s written works, as well as observations from fieldwork conducted in the mountainous areas of Iraq, this article will analyse how an old love story has become entangled with the PKK’s national struggle and its pursuit of a new human type, one that might truly represent a new type of freedom fighter. In this re-configuration, love for the opposite sex must be transformed radically into love for the native land, with death as a consequence if sacrifice is seen as necessary. Drawing on the work of Donna J. Haraway, Elisabeth Grosz and Rosi Braidotti, this analysis examines how history, nature, geography, myth, and nostalgia are employed in the re-configuration of gender and love, and in the creation of a new feminist figuration that recalls Haraway’s cyborg figure.

Decreased mononuclear cell NR3C1 SKA2 and FKPB5 expression levels among adult survivors of suicide bombing terror attacks in childhood are associated with the development of PTSD.

Life threatening trauma and the development of PTSD during childhood, may each associate with transcriptional perturbation of immune cell glucocorticoid reactivity, yet their separable longer term contributions are less clear. The current study compared resting mononuclear cell gene expression levels of the nuclear receptor, subfamily 3, member 1 (NR3C1) coding the glucocorticoid receptor, its trans-activator spindle and kinetochore-associated protein 2 (SKA2), and its co-chaperon FKBP prolyl isomerase 5 (FKBP5), between a cohort of young adults first seen at the Hadassah Emergency Department (ED) after surviving a suicide bombing terror attack during childhood, and followed longitudinally over the years, and matched healthy controls not exposed to life threatening trauma. While significant reductions in mononuclear cell gene expression levels were observed among young adults for all three transcripts following early trauma exposure, the development of subsequent PTSD beyond trauma exposure, accounted for a small but significant portion of the variance in each of the three transcripts. Long-term perturbation in the expression of immune cell glucocorticoid response transcripts persists among young adults who develop PTSD following life threatening trauma exposure in childhood, denoting chronic dysregulation of immune stress reactivity.

Suicide attempts and attacks - etiology and social phenomena influencing the decision to commit suicide

The problem of suicides and suicide attempts is a serious social and legal problem. The issue is particularly important from the point of view of the work of police officers, psychologists and psychiatrists. The issue of suicide attempts is an unresolved issue when it comes to the impact and elimination of factors causing them, such as specific social phenomena, access to methods, dangerous means and tools (firearms) or mental disorders. Statistics confirm that suicides (about one million a year) and suicide attempts (several million a year) are a serious problem. The aim of this study is to analyze the impact of social phenomena on suicide attempts. The content discussed and the presented statistical data show the problem both in the social and legal context. This study focuses on the etiology, risk factors and social phenomena that influence the decision to commit suicide. The study addresses the issue of the impact of various social phenomena on suicide attempts. Its purpose is to identify the factors that contribute to the greatest extent to the decision to take one's own life and increase the risk of suicide attempts. In the following parts of the article, the author analyzes the key concepts, i.e. suicide and suicide attempt, also making a typology of suicides. He discusses the phenomenon in a legal context, focusing on the social factors that most encourage people to take their own lives.

Pilot Evaluation of the Online 'Chaplains-CARE' Program: Enhancing Skills for United States Military Suicide Intervention Practices and Care.

Chaplains frequently serve as first responders for United States military personnel experiencing suicidal thoughts and behaviors. The Chaplains-CARE Program, a self-paced, e-learning course grounded in suicide-focused cognitive behavioral therapy principles, was tailored for United States military chaplains to enhance their suicide intervention skills. A pilot program evaluation gathered 76 Department of Defense (DoD), Veterans Affairs (VA), and international military chaplain learners' responses. Most learners indicated that the course was helpful, easy to use, relevant, applicable, and that they were likely to recommend it to other chaplains. Based on open-ended responses, one-quarter (25.0%) of learners indicated that all content was useful, and over one-quarter (26.3%) of learners highlighted the usefulness of the self-care module. One-third (30.3%) of learners reported the usefulness of the interactive e-learning features, while others (26.3%) highlighted the usefulness of chaplains' role play demonstrations, which portrayed counseling scenarios with service members. Suggested areas of improvement include specific course adaptation for VA chaplains and further incorporation of experiential learning and spiritual care principles. The pilot findings suggest that Chaplains-CARE Online was perceived as a useful suicide intervention training for chaplains. Future training can be enhanced by providing experiential, simulation-based practice of suicide intervention skills.

Women, education, and violence: How women displaced into camps in north‐east Nigeria take up education

AbstractMotivationThe Boko Haram insurgency has ravaged north‐east Nigeria since 2002. The killing, kidnapping, and burning of homes have left millions homeless in its wake. The insurgency has especially affected women. Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls from a school in one instance; abducted partly for ransom and partly because Boko Haram resents Western education, especially for girls and women. Boko Haram has the dubious distinction of deploying the highest number of women as suicide bombers in history.PurposeHow has displacement by the insurgency affected women's learning and education? How do women affected by Boko Haram experience self‐regulated learning? These questions shed light on how individual resilience manifests itself in women affected by violence and how learning opportunities can be taken up.Methods and approachOver two years, I repeatedly interviewed, using Skype, 10 women aged 18 years or more living in a camp for displaced persons in north‐east Nigeria owing to the violence of the insurgency. I analysed the themes raised in interview using Bandura's self‐efficacy and sensemaking theory as a conceptual framework.FindingsThe interviews revealed three main themes with six subthemes. One theme was the suffering of the women expressed as unquantifiable loss and worries about physical sustenance. A second was support by talking with family and friends, expressed as giving them a compass to guide their lives and encouragement to take advantage of opportunities like education in IDP camps. A third theme was tomorrow and hopes, expressed as dreams of a profession or career, and as desired education and marriage. Social relations helped the women to hope and to aspire. The bonds they built with each other to survive in their new circumstances helped them thrive, therefore developing self‐efficacy. The camp had schools, to which they were able to send their daughters. Many women and girls who previously had no access to Western education in their former lives in deprived villages now had such access.Policy implicationsThe study shows how violence, displacement, and social relations, allied to the concrete opportunity of schooling, allow women to access formal education and create new visions. Policy‐makers should recognize the agency of women in camps, and make sure that schools and other means of education are provided.

UNEMPLOYMENT, COMMERCIAL MOTORCYCLE AND CRIME IN NIGERIA

Employment in Nigerian is pervasive and is further compound by the present economic recession in which many companies have downsized and increasing the number of unemployed. r millions of jobless and unskilled Nigerians. Driven by the hash economic climate many unemployed and unskilled Nigerians particularly youths have seen riding commercial motorcycle as a source of survival. Despite providing daily means for earning a living for many unemployed people, motorbikes have also become an instrument for committing crimes by many youths with high propensity for criminal behaviour. In many urban and rural areas where commercial motorcycles operate, motorbikes provide easy means for criminals to escape without police detection and apprehension. Many commercial motorcyclists have been involved in petty crimes such as hand bag and telephone snatching, and more dangerous crimes such as armed robbery, rapes, kidnapping and suicide bombing. This paper examines how unemployment propels jobless people into using commercial motorcycle to commit crime.

Maqāṣid al-Sharī‘a as the Foundation of Islamic Moderation: Theo-Philosophical Insight against Extreme Religious Ideology

The emergence of neo-Khawarij groups in the contemporary world has attracted domestic and international attention. These groups have shown a propensity for growth, as evidenced by the increasing number of terrorist attacks in the form of suicide bombings carried out in the name of Islam. Such acts of terror have led to Islam being labeled as a religion of hate, bigotry, and terrorism. Through the analysis of Maqāṣid al-sharī‘a in understanding Islamic texts, in this study, Islamic Moderation is proposed as a paradigm to reduce the penetration of radical ideology in religion. This study proposes the adoption of moderate Islam as a paradigm for countering the spread of radical ideologies within the religion. To this end, this paper begins with an overview of the references used by radical groups and the acts of terror they have committed. It then advocates for the importance of Maqāṣid al-sharī‘a in understanding Islamic texts. It offers the concept of moderate Islam as a precautionary measure for mitigating the penetration of radical ideologies.