Terrorist Behaviour
| Published date | 01 July 1985 |
| Author | M. Taylor |
| Date | 01 July 1985 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X8505800302 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
PROFESSOR
M.
TAYLOR
Department
of
Applied Psychology.
University College. Cork. Ireland.
TERRORIST
BEHAVIOUR
"
...
the solutions (to changes in terrorist potential), eitherlong term
or crisis orientated, are inescapably rooted in behavioural
considerations." (Wardlaw, 1982).
There can be little
doubt
that
one of the most difficult issues facing
modern liberal democracies is the challenge of terrorism. In the
United Kingdom, attention is often focused on the terrorist problems
of Northern Ireland and the related terrorist incidents in Great
Britain. But the problems of terrorism transcend national
boundaries, and constitute probably the greatest contemporary
challenge to
our
way of life. This challenge is the more insidious
because it results not only from the terrorists' acts themselves, but
also from the measures taken to control and detect such acts. This is
the "double-bind" facing the liberal democracies, and its solution will
significantly affect
our
future way of life. Inevitably, the problem
impinges on policing, and any solution to it will affect
our
traditional
views about the nature of policing democratic societies.
Wardlaw(1982) has drawn
our
attentionto the behavioural issues
surroundingthe problems of terrorism, and this briefarticle seeks to
elaborate on one behavioural aspect of terrorism which is of concern
in understanding the motivationand goals of terrorism - the nature
of the terrorist, and, in particular, the relationship of his/ her actions
with those of the mentally ill. A better understanding of these issues
will inform the way in which we as a society see terrorism and might
offer alternative approaches to its management. This article does not
concern itself with the definitional problems of terrorism. There are
sufficient grounds at the moment for supposing
that
terrorism does
constituteasignificant threat to society to merit a discussion of some
of its characteristics. This can be undertaken without making
reference to an (ultimately) necessary theory of terrorism, given the
following reservation "
...
as long as we are not tempted to let
short-term contingencies exclude consideration of the structural
factors which may give rise to terrorism and which may require
major social or economic changes to alter." (Wardlaw, 1982).
Furthermore, it is quite clear
that
the concept of the terrorist is not
ahomogeneous concept. There are various kinds of terrorist and, at
least within organized groups, there is differentiation offunction. No
taxonomy of terrorist is proposed here, and it may be the case that
some of the points discussed below are more applicable to some
JU~I'
/985 /95
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