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tamaka -> RE: What makes a terrorist? (6/14/2017 5:05:55 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: vincentML
quote:
ORIGINAL: tweakabelle
One of the more intractable aspects to countering terrorism has been getting into the minds of terrorists, understanding what causes an otherwise ordinary person to resort to desperate brutal acts. We are stumped by our inability to identify comprehensively the factors that cause mass shooters, lone wolf terrorists and terrorists generally.
There is a lot of talk about preventing radicalisation of at-risk males but precious little in the way of results. If we can agree that the causes of an individual’s ‘radicalisation’ can be many and complex, then we need to look deeper than simplistic one-word or single concept explanations such as “ideology creates terrorists” or “terrorists hate our freedoms”.
Mens advocate Steve Biddulph has studied the role of shame and humiliation in the male terrorist psyche. Biddulph’s examines not only terrorists but also to other acts of wanton violence by males, such as the mass shootings that are so common in the USA. Biddulph’s point of departure is the 2014 hostage crisis at the Lindt Cafe in Sydney where a lone deranged gunman held 18 people hostage in a siege that resulted in his death, and the deaths of 2 hostages. The motives of the gunman, Man Haron Moris, are the subject of debate. Monis claimed to be acting in the name of the reviled terrorist group IS, even though subsequent attempts to identify any links between Monis and IS were unsuccessful.
“The role of shame and failure is now being given far greater prominence in understanding men who commit harm. Terrorism specialists such as France's Olivier Roy believe that this sense of worthlessness, rather than any after-the-fact "radicalisation", is the driving factor for violent acts, and if we ignore this we will not solve the problem.”
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/the-role-of-male-shame-in-violent-incidents-like-the-lindt-cafe-siege-20170611-gwp0iy.html
More general causal factors must include the social, political, religious and liberty situations in a terrorist's background. All these factors undoubtedly play a part in creating terrorists. Individual terrorists are made not born. Biddulph concludes:
“If we do not acknowledge what male disintegration looks like and include this in a more accurate, albeit broader definition of mental illness and potential for violence, then we may see far more blood on our streets.
If we so easily lend the cachet of terrorism to what would otherwise be simply horrible acts by pathetic men, then that makes them much more likely to recur. These are the acts of damaged and heartless men, and they are entirely predictable and preventable once we know what we are looking for.”
Is this an area that we should be exploring to help us identify potential mass shooters and terrorists and hopefully to prevent them doing harm to others in the future? Is this an area that we need to devise strategies to prevent the radicalisation of at-risk males into terrorists? If violeto nce by at risk individual's is "predictable and preventable" what should we be doing to intervene?
This is an interesting concept, Tweak, and I confess it never occurred to me nor have I ever seen a discussion of male personality disintegration and sense of worthlessness coupled with shame, failure and humiliation as precursors to violence committed by men. I understand you to be saying these are a cluster of negative experiences that leave a man vulnerable to acting out violently. "Vulnerable" suggests he is a victim of forces and choices he cannot control, doesn't it? I am not inclined to that characterization, since we are talking here of men who have agency and act out to redeem themselves, to gain some measure of success they have never experienced and thus rehabilitate their masculinity.
Are there any studies that link these characteristics, this need for masculine redemption to men who commit violence? If so, I wonder how convincing they are.
Although I understand why it was necessary to refer to 'other' social and cultural values, I think it is better to isolate the variables of interest to avoid confusion and picky criticism.
Also, aren't there other manifestations of male personality disintegration? Drug addiction? Compulsive gambling? Suicide?
I can't imagine how these individuals would be identified and at what time period in their lives. You can begin perhaps perusing some of the posts on this forum, I guess. . . [:D]
Interesting topic, Tweak. Too bad some individual posters hijacked your thread for their own irrelevant agenda. I commend your patience.
I think it involves mania. When you are manic, you can 'seem' to everyone else to be 'normal'. Meanwhile your mind is spinning with different beliefs that you've come across and these beliefs really affect your perceptions. While this is true for everyone, if your mind is processing things at a manic pace, you tend not to be able to 'reason' with yourself. Your mind is in flight mode, so not only do you lose your ability to reason, you also lose your ability to stop yourself from acting out on your beliefs and perceptions. For some people that might involve promiscuous behavior. For others it involves criminal behavior, etc... depending on the motivating beliefs and perceptions adopted.
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