Evolutionary Psychology and Terrorism

Evolutionary Psychology and Terrorism
Author: Max Taylor
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2015-08-27
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317678346

This book explores the evolutionary context of terrorism and political violence. While evolutionary thinking has come to permeate both biological and social-science theorising, it has not yet been applied systematically to the areas of terrorism and political violence. This volume seeks to do this for the first time. It presents a collection of essays on evolutionary psychology and terrorism, which encourage the reader to approach terrorism from a non-traditional perspective, by developing new approaches to understanding it and those who commit such acts of violence. The book identifies evolutionary thought as heuristically important in the understanding of terrorism, explores the key conceptual themes, and provides an evolutionary (and cross-species) understanding of the community-wide effects of terrorist attacks. The contributors bring forward innovative ideas and concepts to assist the practitioner, analyst and academic to better understand and respond to the threat of terrorism. In doing so this book challenges existing assumptions about terrorism and those who carry out such acts, in order to move the debate into new areas characterized by an emphasis on intellectual quality and rigour, an interdisciplinary approach, and a drawing together of theory and practice. The intention is to provide a sufficient discussion to enable the reader to both understand the relevance of evolutionary thinking to terrorism and political violence, and to appreciate the practical implications of conceptualising problems in this way. This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism and political violence, psychology, criminology and security studies.

Evolutionary Psychology and Terrorism

Evolutionary Psychology and Terrorism
Author: Max Taylor
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 203
Release: 2015-08-27
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317678354

This book explores the evolutionary context of terrorism and political violence. While evolutionary thinking has come to permeate both biological and social-science theorising, it has not yet been applied systematically to the areas of terrorism and political violence. This volume seeks to do this for the first time. It presents a collection of essays on evolutionary psychology and terrorism, which encourage the reader to approach terrorism from a non-traditional perspective, by developing new approaches to understanding it and those who commit such acts of violence. The book identifies evolutionary thought as heuristically important in the understanding of terrorism, explores the key conceptual themes, and provides an evolutionary (and cross-species) understanding of the community-wide effects of terrorist attacks. The contributors bring forward innovative ideas and concepts to assist the practitioner, analyst and academic to better understand and respond to the threat of terrorism. In doing so this book challenges existing assumptions about terrorism and those who carry out such acts, in order to move the debate into new areas characterized by an emphasis on intellectual quality and rigour, an interdisciplinary approach, and a drawing together of theory and practice. The intention is to provide a sufficient discussion to enable the reader to both understand the relevance of evolutionary thinking to terrorism and political violence, and to appreciate the practical implications of conceptualising problems in this way. This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism and political violence, psychology, criminology and security studies.

The Mind of the Terrorist

The Mind of the Terrorist
Author: Jerrold M. Post
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2007-12-10
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0230608590

In contrast to the widely held assumption that terrorists as crazed fanatics, Jerrold Post demonstrates they are psychologically "normal" and that "hatred has been bred in the bone". He reveals the powerful motivations that drive these ordinary people to such extraordinary evil by exploring the different types of terrorists, from national-separatists like the Irish Republican Army to social revolutionary terrorists like the Shining Path, as well as religious extremists like al-Qaeda and Aum Shinrikyo. In The Mind of the Terrorist, Post uses his expertise to explain how the terrorist mind works and how this information can help us to combat terrorism more effectively.

Evolutionary Psychology and Violence

Evolutionary Psychology and Violence
Author: Richard W. Bloom
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 303
Release: 2003-03-30
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0313057036

Each chapter in this volume poses a public policy issue related to violence, describes aspects of evolutionary psychology that are relative, and then posits public policy recommendations based on this psychological model. Topics covered also include psychopathy, despotism, and suicide bombings. This volume is designed as an accessible way for policymakers outside of academia to learn about new theoretical developments. Evolutionary psychology—a relatively new theoretical model of psychology—provides valuable and exciting insights on human violence and public policy issues related to human violence, from war and terrorism to rape and criminality. To this end, each chapter in this volume poses a public policy issues related to violence, describes aspects of evolutionary psychology that are relative and then posits public policy recommendations based on this psychological model. Topics covered also include psycopathy, despotism, and suicide bombings. This volume, designed as an accessible way for policymakers outside of academia to learn about new theoretical developments, also explodes the myths about evolutionary psychology, such as the false claim that it justifies immoral behavior or focuses only on humans' ugly underbelly. While appealing to policymakers across foundations and agencies, this collection will also interest scholars and teachers focused on evolutionary psychology, public policy, criminal justice, security, public affairs, sociology, and anthropology.

Psychology of Terrorism

Psychology of Terrorism
Author: Bruce Michael Bongar
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 511
Release: 2007
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0195172493

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Understanding Terrorism and Political Violence

Understanding Terrorism and Political Violence
Author: Dipak K. Gupta
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2008-03-25
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1135982821

This book explains the lifecycle of terrorist organizations from an innovative theoretical perspective, combining economics with social psychology. It provides a new approach to understanding human behaviour in organized society, and then uses this to analyze the forces shaping the lifecycle of violent political movements. Economic and rational-choice theorists assume that human beings are motivated only by self-utility, yet terrorism is ultimately an altruistic act in the eyes of its participants. This book highlights the importance of the desire to belong to a group as a motivating factor, and argues that all of us face an eternal trade-off between selfishness and community concern. This hypothesis is explored through four key groups; the IRA in Northern Ireland, Al Qaeda, Hamas, and the Naxalites in India. Through this, the book analyzes the birth, growth, transformation and demise of violent political movements, and ends with an analysis of the conditions which determine the outcome of the war against terrorism. Understanding Terrorism and Political Violence will be essential reading for advanced students of terrorism studies and political science, and of great interest to students of social psychology and sociology.

Suicide Terrorism

Suicide Terrorism
Author: Ami Pedahzur
Publisher: Polity
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2005
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780745633831

Suicide terrorism in its modern form made its first appearance in Lebanon in the early 1980s. Over the last quarter century, terrorist attacks perpetrated by suicide bombers have spread to many corners of the world and have become a major threat for both the governments and citizens of numerous countries. Can this devastating phenomenon be attributed to a specific religion or culture? What are the causes and motivations that lead ordinary people to embark upon suicide attacks? How are potential bombers trained for their mission? And is it possible for democratic governments to effectively cope with this challenge? In this compelling book, Ami Pedazhur investigates the root causes of suicide terrorism and its rapid proliferation in recent years. Drawing on a variety of sources, the book explores the use of human bombs in Lebanon, Israel, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Chechnya, Iraq, and the ostentatious attacks of Al-Qaeda and the global jihad. It is the only book to offer such an in-depth, up-to-date, cross cultural analysis of suicide terrorism in the twenty-first Century.

In the Wake of 9/11

In the Wake of 9/11
Author: Thomas A. Pyszczynski
Publisher: Amer Psychological Assn
Total Pages: 227
Release: 2003
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9781557989543

This text explores the emotions of despair, fear and anger that arose after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in the Autumn of 2001. The authors analyse reactions to the attacks through the lens of terror management theory, an existenial psychological model that explains why humans react the way they do to the threat of death and how this reaction influences their post-threat cognition and emotion. The theory provides ways to understand and reduce terrorism's effect and possibly find resolutions to conflicts involving terrorism. The authors focus primarily on the reaction in the US to the 9/11 attack, but their model is applicable to all instances of terrorism, and they expand their discussion to include the Israeli-Palastinian conflict.

Warlike and Peaceful Societies

Warlike and Peaceful Societies
Author: Agner Fog
Publisher: Open Book Publishers
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2017-10-13
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1783744065

Are humans violent or peaceful by nature? We are both. In this ambitious and wide-ranging book, Agner Fog presents a ground-breaking new argument that explains the existence of differently organised societies using evolutionary theory. It combines natural sciences and social sciences in a way that is rarely seen. According to a concept called regality theory, people show a preference for authoritarianism and strong leadership in times of war or collective danger, but desire egalitarian political systems in times of peace and safety. These individual impulses shape the way societies develop and organise themselves, and in this book Agner argues that there is an evolutionary mechanism behind this flexible psychology. Incorporating a wide range of ideas including evolutionary theory, game theory, and ecological theory, Agner analyses the conditions that make us either strident or docile. He tests this theory on data from contemporary and ancient societies, and provides a detailed explanation of the applications of regality theory to issues of war and peace, the rise and fall of empires, the mass media, economic instability, ecological crisis, and much more. Warlike and Peaceful Societies: The Interaction of Genes and Culture draws on many different fields of both the social sciences and the natural sciences. It will be of interest to academics and students in these fields, including anthropology, political science, history, conflict and peace research, social psychology, and more, as well as the natural sciences, including human biology, human evolution, and ecology.

The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology and Religion

The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology and Religion
Author: James R. Liddle
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 399
Release: 2021
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0199397740

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