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The Psychology of Terrorism:

BY : -
ANIL KUMAR(10/PBT/02)
PRASHANT KUMAR(I0/PBT/012)
SARVESH RUSTAGI(10/PBT/018)
SHASHANK MATHUR(10/PBT/019)
M.TECH(BIOTECH)2 YEAR
OVERVIEW
• Definition
• Typologies

• Goal

• Tactics

• Effectiveness

• Ineffectiveness

• Predisposing Conditions

• Characteristics

• History

• Psychology

• Fighting Back
DEFINITION
Terrorist:

What comes to mind?


Terrorism Defined
•Webster’s: the use of force or threats to
demoralize, intimidate and subjugate,
especially as a political weapon

•World Book: the use or threat of violence


to create fear and alarm
What Is Terrorism?

•A complicated phenomenon
•Specialized form of political violence

•Viscous species of psychological warfare

•The target is different from the intended audience

•The goal is not to kill, but to make an impact on another

•The goal is symbolism

-Dr. Jerrold Post


4 Targets:

1. Innocent victims: WTC, people on planes

2. The class: terror of aviation industry, NY

3. The coerced: unless you do this, we’ll . . .

4. Target of influence: the West or establishment


TYPOLOGIES
Q: How is terrorism different from
other movements that have gained
national control?
(e.g.. Nazis, Stalin, Italian fascists)

A: We need to think of terrorism


as a spectrum.
The Spectrum of Terrorism
The Spectrum of Terrorism
There are different ways to group them:

• International v. domestic

• Common goal v. lone offender

•Religious, political, socioeconomic, criminal or


psychopathological

(There is cross-over)
Dr. Post’s Classification System:

1. Political terrorists*

2. Criminal terrorists

3. Psychopathological terrorists
Political Terrorism:
1. State: The state uses weapons of the state
against its own people. (Hitler, Saddam
Hussein)

2. State-supported: The state uses its


weapons to attack another country.

3. Sub-state:* A small group within the state


is trying to use violence to accomplish its
own goal. (6 kinds)
Classifications of Terrorism:
Psychopath-
Criminal Political
ological

State Sub- State-


State: Supported

1. Social revolutionary
2. National separatist
3. Religious Fundamental
4. New Religious
5. Right wing
6. Single issue
Sub-state Terrorism
(Loyalty of family to regime)

Loyalty (L) Disloyalty (D)


LL: LD:
(Loyalty
-at one with regime National separatists:
of youth L
-no terrorism -loyalty to disloyalty
to
-family mission
family)
DL: DD: ?
D Social revolutionaries: -rebellious children of
-disloyalty to loyalty liberal parents
-rebel against old way
Sub-state Terrorism:
1. Social revolutionaries: rebel against corrupt
old ways (e.g. Baader-Meinhof gang in
Germany)

-"Our youth is turning on us!"


-In 1971, German authorities
printed millions of these
wanted posters.
Sub-state Terrorism:
2. National separatists: trying to carry on the
family mission (e.g. Palestinian terrorists,
Northern Irelanders)
Sub-state Terrorism:
3. Religious Fundamentalists: They kill in the
name of God. (e.g. Usama Bin Laden, abortion
clinic bombers)
" You shall not stand aside while your fellow's blood is shed.''
-Leviticus 19:16
" You shall not stand aside while your fellow's blood is shed.''
-Leviticus 19:16
Sub-state Terrorism:
4. New Religion: cults defending new religions,
e.g. Shinrikyo in Japan (sarin gas in subway)

Thousands were
injured in the gas
attack.
Sub-state Terrorism:
5. Right Wing: They see the government as the
enemy and illegitimate. (e.g. Neo-Nazis,
Timothy McVeigh, Klu Klux Klan)
Sub-state Terrorism:
6. Single Issue: e.g. animal rights, ecologic terrorism
(Usually single people willing to kill.)

South Korean
animal rights
activists protest in
Seoul .
GOAL
What is the goal of terrorism?
“ The cause is not the cause”
They are convinced that they’re acting on behalf

of the moral character of their group.

They are “agents of righteousness” in the battle


between darkness and “truth.”

• The cause is the justification for violence.

The cause is an outlet for anger.



Psychological Goals:
• Outlet for anger
• Convenient vehicle for change

• Stirs up enthusiasm & excitement

• Source of hope for the future

• Provides a sense of power

• A sense importance & purpose by an identification

with a holy cause


• Overcoming feelings of incompetence: feeling

potent/ strong.
Psychological Goals:

“Faith in a holy cause is to a considerable extent a


substitute for the lost faith in ourselves.”
- Eric Hoffer, The True Believer

•When we lose faith in ourselves, we give


ourselves over to the group.

•This “Self = bad, Group =good” thinking gives


way to self-sacrifice.
The Goal of Jihad:
• “jihad:” "holy war," "righteous struggle" against the
Western world.
- To endeavor, to strive, to struggle

• Fundamentalist Islamic hatred for the West

•They see Western civilization as the greatest challenge to


the way of life that they wish to retain or restore for their
people.

•Islamic fundamentalists are ultimately struggling against


the dramatic changes brought about by secularism and
modernism
The Goal of Jihad:

“And what is wrong with you that you fight not


in the Cause of Allah, and for those weak,
ill-treated and oppressed among men, women,
and children, whose cry is: ‘Our Lord! Rescue
us from this town whose people are oppressors;
and raise for us from You one who will protect,
and raise for us from You one who will help.’ "
[Soorah an-Nisaa'(4): 75]
The Goal of Jihad:
•Bin Laden: “The mission is to fight the Pagans all
together, and fight them until there is no more
tumult or oppression.”
•Bin Laden, 1998: “In compliance with God’s
order, we issue the following fatwa to all
Muslims: The ruling to kill the Americans and
their allies - civilians and military - is an
individual duty for every Muslim . . . This is in
accordance with the words of the Almighty God.”
Islam Shuns Suicide-Bombing:

“Whoever kills himself with an iron weapon, then the


iron weapon will remain in his hand, and he will
continuously stab himself in his belly with it in the
Fire of Hell eternally, forever and ever.”
-from a sacred Muslim commentary

Thus, suicide bombers would blow themselves up


through eternity.
TACTICS
How do they accomplish this goal?
• They call attention to their cause.

• Weapon of the weak. Anyone can be a terrorist.

•One could say that the violence of the Palestinians


is helping them to move closer to their own state.

•Question: Is it random violence and striking out,


or a directed movement towards a cause?
EFFECTIVENESS
What makes terrorism so effective?
• Captures our attention

•A small group is able


to throw our nation
into a recession

• Violence as
communication

•Viscous species, a
virus
INEFFECTIVENESS
What makes terrorism ineffective?
• Virus analogy: eventually
burn themselves out
- The WTC center attack is
even more so a virus
analogy.
- The terrorists literally used
our own technology against
us. [New York Times
analogy]

•They can’t win militarily,


so they try to win by
calling attention to self/
scaring/ wounding.
PREDISPOSING
CONDITIONS
Predisposing Conditions:

• “There are NO mass


movements of hatred in
prosperity.” -Dr. Post

•Factors that generate


groups striking out:
- Low economic progress
- Controlling government
- No equal opportunity
- Oppression, humiliation
Imagine . . .
“You are brought up from childhood in a culture where there is total
poverty, a medieval set of surroundings with not even a decent toilet,
repression of your racial and religious group, and all the adults around
you filled with hatred of those whom they are convinced are the
oppressors, riots, lack of proper schooling, nothing to do, no hope and
observing your older brothers brutalized, beaten, seriously injured, and
incarcerated by the police or occupying soldiers. Immersed in that
milieu will you not begin viewing the world as consisting of “we” and
“they” in which “they” are no longer thought of as human but as
monsters who should be destroyed? Remember ‘zap the Jap’ from
WWII? Did this not lead to the bombing of Hiroshima? . . . Are you
then not ready for a ‘holy war’ even if it costs your life?”

-Richard Chessick, Archaic Sadism


Is there another solution?
• “The Birds of Cypress”
- This was a phenomenon in
1971.
- From 1963-1968 the Green
Cypriots forced the Turks in
Cypress to live in Ghettos, a
5-year imprisonment.

•Symbolic, non-violent,
inanimate object

•Peaceful, sublimated means of


dealing with oppression,
humiliation and political stress
CHARACTERISTICS
Characteristics:
• Small, with seldom more than 100 members.
• Tight-knit, radical organizations.

• Today, we see more loosely knit groups with


branches in other countries (Taliban).
• Ethnically and politically homogenous.

• Often made up of friends & relatives, thus difficult


to infiltrate.
• Seldom operate from one location.

• Relatively little training and use of unsophisticated


equipment.
• Funded by crime and/or drugs.
HISTORY
A Bloody History:
• 1800s: Terrorism emerged in Europe. Early anarchists zeroed in on
symbols of state power by throwing bombs at czars.

• 1901: An anarchist killed Pres. McKinley in NY, leading to the


swearing in of Theodore Roosevelt.

• 1914: A Serbian terrorist killed Austrian Archduke Ferdinand in


Sarajevo, resulting in WWI.

• Since the 1960s and 1970s: terrorism re-emerged in 3 waves:


- 1960s and 1970s: IRA, Focus on a single nation.
- 1970s and 1980s: International, sponsored by Libya, Iran, Syria.
Took hostages for demands (1972 Munich Olympics massacre).
- 1990s to present: Private organizations (bin Laden), international.
Unlike predecessors, use suicide bombers, not hostages. Seldom
claim responsibility. The audience is Allah.
PSYCHOLOGY
Psychology of Terrorism:

1. Theories on Aggression

2. Terrorist Profile
Freud:
“ Homo homini lupus”

• There is a powerful instinctual aggressiveness in humans.

• “The satisfaction of the instinct is accompanied by an


extraordinarily high degree of narcissistic enjoyment.”

•All humans are born with a primal biological archaic


aggressive-destructive drive, the gratification of which
gives satisfaction just like the sexual drive.
Freud (1930): Civilization is charged with

helping the individual sublimate this drive.

Spengler (1962): Faustian projects, such as


building skyscrapers or sending men to Mars.


Chessick:
• Our society encourages hostile control fantasies.

•Why do torturers often have orgasms and ejaculations


while torturing their victims?

• The victim is an “object” of sexual sadism.

• This sadism, sexual or otherwise, is present in us all.

• War is a socially accepted form of discharging it.


Volkan (1985):
•Man’s need to identify some people as allies
and others as enemies

•A need to protect the individual’s sense of


self

•This is intertwined with his experiences of


ethnicity, nationality and religion
Radical Islam: Terrorist Profile
Are they crazed psychotics?

• Could a normal person do this?

•The Al Queda terrorists were all psychologically


“normal.”

•Terrorist groups expel emotionally disturbed


people - they are a security risk. (Dr. Post)
Are they crazed psychotics?
• When asked how they could justify killing
innocent victims, one interviewed terrorist said:

• “I am not a murderer. A murderer is


someone with a psychological problem; our
actions have a goal. Even if civilians are
killed it is not because we like it or are blood
thirsty. It is a fact of life in a people’s
struggle. The group doesn’t do it because it
wants to kill civilians, but because the jihad
must go on.”
What draws them in?

“It’s
not a phenomenon of individual psychology, it’s an
organizational phenomenon.”
-Ariel Merari, professor

•What we need to understand is not why bombers do it but


how they are recruited and trained.

•Bottom Line: A meaningful death is better than a


pointless life.

• “His life is not cheap because he is fearless and brave.


He offers the only thing he has.”
-Muslim Engineering student
Motivation:

• Keys to paradise
• Direct path to heaven

• Promise of no pain

• Rewards to family

• Fame and glory

• Martyrdom
72 Black-Eyed Virgins

Await the martyrs in paradise.


The Wedding:
• The death of a martyr is routinely announce in the
Palestinian press not as an obituary but as a wedding:
“The Wedding of the Martyr Ali Khadr Al-Yassini to the
Black-Eyed in Eternal Paradise.”
-Palestinian Press

• “You should feel complete tranquility because the time


between you and your marriage in heaven is very short.”
-Mohammed Atta, eve of battle instructions for Sept. 11
“ Istishad”

“This is not suicide. Suicide is selfish, reflects


mental weakness. This is “istishad” (martyrdom or
self-sacrifice in the service of Allah.”

-Interviewed terrorist
Terrorist Profile: Old vs. New
• Israel Bombers • New Terrorists
- 17-22 yrs old - 28-35 yrs old
- Male, single, young - Male, married, older
- Uneducated - Had higher education
- Unemployed - Financially comfortable
- Unmarried - From middle class families
- Dispirited youth - Lived in West (sometimes for
- Bleak future years) exposed to opportunity
- Recruited hours before - Blended in with society
- “Brainwashed” for honor - Ignored the dress, customs and
and family status grooming of traditional Muslims
- Not left alone until act - Left alone, far away, for years.
complete Not “brainwashed,” but rather
“true believers”
What makes them kill after they
have tasted the American life?
• “Necessity permits the forbidden.”

•Al Queda operations manual says: Allah will


forgive you for not living the good life of a
Muslim if it is in the service of Jihad.

• Thus, once they have tasted the American good


life, and “bitten from the forbidden fruit” so to
speak, they are bound to carry out the mission -
their only salvation for paradise.
FIGHTING BACK
Fighting Back:

What can we, as psychiatrists,


and more generally, as a society do to counter
the psychological weapons of the terrorists?
Fighting Back:
1. Group psychology: inhibit joiners in the first
place. Give people a space/ place to voice
frustrations.

2. Produce distention within the group.

3. Facilitate exit from the group

4. Discredit group: marginalize people out of it


“ Breaking the Triangle”
•The media provides the international, dramatic
stage for terrorism.

• It becomes a sensational media event.

•Thus, it facilitates a triangle between the terrorists,


the media and us. The terrorist’s threat is
broadcast into our living room.

•Terrifying fantasies and “what if” scenarios add to


their power.
“ Breaking the Triangle”
•By participating in the media frenzy, we become
part of the triangle.

•We become a tool used by the terrorists to


promote themselves.

•The terrorized as the terrorist: The terrorized


paradoxically functions as a terrorist when he/she
joins the triangle, propagating fear.
Objectives
Discuss issues regarding professionalism in
computer forensics
Take into consideration legal and ethical issues
Indicate implications for practitioners
Discuss what professionalism means for you as
students
Context for Professionalism in
Computer Forensics
Computing is a new discipline
Computer forensics is a new discipline
Principles of forensic science have been in public
domain for over 100 years
Context for Professionalism in
Computer Forensics
Computer forensics does not yet have a
central body which will only admit members
when they have reached a certain skill level –
although register of practitioners in CRFP is
moving in this direction
There is no disciplinary board which can stop
transgressors from practising
There is no accepted framework for ethical
principles or professional standards
Four Hallmarks of a Profession
A durable domain of human concerns
A codified body of principles (conceptual
knowledge)
A codified body of practices (embodied knowledge
including competence)
Standards for competence, ethics and practice

from Denning , P., (2001) ‘The profession of IT’ in Communications of the ACM, Vol 44
Components of
Professionalism in Computer
Forensics
Competence – relevant up to date skills; relevant
experience, knowledge and understanding; relevant
qualifications; CPD
Personal integrity – code of ethics, responsibility and
accountability – beyond contractual obligation to
employer
Components of
Professionalism in Computer
Forensics
Public obligation – public good, social responsibility,
contribution to the profession
Part of a recognised professional body – being part of
that community is an essential part of being a
professional
Computer Forensics as a
Profession?
To be a professional one needs to be aware
that the rest of the world is not part of that
profession !
Majority of the general public are excluded
from computer forensics
Majority of computer professionals are not
skilled in computer forensics
Many computer forensics practitioners come
from other disciplines (of computing and from
other areas, eg audit)
Computer Forensics as a
Profession?
Attitudes to computer forensics
Academic
Application of computer science
Application of forensic science
Narrow specialism
Aligned to computer security
Core discipline
Ethical Behaviour in Computer
Forensics
There is a very fine line between what is acceptable
and what is deemed to be malpractice
Computer Forensics exists in an ethical grey area
Often need to balance self motivation versus legal
constraints and procedural considerations
Ethical Behaviour in Computer
Forensics
Need to understand the ethical responsibility
in Computer Forensics work is to:
Self
Profession
Clients
Subjects
Courts
Society
Computer Forensics Ethical
Standards
What is worse?
Failing to convict the guilty
Convicting the innocent
The role of the investigator is to expose the
evidence from a neutral point of view
The Auld Report states that
“It is the duty of an expert to help the court on the
matters within his expertise. The duty overrides
any obligation to the person from whom he has
received instruction or by whom he is paid”
Psychology of Investigation
Evaluate the allegation
Who made it ?
Is there a hidden agenda ?
Avoid presumption of guilt
Avoid desire to win
Show all the evidence both contrary and supporting
the accusation
Psychology of Investigation
Ask yourself the questions
Could the person be innocent ?
Could someone else have done it ?
Keep an open mind
Be impartial
Be rigorous and professional
Computer Forensics
Practitioners Require
Awareness
To help in making decisions about “doing the right
thing”.
To provide material in defending or justifying a
particular position.
To protect you as a practitioner.
To consider in terms of practitioner and system
liability.
To maintain evidential integrity.
Questioning the Law
Is the law always ethical ?
Is the law good and just ?
Was apartheid legislation ethical ?
Just because an act or set of circumstances is
permitted in computing does not mean that it is
ethical.
Areas of Knowledge
What laws to consider ?
What impact the laws might have on a particular
activity
Critical analysis
Are the laws appropriate ?
 Are there contradictions in legal provision?
Can the laws be applied to computer forensics ?
Should the laws be challenged ?
Example of Regulations to
Consider
Data Protection Act 1998
Right of access, Right to prevent processing, Right to
compensation
Computer Misuse Act 1990 and Computer Misuse
(Amendment) Act 2002
Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000
Example of Regulations to
Consider
Human Rights Act 1998
Disability Discrimination Act (1995) and Special
Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001
Example of Regulations to
Consider
Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001
ISPs (Internet Service Providers) keep track of their
customers’ activities over a period of 12 months
Freedom of Information Act 2000 and Freedom of
Information (Scotland) Act 2002
Example of Regulations to
Consider
Theft Act 1968, 1978
Protection from Harassment Act 1997
Obscene Publications Act 1959
Protection of Children Act 1978
Criminal Justice Act 1988
Example of Regulations to
Consider
Sexual Offences Act 2003
Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001
Patents Act 1977 and the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988
Intellectual Property, Copyright Law, Patent Law,
Trademarks and Passing-off
Design Right (Semiconductor Regulations) 1989
Professional Behaviour in
Computer Forensics
Enhance the resolution of crime involving
computers and reduce cyber crime
Ensure robust, reliable, valid and safe processes and
procedures
Comply with ethical and legal expectations
Professional Behaviour in
Computer Forensics
Enhance public confidence in computer forensics
Enhance computer security
Promote awareness and understanding
Requires the ability and competence to make
appropriate decisions
Areas of Professional
Responsibility
Litigation and Liability
Certification and Licence to practice
Compliance
For example web sites with Disability Discrimination Act
Audit
Dealing with contradictions
Professional and ethical responsibility
Organisational regulation and policy
computing action may be legal but against company
policy, e.g. Internet transactions on work computers, e-
mail language
Certification and Licence to
Practice
Should computer forensics practitioners be
certified or accredited through a licence to
practice?
What does accreditation mean ?
Who would benefit from certification ?
What would be the impact of a statutory computer
forensics licence
What is the role of experience ?
Should an accrediting body have power of licence
Attempts have been made in the State of Texas
(see Bagert 2002)

Bagert, D. J. (2002) ‘Texas licensing of software engineers: all’s quiet


for now’, in Communications of the ACM, Vol 45, No. 11
Accreditation 1
Who should accredit ?
Existing Computing Professional Bodies
 British Computer Society (BCS), Institution of Engineering and
Technology (IET), Association of Computing Machinery (ACM)
Forensic Science Body
 Council for Registration of Forensics Practitioners (digital evidence
practitioners)
Computer Forensic Body
 International Association of Computer Investigative Specialists
(IACIS)
 High Technology Crime Investigation Association (HTCIA)
 Institute for Computer Forensic Practitioners (ICFP)
Accreditation 2
What
University courses
Training courses
Practice
How
Review
Professional exam
Portfolio
Ongoing evidence of CPD
Continuous Professional
Development
Certification an registration with professional body only the
first step
Responsibility to maintain up to date technical knowledge
and expertise
 Computer forensics issues
 Digital forensics
 Technical developments
 Cyber crime
 Law
Reflection (audit?) on ethical conduct and standards of
behaviour ?
Annual report to professional body ?
Professional Duties for a
Computer Forensics
Professional
Professional Skills
Technical – evolving all the time
Maintaining evidential integrity and evidential
continuity
Problem solving
Case building
Ethical considerations
Management and Leadership Skills
Professional Duties for a
Computer Forensics
Professional
Personal duties
Work toward self-improvement
 technical, inter-personal
Develop professional relationships
‘Position’ skills
Such as confidentiality and impartiality
Raising awareness and promoting the discipline
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Potentially an issue in computer forensics
So far little research has been done in this area
Emotive and horrendous cases
Difficult to switch off from work
Need to have mechanism of support
Peer support
External counselling
Constant exposure potentially leading to
desensitising ?
Summary
Computer forensics is in a state of development as a
profession
There is a need to formalise the role and the
profession
There are a complex set of issues and challenges
which face computer forensics practitioners

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