The Enviromental Effects On Terrorism Essay Research

  • Просмотров 268
  • Скачиваний 6
  • Размер файла 16
    Кб

The Enviromental Effects On Terrorism Essay, Research Paper “The FBI defines three types of terrorists: (1) a leader with a strong commitment to their groups belief system; (2) an “activist operator” who often has a criminal background and implements their groups agenda; and (3) an idealist who finds a sense of purpose in his commitment to their group.” (Kressel, 82) In the field of psychology, it is the psychologists duty to try to come up with theories or correlations, which help people group and identify terrorist or terroristic behavior, quickly and consistantly. There are many common assumptions about the common terrorist, but there are no true or definite catagories to place them in. A terrorist is formed by his environment either through ways of social

interaction, their economy class, media influence or simply societal expectation. The social learning theory of Bandura emphasizes the importance of observing and modeling the behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions of others. Bandura stated that learning would be exceedingly laborious, not to mention hazardous, if people had to rely solely on the effects of their own actions to inform them what to do. He believed that most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling. From observing others he believed that one could form an idea of how new behaviors are preformed. This theory explains human behavior in terms of continuous reciprocal interaction between cognitive, behavioral, and environmental influences. The social learning theory has been applied extensively

to the understanding of aggression (Bandura, 1973) and psychological disorders, particularly in the context of behavior modification (Bandura, 1969). It is also the theoretical foundation for the technique of behavior modeling which is widely used in training programs. The most common examples of social learning situations are television commercials. Commercials suggest that drinking a certain beverage or using a particular hair shampoo will make us popular and win the admiration of attractive people. Depending upon the component processes involved, we try to model the behavior shown in the commercial and buy the product being advertised. By looking at Bandura’s Social Learning Theory as it relates to terrorists and their activity, it shows that if a person sees a terroristic

attack on television and the controversy it causes and the so called fame that the terrorist recieves he or she may learn that behavior. Criminologist Edwin H. Sutherland’s theory of Differential Association states that criminal behavior is leaned behavior and learned via social interaction. He based his theory upon the work of Shaw and McKay, Chicago school theorists. He drew upon three major theories from the Chicago School to formulate his theory. These included the ecological and cultural transmission theory, symbolic interactionism, and culture conflict. He explained varying crime rates by the culture conflict approach and the process by which individuals became criminal was expressed by the symbolic interactionism approach. These helped him form his theory with an attempt

to explain not only indivudual criminal behavior but also the behavior of societal groups, such as the Muslim Extremists. In his findings Sutherland came to the conclusion that patterns in association would differ from person to person. He believed that crime came from a conflicting value system. He based his theory on the social environment and its effects on people and what they gain from their environment. Sutherland based his theory upon nine postulates: 1. Criminal behavior is learned. 2. Criminal behavior is learned in interaction with other persons in a process of communication. 3. The majority of criminal behavior occurs within intimate personal groups. 4. When criminal behavior is learned, the learning includes techniques of committing the crime, which range from being