July 15, 2005

Creating Terrorists

 by Jeremy

There has been a lot of talk this past week about how it is that a seemingly well adjusted, middle class person could get involved in a plot to exterminate innocent people in a busy subway. Conventional wisdom would have it that there must be something making such a person feel anger or alienation so extreme as to be beyond the comprehension of priveleged people such as ourselves.

I've got an alternate view. I don't believe that a terrorist bomber is the product of a potentially decent person living too long in the crucibel of social injustice.

In short, I think the person we're talking about is a sociopath. And I think that organized jihadists are chillingly adept at spotting, feeding, and instructing young sociopaths. Any social injustice such a person may suffer is certainly an important vector in helping to determine who that person's victims will be, but cannot be meaningfully thought of as a 'root cause.'

And I don't know what makes a person a sociopath, though I'm sure it happens before adolescence and I've always suspected its root causes precede birth, but I don't know.

Here's an interesting illustration, though, of why I'm thinking along these lines. Pretend for a moment that the following list were from a page titled, rather than "Profile of a Sociopath," "Profile of a Jihadist." Could it be any more chillingly exact?

1. Contemptuous of those who seek to understand them
   
   

2. Does not perceive that anything is wrong with them
   
   

3. Authoritarian
   
   

4. Secretive
   
   

5. Paranoid
   
   

6. Only rarely in difficulty with the law, but seeks out situations where their tyrannical behavior will be tolerated, condoned, or admired
   
   

7. Conventional appearance
   
   

8. Goal of enslavement of their victim(s)
   
   

9. Exercises despotic control over every aspect of the victim's life
   
   

10. Has an emotional need to justify their crimes and therefore needs their victim's affirmation (respect, gratitude and love)
    
    

11. Ultimate goal is the creation of a willing victim
    
    

12. Incapable of real human attachment to another
    
    

13. Unable to feel remorse or guilt
    
    

14. Extreme narcissism and grandiose
    
    

15. May state readily that their goal is to rule the world

I'd like to add a sixteenth item; something like:

16. Dangerously open to cultish ideologies that have the potential to awaken or to provide the illusion of justness or entitlement to their violent urges.

UPDATE: It dawned on me that this is a subject one might expect James Hamilton to have something to say about. Sure enough, he posted on this yesterday. And, though his post is much more exhaustive, nuanced (and, you know, written by a qualified mental health professional) he happens to cite the same source, from which the numbered list above was taken, on the characteristics of a psychopath (aka sociopath). Go read James' post. I think the bottom line is that, one way or another, suicide bombers are created by the cynical manipulations of the ideologues who seek to use them, rather than by the social forces of the society at large.

1. Destroy the ideology.

2. Go after the leaders.

Hamilton says those two points don't add up to very much, but that course has been the antidote to fascism in the past. There's no good reason to think it won't work again.

Posted by: Bernard at July 16, 2005 04:39 PM

3. Develop methodologies for identifying 'pre-exploded' psychopaths.

4. Develop effective methods of 'deprogramming' those who have already been exposed to the ideology.

Many 'at risk' are regular attenders of a mosque. The active engagement of the Muslim communities in these tasks is therefore vital.

I would like to add:

5. Empower the women.

Posted by: Steve M at July 19, 2005 08:36 AM

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