NCJ Number
169292
Date Published
1989
Length
32 pages
Annotation
This paper examines some of the problems of classifying and developing a typology for terrorism.
Abstract
It first examines Arblaster's critique of writings on terrorism in the 1970's so as to outline the basic academic problems of the subject. The author then examines a primitive typology of terrorism; and from the problems it exhibits, he develops the variables central to the study of terrorism as part of the general subject area of political violence. The author advises that "terrorism" as a concept in political science is becoming less useful. It may be useful to study those circumstances in which violence is used as a weapon of political intimidation, but few writers on terrorism do this. They tend to study all the ways in which violence is used politically by people of whom they disapprove. This paper focuses on patterns of political violence that are prevalent in the contemporary world and the extent to which they can be classified and typed. An outline of the variables involved in the study of political violence includes the scale of the violence, the size and power of the perpetrator, the target, the means, intention, effect, time scale, precedents, cost, and response. In presenting scenarios of politically motivated violence, the author focuses on those aspects of the phenomena that involve small, organized groups that use protracted campaigns of violence to obtain political demands. This is because this is the essential aspect of "terrorism" that unites analysts of the subject. 5 tables and 23 footnotes