NCJ Number
62559
Date Published
1978
Length
225 pages
Annotation
HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL MATERIALS ARE APPLIED TO AN EXAMINATION OF THE CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF TERRORISM WITH COMPETING SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES EVALUATED AND PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OFFERED.
Abstract
BECAUSE OF THE DRAMA OF THE TERRORIST ACT AND THE AMPLIFICATION OF THIS DRAMA THROUGH TELEVISION, TERRORISM RECEIVES MORE INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION THAN THE MORE SERIOUS PROBLEMS OF NUCLEAR WAR AND GLOBAL FAMINE. EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT TERRORISM HAS AN INEVITABLE POLITICAL CONTENT, WHETHER THE PERPETRATORS ARE CALLED 'TERRORISTS' OR 'FREEDOM FIGHTERS.' TERRORISM OCCURS FOR A VARIETY OF REASONS WHICH ARE BASED ON THE SUBJECTIVE IDEOLOGIES OF THE TERRORISTS. HOWEVER, THE CONSEQUENCES OF TERRORISM CAN BE MEASURED EMPIRICALLY, AS A MEANS TO QUANTIFIABLE GOALS. BECAUSE THE MOST LIKELY EFFECT OF INSURGENCY IS INTENSIFIED OF GOVERNMENT OPPRESSION, TERRORISM IS A POOR TACTIC FOR REVOLUTION OR REFORM. NEVERTHELESS, AN EXAMINATION OF TERRORIST ACTIONS IN ARGENTINA, CANADA, AND PALESTINE REVEALS THAT INSURGENTS CAN ACHIEVE LIMITED POLITICAL GOALS. DISCUSSION OF THEORIES ON TERRORISM INDICATES THAT BELIEF IN THE REVOLUTIONARY POTENTIAL OF TERRORISM RESTS UPON THE USE OF SMALL-SCALE VIOLENCE TRIGGERING LARGER POLITCAL CONVULSIONS. REGRESSION ANALYSES REVEAL THAT TERRORISM AND PUNITIVE OPPRESSION RESULT FROM MANY OF THE SAME CAUSES, AND THAT THEY EXERT SOME MUTUAL CAUSALITY. THUS, EMPIRICAL SUPPORT EXISTS FOR THE VIEW THAT CONSERVATIVE AND INSURGENT VIOLENCE REPRESENT TWO SIDES OF THE SAME ISSUES. OTHER FACTORS BEING EQUAL, TERRORISM APPEARS MORE LIKELY TO AFFLICT DEMOCRATIC NATIONS THAN AUTOCRACIES. ALTHOUGH DEMOCRACIES OFFER ALTERNATIVE ROUTES TO POLITICAL CHANGE, THEY FUNCTION TOO SLOWLY FOR POTENTIAL TERRORISTS. STATISTICAL DATA ARE APPENDED, AND REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (TWK)