“The Handbook of the Criminology of Terrorism” is a collection of essays based on recent criminological research pertaining to the causes of and response to terrorism viewed from a criminological perspective.
The introductory chapter provides an overview of the radicalization process and reviews some of the leading conceptual models that analyze it. Part II contains six chapters that pertain to the etiology of terrorism, including models that explain the development of radicalization and its various manifestations. Part III contains five chapters on criminological theories of terrorism, including general strain theory, social learning theory, victimization theories, and situational action theory. Part IV contains seven chapters on research methods for studying terrorism, including its measurement, case studies, social network analysis, spatial and temporal analysis interrupted time series analysis, and the use of latent class growth analysis. Part V consists of five chapters on types of terrorism, including “Far Right” terrorism in the United States, “Left-Wing” terrorism, and the tactics used by terrorist groups, such as suicide attacks and assassinations. Part VI consists of six chapters on terrorism and other types of crime, such as hate crime, extremist homicide, financial terror, and maritime terrorism. The concluding Part VII has nine chapters on countering terrorism. Among the topics addressed are empowering communities to prevent violent extremism, how to defend against terrorist plots in the United States, components of an effective counterterrorism strategy, the prosecution of terrorism after 9/11, the role of prison in creating and containing terrorists, countering cyber-terrorism, and risk-assessment for terrorism. Chapter references