NCJ Number
59383
Date Published
1979
Length
21 pages
Annotation
FOCUSING ON PRISON TERRORISM, THE CONCEPT OF TERRORISM IS DEFINED, AND THOSE WHO ENGAGE IN ITS ACTIVITIES ARE IDENTIFIED.
Abstract
THE TECHNIQUES OF THE URBAN TERRORIST CAN FOLLOW SEVERAL COURSES; OFFENSIVE TACTICS SUCH AS SABOTAGE, STRIKES, AND KIDNAPPINGS ARE OFTEN WITNESSED IN THE UNITED STATES. TERRORIST WRITINGS REFER TO THE POLITICAL STRUGGLE, AND STATE THAT PRISONERS HELD BY THE GOVERNMENT ARE, IN REALITY, POLITICAL PRISONERS. THE REVOLUTIONARY PRISONERS IN THIS COUNTRY ARE PERCEIVED AS MINORITY INDIVIDUALS SUBJECTED TO A CLASS STRUGGLE. IF IMPRISONED MEMBERS OF TERRORIST MOVEMENTS SEE THEMSELVES AS POLITICAL PRISONERS, THEN NO AMOUNT OF REHABILITATIVE EFFORT WILL PROVE EFFECTIVE. BECAUSE TERRORIST GROUPS OUTSIDE OF PRISONS CONTINUE TO MAINTAIN LINKS WITH THOSE INSIDE, OPERATIONS MAY BE USED TO LIBERATE PRISONERS, SUCH AS RIOTS AND ASSAULTS ON PENITENTIARIES. HISTORICALLY, MUCH OF THE RECOGNIZED TERRORIST AND REVOLUTIONARY WRITINGS WERE ACCOMPLISHED IN PRISONS, AND PRISONS THEMSELVES HAVE SPAWNED URBAN TERRORIST GROUPS, SUCH AS THE SYMBIONESE LIBERATION ARMY. CURRENTLY, MANY GROUPS ARE ATTEMPTING TO ORGANIZE THE PRISON INMATE POPULATION INTO A GROUP THAT PERCEIVES ITSELF AS POLITICAL PRISONERS. THE EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT ARMED TERRORIST WARFARE AND VIOLENT REVOLUTION ARE THE FINAL AIMS OF THIS MOVEMENT. REFERENCES NOTES AND DIAGRAMS ARE INCLUDED. (LWM)