NCJ Number
213727
Journal
Studies in Conflict & Terrorism Volume: 29 Issue: 2 Dated: March 2006 Pages: 165-185
Date Published
March 2006
Length
21 pages
Annotation
Using Palestinian suicide bombers as an example, this article examines the interaction of rationality, norms, and conflict in causing this extreme act of violence.
Abstract
The study of political violence has long been influenced by rationalist theories, which argue that groups which use terrorist tactics calculate costs and benefits of alternative courses of action, act with purpose, adapt to incentives and opportunities, and use means that are logically linked to their goals. Under this view, the promotion and widespread use of suicide bombers is a rational means of pursuing terrorist goals; however, this perspective does not explain why individual bombers accept the role of being "martyrs" in contributing to organizational objectives. Culturalist approaches to the analysis of terrorism seek to fill this gap by examining the influences that give meaning to specific violent acts. Culturalist views of suicide terrorism argue that suicide bombers are spawned in cultures and subcultures that glorify death as a means of achieving status both in the preplanning stages of the bombing and in the afterlife. A third factor in suicide bombing is the "structural" factor, which pertains to the general environmental conditions under which suicide bombers live. This theory suggests that for collective violence to expand beyond a militant core to attract individuals willing to die in suicidal bombings, there must be a pervasive feeling of collective victimization and a sense that immediate opportunities for a better life are impossible. This synthesis of the rational actor, cultural norms, and environments that breed hopelessness can help explain why there are willing suicide bombers. 51 notes