WOMAN AS TERRORIST (FROM CRIMINOLOGY OF DEVIANT WOMEN, 1979, BY FREDA ADLER AND RITA JAMES SIMON - SEE NCJ-56469)

• NCJ Number: 56473
• Author(s): H H A COOPER
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 8 pages
• Corporate Author: Houghton Mifflin Co
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

THE SCOPE OF FEMALE INVOLVEMENT IN TERRORISM IS CONSIDERED, ALONG WITH THE UNIQUE PSYCHODYNAMICS OF THE FEMALE TERRORIST.

Abstract

NOT ONLY HAVE WOMEN PROVEN THEMSELVES EXCELLENT TERRORIST MATERIAL, BUT THEY ARE ALSO TENDING MORE AND MORE TO TAKE DOMINANT ROLES, BOTH QUANTITATIVELY AND QUALITATIVELY, IN MANY OF THE MORE FORMIDABLE EXTREMIST GROUPS OPERATING THROUGHOUT THE WORLD TODAY. IT HAS BEEN ESTIMATED THAT APPROXIMATELY ONE-HALF OF THE ACTIVE TERRORISTS IN WEST GERMANY ARE WOMEN, WHILE IN OTHER COUNTRIES WOMEN TERRORISTS HAVE BECOME THE MAJORITY. THE SYMBIONESE LIBERATION ARMY, PERHAPS MOST NOTED FOR ITS KIDNAPPING OF PATTY HEARST, HAD A MAJORITY OF ACTIVE FEMALE MEMBERS ALTHOUGH ITS TITULAR LEADER WAS A MAN. THE LACK OF COMPREHENSION OF WOMAN AS TERRORIST IS A SEVERE HANDICAP TO THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR DESIGNING APPROPRIATE COUNTERMEASURES. HITHERTO, THE RESPONSES TO FEMALE TERRORISM HAVE BEEN LITTLE MORE THAN ADAPTATIONS OR MODIFICATIONS OF THOSE USED AGAINST MEN. A FAILURE TO PERCEIVE THE DISTINCTIVE PSYCHOLOGY OF WOMEN IN THE TERRORIST ROLE CAN LEAD TO DISASTROUS FAILURES IN COUNTERMEASURE TACTICS. THE TERRORIST, WHO CUSTOMARILY OPERATES OUT OF A SENSE OF POWERLESSNESS AND A FEELING OF BEING EXPLOITED BY THOSE WHO HOLD THE TRADITIONAL REINS OF POWER, HAS LOW SELF-ESTEEM COMPOUNDED WHEN THE TERRORIST IS A WOMAN, BECAUSE OF SEXIST CONDITIONING. WOMEN TERRORISTS ARE NOTABLY COLD, INSENSITIVE, EXTREMELY HOSTILE, AND APPARENTLY DEVOID OF RELATIONAL CAPABILITIES. BECAUSE OF THE DISTINCTIVE PSYCHODYNAMICS OF THE FEMALE TERRORIST, SHE MAY BE LESS INTERESTED IN ACHIEVING THE OBJECTIVES OF THE MOVEMENT TO WHICH SHE HAS BECOME ATTACHED THAN IN ACTING OUT IN A CATHARTIC MANNER THE EXPLOSIVE BITTERNESS THAT DOMINATES HER PSYCHE. WHERE WOMEN RATHER THAN MEN LEAD A TERRORIST MOVEMENT, IT IS EXPECTED THAT BEHAVIOR PATTERNS WILL BE PERVADED BY THE SENSE OF THEMSELVES AS WOMEN AND A NIHILISTIC HOSTILITY THAT PRECLUDES RATIONAL NEGOTIATION AND COMPROMISE. REFERENCES ARE FOOTNOTED. (RCB)