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The individual, the group and the psychology of terrorism.
Int Rev Psychiatry. 2007 Jun; 19(3):201-9.IR

Abstract

Northern Ireland lived through a campaign of terrorism for thirty years. This has now ended and substantial progress has been made towards political stability through a long-term peace process. Using his experience as a psychiatrist and psychotherapist, but also as leader of a political party, negotiator in the peace process and subsequently Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Lord Alderdice explores the psychology of political terrorism. He examines the role of individual and group psychology, the evolution and dissolution of a 'group mind', splitting, and the factors that contribute to division and violence. He describes the frustration of healthy pathways for change, and humiliation, shame and rage as key factors in triggering regression into political violence. Containment, respect and a group psychological process are identified as necessary for evolution towards a more healthy state. It is suggested that application of these Northern Irish insights to the issue of terrorism in other places and especially in the Middle East, may open new and more psychologically sophisticated ways of addressing the problem of terrorism.

Links

Publisher Full Text

Authors+Show Affiliations

Lord Alderdice
Centre for Psychotherapy, Belfast. alderdicej@parliament.uk

MeSH

AwarenessGovernment AgenciesGroup ProcessesHumansMass BehaviorMiddle EastNepalNorthern IrelandPeruPoliticsSocial ChangeSouth AfricaTerrorismViolenceWarfare

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article

Language

eng

PubMed ID

17566898

Citation

Lord Alderdice, . "The Individual, the Group and the Psychology of Terrorism." International Review of Psychiatry (Abingdon, England), vol. 19, no. 3, 2007, pp. 201-9.
Lord Alderdice . The individual, the group and the psychology of terrorism. Int Rev Psychiatry. 2007;19(3):201-9.
Lord Alderdice, . (2007). The individual, the group and the psychology of terrorism. International Review of Psychiatry (Abingdon, England), 19(3), 201-9.
Lord Alderdice . The Individual, the Group and the Psychology of Terrorism. Int Rev Psychiatry. 2007;19(3):201-9. PubMed PMID: 17566898.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - The individual, the group and the psychology of terrorism. A1 - Lord Alderdice,, PY - 2007/6/15/pubmed PY - 2007/8/23/medline PY - 2007/6/15/entrez SP - 201 EP - 9 JF - International review of psychiatry (Abingdon, England) JO - Int Rev Psychiatry VL - 19 IS - 3 N2 - Northern Ireland lived through a campaign of terrorism for thirty years. This has now ended and substantial progress has been made towards political stability through a long-term peace process. Using his experience as a psychiatrist and psychotherapist, but also as leader of a political party, negotiator in the peace process and subsequently Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Lord Alderdice explores the psychology of political terrorism. He examines the role of individual and group psychology, the evolution and dissolution of a 'group mind', splitting, and the factors that contribute to division and violence. He describes the frustration of healthy pathways for change, and humiliation, shame and rage as key factors in triggering regression into political violence. Containment, respect and a group psychological process are identified as necessary for evolution towards a more healthy state. It is suggested that application of these Northern Irish insights to the issue of terrorism in other places and especially in the Middle East, may open new and more psychologically sophisticated ways of addressing the problem of terrorism. SN - 0954-0261 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/17566898/The_individual_the_group_and_the_psychology_of_terrorism_ L2 - https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09540260701346825 DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -