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The psychology of suicide terrorism.
Psychiatry. 2009 Spring; 72(1):13-31.P

Abstract

This paper reviews current understandings of the psychology of suicide terrorism for psychiatrists and other mental health professionals to help them better understand this terrifying phenomenon. After discussing key concepts and definitions, the paper reviews both group and individual models for explaining the development of suicide terrorists, with an emphasis on "collective identity." Stressing the importance of social psychology, it emphasizes the "normality" and absence of individual psychopathology of the suicide bombers. It will discuss the broad range of terrorisms, but will particularly emphasize terrorism associated with militant Islam. The article emphasizes that comprehending suicide terrorism requires a multidisciplinary approach that includes anthropological, economic, historical, and political factors as well as psychological ones. The paper concludes with a discussion of implications for research, policy, and prevention, reviewing the manner in which social psychiatric knowledge and understandings applied to this phenomenon in an interdisciplinary framework can assist in developing approaches to counter this deadly strategy.

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Publisher Full Text

Authors+Show Affiliations

Post JM
Terrorism and Political Violence Committee of the Group for Advancement of Psychiatry. jpost@gwu.edu
Ali F
No affiliation info available
Henderson SW
No affiliation info available
Shanfield S
No affiliation info available
Victoroff J
No affiliation info available
Weine S
No affiliation info available

MeSH

ArabsExplosionsHumansIslamPoliticsPsychiatryPsychology, SocialReligion and PsychologySuicideTerrorism

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article
Review

Language

eng

PubMed ID

19366292

Citation

Post, Jerrold M., et al. "The Psychology of Suicide Terrorism." Psychiatry, vol. 72, no. 1, 2009, pp. 13-31.
Post JM, Ali F, Henderson SW, et al. The psychology of suicide terrorism. Psychiatry. 2009;72(1):13-31.
Post, J. M., Ali, F., Henderson, S. W., Shanfield, S., Victoroff, J., & Weine, S. (2009). The psychology of suicide terrorism. Psychiatry, 72(1), 13-31. https://doi.org/10.1521/psyc.2009.72.1.13
Post JM, et al. The Psychology of Suicide Terrorism. Psychiatry. 2009;72(1):13-31. PubMed PMID: 19366292.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - The psychology of suicide terrorism. AU - Post,Jerrold M, AU - Ali,Farhana, AU - Henderson,Schuyler W, AU - Shanfield,Steven, AU - Victoroff,Jeff, AU - Weine,Stevan, PY - 2009/4/16/entrez PY - 2009/4/16/pubmed PY - 2009/6/27/medline SP - 13 EP - 31 JF - Psychiatry JO - Psychiatry VL - 72 IS - 1 N2 - This paper reviews current understandings of the psychology of suicide terrorism for psychiatrists and other mental health professionals to help them better understand this terrifying phenomenon. After discussing key concepts and definitions, the paper reviews both group and individual models for explaining the development of suicide terrorists, with an emphasis on "collective identity." Stressing the importance of social psychology, it emphasizes the "normality" and absence of individual psychopathology of the suicide bombers. It will discuss the broad range of terrorisms, but will particularly emphasize terrorism associated with militant Islam. The article emphasizes that comprehending suicide terrorism requires a multidisciplinary approach that includes anthropological, economic, historical, and political factors as well as psychological ones. The paper concludes with a discussion of implications for research, policy, and prevention, reviewing the manner in which social psychiatric knowledge and understandings applied to this phenomenon in an interdisciplinary framework can assist in developing approaches to counter this deadly strategy. SN - 0033-2747 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/19366292/The_psychology_of_suicide_terrorism_ L2 - https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1521/psyc.2009.72.1.13 DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -