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Learning From The Past and Planning For The Future
MENTAL HEALTH MOMENT October 18, 2002 "In life, all good things come hard, but wisdom is the hardest to come by." - Lucille Ball
Short Subjects
LINKS Mental Health Moment Online
CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS:
Basic and Advanced Critical Incident Stress Management Workshops
November 22-23, 2002
Holiday Inn
Casper, WY
Co-sponsored by:
Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health InstituteAnd Snowy Range A.S.I.S.T. CISM Team14 CEUs each
"Religious Aspects of Domestic Violence" November 24, 2002
Holiday Inn
Casper, WY
co-sponsored by:
Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health InstituteAnd The Governor's Domestic Violence Elimination (DoVE) Council4 CEUs
The Australasian Critical Incident
Stress Association Conference
The Right Response in the
21st Century
Location: Carlton Crest Hotel
Melbourne Australia
Friday October 3, 2003 thru
Sunday October 5, 2003
For further information
please contact the conference organisers
ammp@optushome.com.auX Mexican Congress of Psychology
October 23 - 25, 2002
Location: Acapulco, MEXICO
3rd Ibero-American Congress on
Clinical and Health Psychology
November 20 - 23, 2002
Location: Caracas, VENEZUELA
Contact: Zuleyma Perez
Alcabala a Puente Anauco
Edificio Puente Anauco Piso # 2
Apartamento # 27
La Candelaria, Caracas (Venezuela)
Tel./Fax: (+58) 212-5713060
Email: apicsavenezuela@cantv.net
apicsa@attglobal.net
2002 BERLIN CONFERENCE ON
THE HUMAN DIMENSIONS
OF GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE
December 6 - 7, 2002
Location: Berlin, GERMANY
Contact: Frank Biermann, Chair
DVPW Environmental Policy and
Global Change Section
biermann@pik-potsdam.de or
Sabine Campe, Manager
2002 Berlin Conference
sabine.campe@pik-potsdam.de
VIII European Conference
on
Traumatic Stress (ECOTS)
May 22 - 25 2003
Location: Berlin
GERMANY
Contact:
Scientific Secretariat
VIII ECOTS Berlin 2003
c/o Catholic University of
Applied Social Sciences
Koepenicker Allee 39-57
D-10318 Berlin
Tel: +49-30-50 10 10 54
Fax: +49-30-50 10 10 88
E-mail:
trauma-conference@kfb-berlin.de
Deadlines:
Registration
31 October 200227th Congress of the
World Federation for
Mental Health
February 21-26, 2003
Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
Contact: ICMS Pty Ltd
(Congress Secretariat)
84 Queensbridge Street
Southbank VIC 3006, Australia
Tel: 61 3 9682 0244
Fax: 61 3 9682 0288
E-mail: wfmh2003@icms.com.au
WHAT'S IN THE NEWS: TALLY OF TERROR
In the latest edition of "What's in the News," a current events series for school children produced by Penn State Public Broadcasting, viewers will learn about the circumstances behind Saddam Hussein's rise and stranglehold on power in Iraq. Americans might despise Saddam Hussein, but in his native Iraq he's a shoe-in to win his bid for reelection this month. Of course, he'll be the only presidential candidate on the ballot because only an Iraqi with a death wish would dare to challenge him. Mr. Hussein's low tolerance for opposition became apparent in his rise to power in Iraq. In 1979, Iraqi president Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr resigned and named his vice-president Saddam Hussein to replace him. Some cabinet ministers and other high level leaders urged the president to reconsider his choice. But it was too late. Saddam Hussein took over the leadership of Iraq on July 16th. On August 8th, each leader who had expressed his doubts about Hussein was executed -- a total of 21 men. For more on this version of What's In The News, go to http://www.witn.psu.edu
DOCUMENTARY FOCUSES ON HUMAN SIDE OF PENNSYLVANIA FLOODS
When Andrew Jones, a recent Penn State graduate in both the film/video and geography programs, investigated why people knowingly live in flood hazard areas in Pennsylvania for a student film project, he was not prepared for the complexity of the issues that he documented. He notes that cultural ties, societal customs, political aims, geographic location and basic human emotions are all factors that add fuel to the fire of the conflict between man and nature. "More than a simple documentation of events, I hope the video accurately portrays the many sides of this issue and most importantly, the human faces and emotions indelibly tied to flood tragedies," he says. For more information and a link to the film, visit: http://www.ems.psu.edu/features/jones/index.html
Federal Disaster Funds Authorized For Alabama To Aid Local Government Tropical Storm Recovery
The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) designated the counties of Baldwin and Mobile in southwestern Alabama eligible for federal disaster funds to help local governments recover from the effects of Tropical Storm Isidore. For further information, go to: http://www.fema.gov/diz02/hq02_188.shtm
Mississippi Flood Insurance Policyholders Urged To File Claims Quickly
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) advised all Mississippi residents affected by recent flooding from Tropical Storm Isidore or Hurricane Lili who have flood insurance to contact the insurance company or agent that wrote their policy immediately in order to file a claim. For further information, go to: http://www.fema.gov/nwz02/nwz02_185.shtm
NEWS ARTICLES ONLINE WYOMING - Base to test training for nuclear accident "Some 600 federal, state and local personnel will participate in a training exercise simulating a nuclear weapon accident" http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?tl=1&display=rednews/2002/10/16/build/wyoming/22-accident.inc
IDAHO - LATEST ON TWO RADIOACTIVE CONTAINERS FOUND IN THE PORTNEUF RIVER "couldn't have ended up there by accident" http://www.kpvi.com/index.cfm?page=nbcheadlines.cfm&ID=11105
NEW YORK - COPYCAT SNIPER? - L.I. gunfire raises specter of a copycat http://www.nydailynews.com/news/story/27412p-26033c.html
WASHINGTON DC - Pentagon to Use High-Tech Surveillance Equipment to Help Hunt Sniper Who Has Terrorized Capital http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA0RLVSC7D.html
International UNCANNY Links seen in terrorism dates
"Last Saturday's blast ripped through this tourist resort exactly one year, one month and one day after the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. Moreover, without allowing for the time difference, the first explosion at 10:30pm in Indonesia was about one hour later than the time when the first hijacked plane hit its target last year" http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,812643,00.html
CHECHNYA - Chechen caught with radioactive package http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20021015-030538-2247r
RUSSIA - RADIOACTIVE SUBSTANCES SMUGGLERS APPREHENDED ON RUSSIAN-AZERBAIJANIAN BORDER http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=2787875&startrow=1&date=2002-10-15&do_alert=0
BALI - Possible Saudi link to Bali blast http://www.aftenposten.no/english/world/article.jhtml?articleID=418880
INDONESIA- Indonesian govt. adopts emergency anti-terrorism regulation http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-10/16/content_598686.htm
BANGKOK - FBI seeks Thai police help on 2 terror suspects http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-10/16/content_598531.htm
INDONESIA - Bali bombing was planned to kill as many as possible http://www.iii.co.uk/shares/?type=news&articleid=4491746&action=article
INDONESIA - Man confesses to making bomb that destroyed Bali club http://www.iht.com/articles/73857.html
SUDAN - Saudi Airliner Crew Block Hijack Attempt http://7am.com/cgi-bin/wireclicker.cgi?http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-sudan-foiled-hijacking1016oct15,0,5654438.story?coll=sns%2Dap%2Dworld%2Dheadlines
EGPYT - Egyptian police arrest 8 students suspected of membership in banned Islamic group http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021014/ap_wo_en_po/egypt_muslim_brotherhood_1
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The Bioterrorism Team of the Wyoming Department of Health will be providing some radiation response information and other material to mental health professionals and peers at the Basic and Advanced Critical Incident Stress Management Workshops scheduled for Friday and Saturday Nov. 22-23 in Casper Wyoming. This presentation will take place at 4:30 PM on Friday, November 22, 2002 and will last approximately 30 minutes. This will be at the end of the first day of the Workshops.
A BACKGROUND OF TERRORISM AND TERRORISTS
Early Background
Following their defeat in 1918, Germany underwent a psychological change. As a result, they regressed to the militarism of Prussia and the power politics of Frederick the Great and Bismarck. Nationalism was deliberately fostered. It was intensified in reaction to Communism and alleged international Jewry (Brown, 1944). On the crest of this primitive reaction, Adolf Hitler rose to power. He was helped by both industrialists and the military. The mass mind of the nation accepted this. There was a mutual interaction between the leader and the led. This brought about a unification of the nation at a primitive level resulting in liberation and encouragement of a sadistic aggressiveness which horrified the civilized world. This appears to be somewhat supported by Colombio and Moccio (1961). It was their contention that, when group anxiety rises in circumstances of economic disruption, terrorism, etc, members of the group apply a learned mechanism and resolve the anxiety by transferring their unconscious aggressivity to a paranoid projection.
What was important here was the psychology of the group mind, what Alfred Rosenberg (1982) called the community consciousness and what Hitler (1925) called the folk community. Hitler's "Mein Kampf" and Rosenberg's "Myth of the Twentieth Century" epitomized the psychology and philosophy of the Nazi movement.
Brown (1944) suggested that the hysterical and paranoid tendencies that were so manifest in Hitler had their counterpart in the reactions of the entire nation. He suggested that the post-war treatment of Germany should be adjusted to these psychopathological facts. He believed that the deliberate cruelty of the police and the terrorism of the spy system called for condign punishment. He suggested that the later stages of the war would bring stern re-education to the mass of the German nation regardless of whatever post-war measures might also be applied.
The public consciousness that the world is under threat of becoming involved in a terrible and devastating war has been manifested over the years in gigantic demonstrations, peace marches, and public petitions. In every part of the world, economists, philosophers, sociologists, and psychologists have noted increased anxiety and stress levels (Schiopu, 1983).
This growing panic has been aggravated by economic depression, the growing rate of unemployment, and monetary conflicts. This latent and diffuse panic has, over the years, increased the rate of accidents, suicides, terrorism, and delinquency, as well as the use of alcohol, drugs, and psychotropic medications.
What Is Terrorism And Who Are The Terrorists?
Whereas atomic weapons threaten death through an impersonal mechanism, in death dealt by terrorism, the action provides the terrorist the feeling of self-determination and individualism. The effect of both of these institutions on human feelings of insecurity and the obvious need to recognize the reality of these threats are critical to helping understand the terrorist and his/her motivations (Slochower, 1982).
The increasing attention being given to study of the political, social, and psychological antecedents of terrorism was presented at the December 1978 International Scientific Conference on Terrorism (Holden, 1979). Although there was general agreement as to the nonexistence of a "terrorist personality," the need for further study of the dynamics of terrorist groups was noted. The 1981 conference dealt with international terrorism and discussed participation in terrorist groups in relation to the attraction to violent behavior and destructiveness; feelings of justification; the backgrounds of members; and feelings of hopeless, inner-directed anger that are related to the insecurity of the sociocultural climate. The involvement of both psychopathic and relatively "normal" individuals in terrorism was noted, and the formation of a specific type of subculture was considered. A panel discussion on the psychology of the leaders of terrorist groups was presented. Areas considered included the backgrounds of actual leaders in such organizations, the importance of charisma in the leadership of terrorist groups, pathways leading to the involvement in a deviant culture, and the roles of feelings of power and hostility in involvement in terrorist activities (International Scientific Conference on Terror & Terrorism: International Terrorism, 1982).
Gorney (1981) has suggested that psychosocial identity and self-esteem have grown out of conditions of competition and low social synergy, leading to the conflict and terrorism that now jeopardizes the human race. He maintains that humankind faces extinction within a shift toward greater cooperation and high social synergy, because humans cannot become conscious of and implement what they have learned about the route of survival. He examines elements of this thesis, such as scarcity and cooperation vs competition, and presents clinical examples as illustrative material.
The psychological roots of modern terrorism have been traced to the youth movements and countercultures of the late 1960's; the erosion of traditional moral and religious values; and young people's need for new ideologies to replace old, moribund ones (Bartalotta, 1981). The typical terrorist is characterized as someone who is young, well-educated, and of middle-SES, and who is skillfully manipulated by ruthless and power-crazed international leaders. Bartalotta (1981) hypothesized that terrorism operates in the realm of Jung's archetypal and personal "shadow." Recalling Jung's plea for understanding and acceptance of the shadow, he argues that Jungian psychotherapists should be able to confront the evil of terrorism through the recognition that it is one of the aspects of the evil embodied by the shadow in all persons.
Von Raffay (1980) discusses hope as the source of terrorism. Whereas progressive hope tries to bring about better conditions than those presently existing, regressive hope derives from the mother complex and from its inner inactivity, waiting eternally for a tomorrow that never comes. Hope is an archetype and as such belongs to the realm of fantasy, while the terrorists are determined to force it into the concreteness of reality. The terrorists fight for a new human, the Anthropos, thus rationalizing the violence and unjust means they are using in this fight. The terrorists' mentality is related to the old fascist one, and the myths of Pandora and Prometheus illustrate the archetypal background of these problems. It is concluded that the myth of Sisyphos, as interpreted by A. Camus (1991) might indicate a solution of how to overcome regressive hope.
Wright & Wright (1982) reviewed relevant empirical studies and theoretical formulations to gain insight into violence- prone groups that have come to public attention over the years (e.g., the Weather Underground, the Black Liberation Army, and the Charles Manson group). Research findings show group members tend to score high on variables like "anger at family members" and "overcontrolled hostility," and are often in developmental transition at the time they join the groups, and gain relief from significant emotional distress through group membership. They describe leader characteristics, group norm-forming, and group control processes particular to these kinds of groups.
Terror and terrorism are extraordinarily difficult concepts to handle in normative terms (Cooper, 1976). Terror is certainly an element in the commission of many easily identifiable crimes of universal recognition and condemnation. Terrorism, however, is an entity quite distinct in character and purpose from the criminality which is its vehicle. It thrives on the postulate that there are more horrible human fates than death. Cooper (1976) offers an analysis of the various types of terrorism, their modus operandi, and their victims, and makes speculations on the use of terrorism in the future. Political terrorism is distinguished from state, criminal, and psychopathic terrorism and from that of urban guerillas. Its main aim is psychological: to spread fear and undermine morale for political blackmail. It can be argued that the free world must combine against terrorist attacks on innocent civilians, taking of hostages, hijacking of aircraft, and involvement of 3rd-party countries (Comay, 1976).
Hutchinson (1972) presents a definition and explanation of the concept of revolutionary terrorism, considered a part of insurgent strategy in internal war. She argues that such terrorism is a rational method of action, which employs acts of extraordinary violence against selected physical victims, deliberately creates a psychological effect, and thereby influences political behavior and attitudes. This definition is tested against the activity of the National Liberation Front during the Algerian War and used as a basis to explain the theoretical and empirical significance of terrorism. She compares the relative costs and benefits of a terrorist strategy from the revolutionary point of view. Hutchinson concluded that the attractiveness of terrorism derives from the combination of economy and facility of means with high psychological and political effectiveness. The risks of the strategy are controllable, and the results are predictable. Revolutionary terrorism combines low cost with potentially high yield.
Kent & Nicholls (1977) propose a dynamic and social explanation for the "malignant aggression" of the terrorist. No specific terrorist character is to be looked for. Rather, terrorism can occur whenever political conditions provide social legitimacy for acting out deeply repressed hatred. The origins of this hatred lie in parental abuse, leading to murderous rage in the child, which must be deflected onto safer targets than the terrifying parent (e.g., the parent's enemies, or the authorities of one's country). Kent & Nicholls argue that political terrorism involves the exploitation of mental illness, connived at in turn by the international public through the media. However, Giegerich (1979) maintains that terrorism cannot be adequately explained by the individual terrorists' life history. He argues that the open brutality exhibited by terrorists mirrors a subtle and covert brutality in public life. The anarchist misunderstands the idea of anarchy as a political idea and does not see its actual psychological meaning.
Fields (1979) proposes that persons exposed to terrorism in childhood often develop into adult terrorists. To explain why this does not occur in every country or period, she argues that when institutions and legal codes are an outgrowth of the indigenous culture, they provide support for the population in times of stress. When the legal system and institutions are imposed on the population by an alien group, they tend to actively alienate the young, as has happened in Northern Ireland. Based on experience administering standardized tests to hundreds of children in Northern Ireland since 1971, Fields believes that children exposed to terrorism have suffered a severe disruption in the development of moral judgment. She discusses the developmental process of changing from a victim to a terrorist within this context.
In another attempt to explain and understand terrorism, Wilkinson(1977) addresses 3 sets of problems: (a) the relation of terrorism to the basic values and processes of liberal democracies, (b) the underlying and precipitative causes of terrorist action and the internal and external defenses open to liberal governments against terrorism, and (c) the growth and implications of international terrorism. Topics that may be of interest to psychologists include (a) modes of conflict, opposition, and protest; (b) a typology of political violence; (c) causes of political violence in liberal states; (d) the relation between terrorism and criminality; (e) a typology of terror and terrorism; (f) targets, technology, and tolerance of terrorism; and (g) barricade and hostage situations. How much existing psychological theories can explain and control the behavior of terrorists was explored by Hilke & Kaiser (1979). Classical aggression theories and traditional individual psychology have had little success. Better answers may be provided by a social theory of action in which acts of violence are interpreted as rational in the sense of being a means to an end. Important progress in the analysis of terrorism, its causes and background, is expected from interdisciplinary research (Hilke & Kaiser, 1979).
Female Terrorists
In an article about women as terrorists, Galvin (1983) contended that there is no archetypal female terrorist. She described women terrorists as being varied from their physique to their role within the organization to their physiological make-up. She suggests that women become involved in terrorism either by their own initiative or through a secondary other and are most often introduced into it by a male. Although women terrorists have the equality to fight or die by the side of their male counterparts, their position frequently is less than that of the male. The female's sexuality plays an important role in the group dynamics and alters the nature of terrorism itself. Galvin suggests that many terrorist women are "counterphobic" and, in their manufactured role as terrorists, are attempting to ward off inner and often unconscious feelings of dependency and vulnerability.
Counteracting Terrorism
Two conflicting views of terrorist motivation are discussed by Corrado (1981): One holds that terrorists are driven by mental disorders (MDs), while the other argues that they are driven by political idealism. Psychiatric concepts and propositions (e.g., sociopathy, narcissism, the death-wish) used by MD theorists are presented, and their data are assessed. Clinical observations supporting the rational- idealist (RI) perspective are discussed to distinguish social deviance from MDs. Corrado concludes that the MD perspective appears important in understanding certain expressions of terrorist-like behavior and describes a minority of political terrorists. Political terrorism generally requires an environment of either long-standing historical problems or the potentially radicalizing experience of the university. Frustrated idealism probably motivates individuals into a variety of acts, including terrorism. The validity of both the MD and the RI perspectives remains tentative given the inadequate data available for their assessment. Newcomer & Adkins (1980) suggest prevention and counteraction techniques against terrorist activities and analyze short profiles of 3 types of terrorists; the political, the criminal, and the mentally deranged. They note that the 3rd type is likely to be especially erratic, but with proper negotiating techniques, the deranged terrorist often suddenly surrenders, or in some cases commits suicide.
One form of related suicide that has been studied is self-incineration. Crosby, Rhee & Holland (1977) explored the history of self-incineration by examining all cases of suicide by fire reported in the London Times and New York Times between 1970 and 1972. 71% occurred during 1963-1972, with all cases of political self-incineration also occurring during this time. The sociocultural context in which this form of protest may occur and psychological factors in individuals who choose this method of suicide are discussed. It is suggested that the occurrence of self- incineration as a means of political protest may be yielding to more aggressive acts of terrorism as popular methods of forcing political change.
Shelby, Hoyle & Whitacre (1981) develop a speculative framework as to how learning under the computerized instructional system ILIA (M. Shelly et al, 1981) might take place. The framework assumes a network of associations that preserves its own "logic," particularly when the network is complex. Learning occurs through the changes that are required to preserve this logic when the material being taught is introduced through the ILIA system. It is also suggested that the ILIA system could be used by an agent in search of a particular terrorist.
Corsi (1981) presents a typology of terrorist events and characteristics. He examines the negotiations involved in hostage situations with emphasis on government/terrorist response options and event outcomes. Assumptions of the theoretical model are tested utilizing the ITERATE data set, which covers 539 events of international terrorism occurring between January 1970 and July 1974.
Media and Terrorism
Mosse( 1977) discusses research on the mass media which indicated that TV mainly provides audiovisual conditioning to violence. Natural and spontaneous actions of children have been moved toward cynicism, callousness, and indifference. TV has the potential for aiding viewers to participate in the cultural and intellectual life of mankind. However, the magnetic pull of violence has led to increased terrorism in the schools, to race hatred, and to a blunted sense of the horror of violence. Fourteen suicides that were publicized in the newspaper triggered additional, imitative suicides (Mazur, 1982; Phillips, 1974). To further investigate the effect of the mass media on human behavior, Mazur (1982) examined data on the incidence of bomb threats against nuclear energy facilities over 11 yrs. Results confirm previous findings, in that threat incidence closely followed fluctuations in mass media coverage of nuclear power issues.
Francis (1983) presented information about the treatment of stories in the media about terrorism, bomb alerts, accidents, and other catastrophes as well as requests for the suppression of specific information. Aner (1983) discussed the results of research on the effects of violence in the media and the means of establishing a European strategy to reduce the portrayal of violence in the media. His recommendations addressed such areas as terrorism, the role of the media, violence in sports, and the role of education in promoting socially constructive behavior.
Weimann (1983) examined the effects of media exposure on changes in images of terrorists. He compared the evaluative attitudes of 80 Jewish undergraduates before and after they read press clippings describing two separate terrorist incidents. Findings suggested that exposure to press coverage of terrorist events tended to slightly enhance evaluations of the terrorists. Subjects with moderate objections to terrorism tended to change their evaluations after being exposed to the press clippings. Those with extreme objections tended to hold to the image that they had before reading them. Results confirmed the existence of a "status conferral" effect. Weimann concluded that press attention appeared to be sufficient to enhance the status of the people, problem, or cause behind a terrorist event.
ROLE OF PSYCHOLOGY IN COPING WITH AND STUDYING TERRORISM
Current terrorist operations pose a greater potential threat to liberal democracies than their historical forebears did. Many of the reasons for terrorist potential are grounded in physical technological innovation and its consequences. Long-term or crisis-oriented solutions are rooted in behavioral considerations. Current anti-terrorist measures tend to rely on physical technological solutions and are unable to provide useful answers to questions surrounding terrorism. It is vital to assess the contribution that can be made by psychology to the resolution of the problems posed by terrorism. Wardlaw (1983) outlined areas in which psychology has, or could have, a significant role in the investigation and control of terrorist activities. He discusses psychologists as hostage negotiators as well as other terrorism-related roles. He concludes that there should be more appreciation by law enforcement and security experts of the potential contributions of psychology. By the same token, he also suggests that there should be more appreciation by psychologists of the practical problems of security personnel.
Behavioral scientists work with law enforcement personnel on the problem of terrorism in 3 general contexts: clinical help for victims, training and consultation for hostage negotiation, and profiling and institutional consultation. In a study of 115 senior police officers working in the area of terrorism, Ss valued psychological counseling for crime victims within a broad framework of financial and criminal justice services (Eichelman & Hartwig, 1983; Lebowitz, 1983). When describing a past personal victim experience, they valued direct physical action in their own coping, but expressions of sympathy and reassurance when provided by others. Problems encountered by behavioral scientists working in this area have usually involved difficulties in maintaining an effective consultant role, overidentification with the law enforcement identity, or inappropriate media statements.
In reference to coping with terrorism, Schiopu (1983) discussed the effects on general mental health of the political and global tensions that threaten to lead to war. She suggested that during the early 1980's psychological studies had slowly shifted from themes specific to peacetime (e.g. aptitude, learning processes, motivation) to human personality themes involving psychopathology, psychodiagnosis, and psychotherapies. She contends that this shift was due to mutations in the life space and personality structure of contemporary humans. She comments that during this period the need for disarmament and the reduction of global tensions was emphasized so that nations could concentrate on problems associated with the technical and information revolutions that meant unemployment for thousands of workers as well as a shift in the educational needs of future workers.
Kats (1982) compared a 1975 survey of human concerns (779 Ss; 18 yrs old and older) with a 1962 survey (531 Ss; 20 yrs old and older). Ss also completed the Self-Anchoring Striving Scale. It was hypothesized that in the interval between surveys, concerns and their salience would have changed in response to major social changes that occurred during this period. Basic concerns were expected to remain stable. Shifts in concerns were found, both on the personal and the national level. There was a drop in the general mood. Issues directly concerning war and its consequences were mentioned more frequently in the later survey; and new, related issues became relevant (fear of terrorism, prolonged army reserve service, fear of destruction of the State). Economic issues, formerly concerned with productivity, now centered on inflation and standard of living. Basic concerns with health, children, and the family remained, overarched by the wish for peace and fear of war, the most important concerns of the 1970's.
Lahad and Abraham (1983) tested the effectiveness of a program of intervention which was aimed at preparing teachers and students to cope with ongoing acute stress caused by war and terrorist activity. Their results suggested that intervention led to a decrease in situational anxiety in experimental classes and an increase in the control classes. They found that, in the experimental classes, changes occurred in the internal organization of the "self" towards greater openness and readiness to admit anxiety and to cope with it in sublimated, resourceful ways.
Rofe & Lewin (1982) studied terrorist effects on Israeli high school students. In 1976, 486 14-17 yr old high school students completed questionnaires on (a) dreams and sleep disturbances, (b) content of their dreams, (c) waking and sleeping times, and (d) a revised version of Byrne's Repression-Sensitization scale. 216 Ss lived in an Israeli border town with a history of terrorist activity and 270 lived in a town in central Israel that had never experienced terrorist activity. Factor analyses of responses to the 20 items on the dream-and-sleep-disturbance questionnaire during periods of calm yielded 4 main factors--Horror Dreams, Sexual Dreams, Positive Attitude toward Dreams, and Aggressive Dreams--accounting for 24.7, 9.8, 7.9, and 6% of the variance, respectively. A second factor analysis, conducted on responses during a period of war, showed 3 factors identical to the first, second, and fourth ones in the first analysis. Multiple regression ANOVAs indicate that continuous living in a war environment since early childhood may induce (a) development of a repressive personality type, which makes life more tolerable; (b) a reduction in horror, sexual, aggressive, and unpleasant dreams (as well as daydreams); (c) a reduction in the number of dreams; and (d) the adoption of repressive and denial mechanisms among all inhabitants, repressors and sensitizers alike. In addition, findings suggest that border-town Ss, as well as repressors, were more adjusted individuals than the non-border-town Ss and sensitizers, respectively.
In another study on the effects of terrorism on Israeli communities, Zuckerman-Bareli (1982) studied the effect of bombing and terrorist attacks on the way of life in 6 settlements--3 kibbutzim (communal settlements) and 3 moshavim of olim (noncommunal settlements founded by non-Western immigrants after 1949 and based on cooperative supply and marketing)--near the Lebanese border. Cultural, social, and personal factors that affect resistance to stress and the ability to carry on with the regular way of life were assessed among 100 residents of each type of settlement. Path analyses show that 4 variables directly affected emotional disturbance (in descending order of importance): anxiousness, sex, country of origin, and economic satisfaction. When combined, these variables predicted 38% of the variance in emotional and social disturbances. A Western, compared with an Eastern, background directly raised the level of education, satisfaction, and identification with community and lowered anxiousness; a similar pattern was found for the kibbutz compared to the moshav residence. A path model of the exogenous factors of kibbutz vs moshav, country of origin, and intensity of border incidents is presented.
Zafrir (1982) describes the psychological consequences of a 1978 terrorist attack on 2 public buses and private cars traveling on the main highway to Tel Aviv. He outlines psychological characteristics of this extremely stressful situation: lack of warning, the surprise factor, ambiguity, absence of leadership, confrontation with insoluble dilemmas, and shattered hopes of rescue. The range of reactions of the people involved are described, and the measures taken by the cooperative that operated the buses to support the victims of the attack are discussed as well as the various roles of the psychologist in the support system.
Ben-Eli & Sela (1980) engaged 60 children in therapy who, as a result of the 1979 terrorist attack on Nahariya, Israel, evidenced the following symptoms: fear of noise, the dark, and the seashore; lack of concentration; and difficulty sleeping. Ss were divided into small groups (6-8 members) that met close to the time of original crisis. Strong emphasis was placed on catharsis and cognitive reconstruction of the traumatic events. Feelings of anger, terror, and blame were allowed to be vented freely. Results of this active coping with the stress situation and application of relaxation and desensitization techniques indicate that most Ss' school and home functioning improved.
Summary and Conclusions
Much of the trauma precipitated by terrorist activities is a result of their suddenness, their salience in the public consciousness, and the consequent stigma they produce toward survivors and/or relatives of victims. A number of specific issues were common in two case studies presented by Dreman & Cohen (1982) and in other families affected by terrorism. These included dealing with the need to be a "superparent" and correcting unrealistic expectations; teaching effective limit setting, including giving permission to be a parent and an adult; and dealing with guilt and phobic reactions, and family and network reorganization. Therapy concentrated on promoting family strengths and coping, and it deemphasized individual pathology. Common to most families treated was the strong desire of the victim's children to be treated as normal and not as psychological casualties. Family therapy proved to be an ideal treatment modality for dealing with the tragic loss. By focusing on the problems of day-to-day living, the mourning work evolved naturally in the course of therapy. Specific therapy modalities, such as co-therapy and network intervention, facilitated family adjustment.
Because of present threatening political and economic developments both around the world and within individual nations and communities (e.g., inflation, unemployment, oil shortage, threat of biological warfare, bombings, aggression, nuclear energy, terrorism, and environmental problems), most knowledgeable individuals experience insecurity and anxiety, standing on one side or another of these issues, or wavering uncertainly in the middle. Indeed, the person without some anxiety these days may not be normal. Existential anxiety is thus commonplace, and the problem arises of distinguishing among reasonable concern, existential anxiety, and neurotic anxiety. Lindner (1982) uses an analysis of concepts from both philosophy and psychology to make such distinctions. Reorganization of the symbols used by human beings may result in a reduction in the degree of subjectivity in such problems, and the psychotherapist may thus assist the client in striving for increased self-determination in his/her own existence.
Finally, Clark (1980) defines empathy as the unique capacity of the human being to feel the experiences, needs, aspirations, frustrations, sorrows, joys, anxieties, hurt, or hunger of others as if they were his/her own. It is speculated that individuals vary in the degree of cortical development necessary to sustain functional empathy. It is also suggested that most individuals can be trained to that level of empathy necessary to counterbalance the more primitive animalistic determinants of behavior. Clark concludes that the blockage of functional empathy by power drives forms the basis of interpersonal and social tensions, conflicts, violence, terrorism, and war. Control of these destructive forces will require development of techniques to increase functional empathy among human beings.
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Bartalotta, Giuseppe (Oct 1981). Analytical psychology and political terrorism/Psicologia analitica e terrorismo politico. Rivista di Psicologia Analitica. Vol 12(24), pp. 21-30.
Ben-Eli, Tzion; Sela, Miriam (Sep 1980). Terrorists in Nahariya: Description of coping under stress. Israeli Journal of Psychology & Counseling in Education. No 13, pp. 94-101.
Brown, W (1944). The psychology of modern Germany. British Journal of Psychology. 34, pp. 43-59.
Camus, A. (1991). The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays. Vintage Books.
Clark, Kenneth B (Feb 1980). Empathy: A neglected topic in psychological research. American Psychologist. Vol 35(2), pp. 187-190. von Raffay, Anita (1980). Hope, a principle of terrorism. Analytische Psychologie. Vol 11(1), pp. 38-52.
Colombo, Eduardo R; Moccio, Fidel (1961). The vampire: Study of a rumor/El vampiro: Estudio de un rumor. Acta Neuropsiquiatrica Argentina. 7, pp. 12-19.
Comay, Michael (1976). Political terrorism. Mental Health & Society. Vol 3(5-sup-6), pp. 249-261.
Corsi, Jerome R (Mar 1981). Terrorism as a desperate game: Fear, bargaining, and communication in the terrorist event. Journal of Conflict Resolution. Vol 25(1), pp. 47-85.
Crosby, Kevin; Rhee, Joong-oh; Holland, Jimmie (Spr 1977). Suicide by fire: A contemporary method of political protest. International Journal of Social Psychiatry. Vol 23(1), pp. 60-69. Cooper, H Anthony (Sum 1976). The terrorist and the victim. Victimology. Vol 1(2), pp. 229-239.
Dreman, Solly B. and Cohen, Esther C. (Sum 1982). Children of victims of terrorist activities: A family approach to dealing with tragedy. American Journal of Family Therapy. Vol 10(2), pp. 39-47.
Eichelman, Burr; Hartwig, Anne C (1983). Ethical and consultation issues in the behavioral sciences and terrorism. Behavioral Sciences & the Law. Vol 1(2), pp. 9-18.
Fields, Rona M (Sum 1979). Child terror victims and adult terrorists. Journal of Psychohistory. Vol 7(1), pp. 71-75.
Francis, Richard (Oct-Dec 1983). BBC policy regarding the presentation of television violence/La politique de la BBC en matiere de presentation de la violence. Revue Internationale de Criminologie et de Police Technique. Vol 36(4), , pp. 91-99.
Galvin, Deborah M. (1983). The female terrorist: A socio-psychological perspective. Behavioral Sciences & the Law. Vol 1(2), pp. 19-32.
Giegerich, Wolfgang (1979). Terrorism as task and responsibility: Reflections of a depth-psychologist. Analytische Psychologie. Vol 10(3), pp. 190-215.
Gorney, Roderic (Apr 1981). The human agenda: Peril and survival. Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis. Vol 9(2), pp. 185-209.
Hilke, Reinhard; Kaiser, Heinz J (Apr 1979). Terrorism: Can psychology offer a solution to this problem? Psychologische Rundschau. Vol 30(2), pp. 88-98.
Hitler, A. (1925/1998). Mein Kampf. Houghton Mifflin Co.
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Rogers, Rita (Sep 1980). On emotional responses to nuclear issues and terrorism. Psychiatric Journal of the University of Ottawa. Vol 5(3), pp. 147-152.
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Zuckerman-Bareli, Chaya (1982). The effect of border tension on the adjustment of kibbutzim and moshavim on the northern border of Israel: A path analysis. Series in Clinical & Community Psychology: Stress & Anxiety. Vol 8, pp. 81-91.
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Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam
by John L. EspositoFrom Library Journal
"Notwithstanding the recent avalanche of popular writing on Islam, most Americans still know very little about this misunderstood faith and its 1.2 billion adherents worldwide. In American popular culture today, terrorism and Islam have become synonymous. In this engaging, evenhanded, and highly readable book, one of America's foremost experts on contemporary Islam seeks to correct popular misconceptions about this faith. A professor of religion and international affairs and director of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University, Esposito (editor, The Oxford Illustrated History of Islam) does an admirable job of explaining sociopolitical and cultural developments in the Muslim world in a fashion that is easily accessible to nonspecialist readers. Issues such as the rise of militant Islam and its key personalities, including Sayyid Qutb and Osama bin Laden, are fully explained. This is essential reading for every concerned citizen and all those who wish to gain a deeper understanding of contemporary Islam and its internal struggles. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries." - Nader Entessar, Spring Hill Coll., Mobile, AL Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
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Contact your local Mental Health Center or
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therapists, and other Mental health Professionals in
your area for further information.
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George W. Doherty
Rocky Mountain Region
Disaster Mental Health Institute
Box 786
Laramie, WY 82073-0786
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