St Andrews expert on what drives 'ordinary people' to terrorism
Professor Stephen Reicher from St Andrews on trying to understand the appeal of ISIS to some young Muslims
A psychology professor from the University of St Andrews has been speaking about what drives people to acts of terror.
In an article in the latest issue of the magazine ‘Scientific American Mind’ Professor Stephen Reicher of the University of St. Andrews and Alex Haslam of the University of Queensland, try to provide a new way of understanding the psychology of terrorism.
Previous efforts to understand what makes some people capable of the indiscriminate murder of innocents have focused on the mind of the individual.
Reicher and Haslam argue instead that most terrorists are not psychopaths and that we must understand terrorism as a group process.
The authors’ analysis shows how the strategy of organisations like ISIS is based on a world polarized into faithful Muslims and non-Muslims. ISIS presents itself as leading the Muslim cause, working to create a powerful state that restores pride to Muslims by striking back at those who have humiliated them.
Professor Reicher said:
“Acts of terror are designed to provoke indiscriminate responses that give credibility to this vision.
“If, in their everyday experience, Muslims find themselves regarded with suspicion, treated as outsiders, viewed with enmity even in their own country then this can weaken their sense of citizenship.
“Moreover, if one has the experience of being treated as an enemy in one's country, those who insist that the country is one's enemy become more plausible. It is in this way that the willingness to cooperate with authorities diminishes and the appeal of radical groups increases.”
Professor Haslam added:
“People who commit the most appalling acts generally believe that they are acting in terms of a noble cause.
“We need to understand how ordinary young people come to identify with such toxic causes and to believe those who tell them that our countries are their foes.
“We must be very wary of responding to terrorist outrages in a way that plays into the extremists' view of a world polarized between Muslims and non-Muslims. Anything that serves to demonise and marginalize Muslims in our societies, to erect barriers between 'us' and 'them', can only assist the recruiting agents of terror.”
The article is available online at: