Life story accounts of left wing terrorists in India

#FailedRevolutions: Using Twitter to study the antecedents of ISIS support

“…Consequently, their personal narratives painted a picture of those engaged in violence as "heroes" who are confronting these deficiencies. The findings of Sarangi and Alison (2005) are in line with the findings of many other studies that show that people who resort to violence do so to eliminate what they perceive as injustices (Plous and Zimbardo 2005). Along the same lines, there has been a recent story that was publicized in the media concerning a man called Ahmed Al-Darawy, a successful and affluent 38 year-old former manager in a multinational company in Egypt, who was killed while fighting alongside ISIS 1 .…”

“…Since millions of people fit this description and the overwhelming majority of them do not resort to violence, psychological traits are insufficient to identify people with violent tendencies. In a study of a leftist group in India which resorted to violence (Sarangi and Alison 2005), the twelve members of the group who were interviewed provided similar personal narratives in which they described structural deficiencies in their societies including corruption, oppression, and lack of empowerment for certain segments of the society. Consequently, their personal narratives painted a picture of those engaged in violence as "heroes" who are confronting these deficiencies.…”

Engaging moral agency for human rights: Outlooks from the Global South.

“…They found some evidence of moral disengagement in response to a threat in all countries, with India among the countries displaying higher levels of moral disengagement and Ghana among the countries displaying lower levels. In an analysis of the life story narratives of 12 left-wing terrorists in India, Sarangi and Alison (2005) found that the use of euphemistic language was common in the terrorists’ justifications for their behavior.…”

Investigative psychology.

“…One set of contributions has examined the motivations and cognitions that surround such offenses, either by examining the public statements of parties ( Saucier, Akers, Shen-Miller, Knezevic, & Stankov, 2009 ) or by interviewing those involved ( Post, Sprinzak, & Denny, 2003 ). For example, Sarangi and Alison' s (2005) narrative interviews of left-wing terrorists identifi ed a common narrative (i.e., life story) that showed coherence with the propaganda that was likely consumed by the interviewees. Similarly, in interviews with hostages, Giebels, Noelanders, and Vervaeke (2005) identifi ed a number of distinct "periods of feelings" that might be the focus of particular interventions by authorities seeking to improve victim well-being.…”