Lone-Actor Terrorism – A Systematic Literature Review

Kenyon, Jonathan; Baker-Beall, Christopher; Binder, Jens F.

doi:10.1080/1057610x.2021.1892635

Cited by 33 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…Attacks by groups were more likely to be portrayed as terrorism than those by lone actors (H3) similar to previous studies (Betus et al, 2020;Ghazi-Tehrani and Kearns, 2020). However, this effect is small, partly inconsistent and the concept of lone actor terrorism more complex than could be measured here (Kenyon et al, 2021), which is why readers should interpret these findings with a grain of salt. Domestic terrorism, here attacks by domestic groups on domestic soil, is also more likely to be depicted as terrorism than international terrorism (H4).…”

Section: How News Media Define Terrorism: Western Targets Islamist Perpetratorssupporting

confidence: 82%

What is terrorism (according to the news)? How the German press selectively labels political violence as “terrorism”

Hase

2021

Journalism

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Baghdad, Christchurch or Paris: Over the last years, many cities were the location of extremist attacks – but only some incidents were covered as “terrorism”. Journalists selectively attach the label to particular acts of political violence. This study analyses how characteristics of attacks and their perpetrators influence whether news media portray incidents as terrorism. Based on attacks between 2012 and 2018 ( N = 86,668) and their coverage in the German press ( N = 5411), the study finds that highly lethal incidents in Western countries are more likely to be called terrorism. Moreover, news more often portrays violence by Islamist extremists as terrorism than attacks by right- or left-wing extremists. Small or inconsistent effects emerge when comparing violence by lone actors to those by groups and domestic to international terrorism. The study illustrates that news is highly selective in which acts of political violence are presented as terrorism, which may foster stereotypes and prevent policy responses towards different forms of extremism.

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Section: How News Media Define Terrorism: Western Targets Islamist Perpetratorssupporting

confidence: 82%

What is terrorism (according to the news)? How the German press selectively labels political violence as “terrorism”

Hase

2021

Journalism

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“…Many of the considerations in the present work are not confined to terrorism, but can be extended to other forms of grievance-based offending. Evidence on the online radicalization process does not, generally speaking, presuppose any specifics in the domain of terrorism, and findings on information leakage and general offender characteristics are, as pointed out in the beginning, very similar across different forms of grievance-fueled violence (Capellan, 2015;Kenyon et al, 2021a;Clemmow et al, 2022). There is still, however, careful scrutiny required since terrorist offending can comprise much more than immediate acts of violence.…”

Section: Current Limitations and Outlookmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This type is assessed as low in engagement with extremist ideologies, or groups representing such ideologies, and further shows lowest levels of intent and low capability compared to other radicalization pathways. Other work has also highlighted a tendency for information leakage online, and where this is prior to an offense, it can help to thwart attacks (Gill et al, 2017;Kenyon et al, 2021a;Hamid and Ariza, 2022). This has led to the view that those radicalized online are comparatively powerless, in particular when it comes to translating online activity into offline violence (Conway, 2016).…”

Section: Opposing Narratives Compatible With the Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…This definition is adopted for entirely pragmatic reasons and should not mask the fact that almost none of its terms has gone uncontested ( Neumann, 2013 ; Gill et al, 2015 ; Macdonald and Whittaker, 2019 ; Evans and Williams, 2022 ; Rothut et al, 2022 ). From a forensic perspective, such radicalized individuals are seen as at an increased risk of committing offenses which may take the form of violence, causing harm and death to many, as in violent acts of terrorism ( Kenyon et al, 2021a ; Evans and Williams, 2022 ; Hamid and Ariza, 2022 ).…”

Section: Online Radicalization As a Cause For Common Concernmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…of violence, causing harm and death to many, as in violent acts of terrorism (Kenyon et al, 2021a;Evans and Williams, 2022;Hamid and Ariza, 2022).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Terrorism and the internet: How dangerous is online radicalization?

Binder

Kenyon

2022

Front. Psychol.

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This work is concerned with the extent and magnitude of threat related to online radicalization in the context of terrorist acts and related offending. Online influences have been depicted as major drivers for the propagation and adoption of extremist ideologies, which often contain an element of collective grievance, and subsequent acts of violence. This is most pronounced in the discussion of so-called lone actor terrorism, but extends to all forms of extremist offending, and beyond. The present work situates online radicalization leading to terrorist acts within the wider context of grievance-based beliefs and attitudes. Further, it addresses current positions and debates surrounding the relevance and mechanisms of online radicalization in terrorist offending. Recent evidence from quantitative studies is reviewed to estimate prevalence of online radicalization and the level of threat that results from it. This is followed by a discussion of plausible, but opposing, interpretations of the estimates presented. While online radicalization does occur, with and without reference to offline processes, the resulting threat is not overly high. This assessment, however, refers to the present only and is unlikely to hold for the future, given the general growth and acceleration of online activity among terrorist actors.

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Erfahrungen mit Gefährdungssituationen in Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie bei Patienten mit extremistischer Einstellung

et al. 2023

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Zusammenfassung Hintergrund und Fragestellung Gefährdungssituationen im Zusammenhang mit der Krankenbehandlung von Personen mit vermuteter extremistischer Einstellung spielen insbesondere in den letzten Jahren vermehrt eine Rolle. Eine Befragung von Ärzt:innen und Psychotherapeut:innen soll Aufschluss über konkrete Gefährdungslagen bei diesen Patient:innen geben. Material und Methoden Mittels einer anonymen Online-Befragung, welche 16 Haupt- und bis zu 95 weitere Fragen umfasste, wurden insgesamt 364 Angehörige von Heilberufen zur allgemeinen Situation und zu Patient:innen sowie Angehörigen mit vermuteter extremistischer Einstellung befragt. Ergebnisse 17,5 % der Teilnehmenden sind Ärzt:innen, 72,1 % nichtärztliche Psychotherapeut:innen bzw. in Ausbildung (47,7 % arbeiten ausschließlich in einer Klinik, 34,2 % in einer niedergelassenen Praxis). Insgesamt haben 57,7 % der Teilnehmenden schon einmal Patient:innen mit vermuteter extremistischer Einstellung behandelt (46,7 % behandelten Angehörige). 27,6 % wurden im Rahmen der Krankenbehandlung mit Selbstgefährdungssituationen konfrontiert (30,1 % bei Angehörigen), 49,5 % mit Situationen der Fremdgefährdung (18,3 % bei Angehörigen), bei denen sie sich häufig im Umgang damit nicht sicher gefühlt haben. 20,3 % der Fachkräfte informierten die Sicherheitsbehörden, nicht ganz die Hälfte empfand diesen Kontakt als eher nicht/gar nicht hilfreich (45,5 % bei Angehörigen). Kontakt zu anderen Stellen, zum Beispiel auch zu spezialisierten Fachberatungsstellen für Deradikalisierung, hatte die Mehrheit nicht. Ärzt:innen erlebten Gefährdungssituationen häufiger als nichtärztliche Psychotherapeut:innen. Ein Vergleich zwischen Fachkräften aus der Klinik und niedergelassenen Praxis zeigt keine bedeutsamen Unterschiede. Diskussion Die Studie konnte zeigen, dass Extremismus und damit einhergehend Gefährdungslagen ein wichtiges Thema in der Krankenbehandlung sind und Ärzt:innen und Psychotherapeut:innen darauf gut vorbereitet sein sollten. Für die Zukunft wäre eine Vernetzung mit Stellen der Extremismusprävention wichtig und eine gute Kooperation mit den Sicherheitsbehörden wünschenswert.

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Lone-Actor Terrorism – A Systematic Literature Review

Cited by 33 publications

References 61 publications

What is terrorism (according to the news)? How the German press selectively labels political violence as “terrorism”

What is terrorism (according to the news)? How the German press selectively labels political violence as “terrorism”

Terrorism and the internet: How dangerous is online radicalization?

Erfahrungen mit Gefährdungssituationen in Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie bei Patienten mit extremistischer Einstellung

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