Terrorists' personal constructs and their roles: A comparison of the three Islamic terrorists

Abstract

It is hypothesized that individuals who play different roles in terrorist organizations will have different psychological processes underlying their activities. An innovative examination of the personal construct systems of terrorists explored this. As part of a larger study, three individuals convicted of Islamic‐related terrorist violence in India were interviewed using a semi‐structured life narrative procedure enhanced by a Repertory Grid (Kelly, 1955/1991). One was a senior leader of a terrorist group, one a subordinate, the third a person who planted a bomb without full knowledge of the larger design he was part of. Principal component analyses of these grids informed by comments from the life narratives were used to elaborate each man's conceptual system and how it related to his commitment to violence. Important differences among the three individuals' in their construct systems were found. This demonstrated that the forms of Jihadi commitment is embedded in the individual's personal construct system. So, although these three case studies can only be taken as providing indicative results, they do point to aspects of construct systems that reveal the potential for disengagement, being most likely present in the lower echelons of terrorist organizations. Those who are unable to reconstrue themselves as having a non‐terrorist future are unlikely to disengage. This is probably typical of those who lead these organizations. The results therefore contribute to the growing literature arguing for significant differences in terrorists' understanding of themselves and their roles and provide an original methodology for assessing a person's potential for deradicalization.

Cycles of Construing in Radicalization and Deradicalization: A Study of Salafist Muslims

“…As in various previous studies (Turpin, Dallos, Owen, & Thomas, 2009;Yorke & Dallos, 2015;Winter, 2016bWinter, , 2018, including an investigation of "Jihadi terrorists" in India (Canter, Sarangi, & Youngs, 2014;Sarangi, Canter, & Youngs, 2013), the present research has indicated the complementarity of a relatively unstructured interview procedure with repertory grid technique, the former providing particular insight into processes, and the latter into features of the structure and content, of construing. The grid measures concerning construct structure provided a less consistent picture than most of those concerning the construing of particular elements, and may require refinement and exploration in further research.…”

Narrative in the Study of Victimological Processes in Terrorism and Political Violence: An Initial Exploration

“…Narratives and counternarratives already feature in the body of research on terrorism and violent political extremism. 8 By and large, however, this solely concerns the message that acts of terror and political violence convey or with which they are accompanied. This is an important area of research, but the relevance of narrative research is considerably broader than these explicit political stories.…”

A Comparison of Public Support for Moderate and Extreme Terrorism

“…Canter et al [31], reported that a terrorist they interviewed was unaware he was a bomb carrier. He was instructed to drive a car and park it in a busy market, he exited the vehicle and it detonate, killing dozens.…”

“…Canter et al [31] could have included a more detailed account of the terrorist's personal constructs which may have allowed researchers a more in depth exploration of their motivation to support terrorist acts and their perception of themselves as a person and their role within the organization. An exploratory interview conducted outside of the prison, free of distraction would produce better results.…”

“…Canter et al [31], studied 49 high-profile terrorists by having them write about their life from early childhood. Narrative accounts provided the scholars with justification, efficacy, and meaning to the terrorist's lives.…”