The socio-cultural underpinnings of terrorist psychology: ‘When hatred is bred in the bone’

There is a broad spectrum of terrorist groups and organizations, each of which has a different psychology, motivation and decision-making structure. Indeed, one should not speak of terrorist psychology in the singular, but rather of terrorist psychologies. Figure 5.1, which is a modified version of Schmid’s well-known typology (see Chapter 18),1 depicts the many categories of terrorist types. In the top tier, I differentiate political terrorism from criminal and pathological terrorism. Studies of political terrorist psychology do not reveal severe psychiatric pathology (Post 1993). In fact, political terrorist groups do not permit emotionally disturbed individuals to join as they represent a security risk. Seriously disturbed individuals tend to act alone.