ABSTRACT
Terrorism is a special form of group-based aggression that poses a threat to the sense of safety and well-being of people around the globe. Despite the worldwide notoriety achieved by individual terrorists, such as Osama bin Laden, terrorism is for the most part an intergroup phenomenon (McCauley & Segal, 2009). Terrorism refers to violence that arises out of conÀ ict between social groups that differ in ethnicity, religion, national or cultural identity, or political aims. It is intended to spread fear in communities (ranging from local to worldwide) in order to inÀ uence the decisions or behaviour of political agents. This chapter summarises a proli¿ c research literature that has addressed the causes, manifestations, and consequences of terrorist violence as reÀ ected, for example, in a recent collection of scholarly articles by Victoroff and Kruglanski (2009). In trying to understand the phenomenon of terrorist violence, the following discussion is divided into ¿ ve sections.
