ABSTRACT
The commonsense conjectures about the effects of presenting violence and brutality to mass audiences have been challenged. Besides self-selection, characteristic of volunteer groups, and selection by authorities in building a fighting force to keep them in power, a selective process also goes on inside an individual who becomes a member of a group trained in violence. If professional fighters occupy a high position in a stratified society so that membership in the profession is a matter of pride, additional positive attitudes toward violence are reinforced internally as well as by approval of peers. For the professional soldier violence is a way of life, and it is not surprising that many members of the military profession become addicted to it. Two kinds of terrorism against authorities can be distinguished: “nationalist” and “ideological.” Modern technology provides the terrorists with sophisticated weapons and facilities for a global organization.
