ABSTRACT
The psychopathic terrorist shares some traits with narcissistic personalities, in that he feels an inflated sense of self-importance, feels an extreme desire for admiration from others, and lacks any understanding of how other individuals feel. The psychopathic terrorist type has been observed in some terrorist bombers. The psychopathic terrorist is one who possesses traits similar to those of individuals with antisocial personality disorder, without necessarily meeting criteria for a clinical diagnosis. Individuals possessing psychopathic personality traits are those that are impulsive and are unable to delay gratifying their instinctual needs. While defense mechanisms are internal mental processes, they can be behaviorally observed through the types of statements one makes. While the field of forensic psychology has been able to develop risk assessment tools for violence in accurately predicting domestic violence, sexual assault, and physical violence, terrorism has proven to be a different type of criminal act, serving a different psychological function among those who engage in it.
