ABSTRACT
The understanding that there may be a category of terrorists independent of psychopathic, political, and religious motives came to the author during his work with victims and perpetrators of war. To better understand the psychological aspect of retribution and terrorism, focus must also be placed on the childhood of a retributional terrorist. Early childhood is a crucial time period in the life of such individuals. Retributional terrorists seek revenge for past trauma inflicted on themselves or loved ones. These individuals have been victims of war and suffered great losses at the hands of war. Retributional terrorists have four major defense mechanisms that they use to protect their ego from reality: controlling, rationalization, anticipation and intellectualization. There may also be a significant early-life trauma in the life of a retributional terrorist. Traumatic incidents such as physical, sexual, verbal, emotional, and psychological abuse have a severe impact on the worldview of a retributional terrorist.
