ABSTRACT
This chapter unravels six general reasons that can explain why women join terrorist organizations in America: (1) collective identity, (2) political activism, (3) religion, (4) psychological motivations, (5) gender oppression, and (6) avoiding detection. Collective identity, for example, may stem from motives to protect the collective or from contextual pressure. Likewise, political activism may be justified to advance the group’s cause or vehemently reject male-dominated values such as democracy and capitalism. These six general reasons are not intended to be inclusive of all motivations, but they encapsulate a large amount of the information gathered during the conceptual analysis.
