Disinhibition and terrorism

• Main Author: Cliff, Amanda V.
• Language: en
• Published: University of Canterbury. Political Science 2008
• Subjects: terrorism; disinhibition; pyschology
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10092/896

The problem of understanding how terrorists are psychologically enabled to undertake violence against other human beings is one that has not been adequately examined in past research on terrorism. Indeed, while much has been researched on discovering motivations for such acts, an examination and analysis of the loss of inhibitions as a significant factor in the overall process of becoming a terrorist has been somewhat overlooked. This thesis is an attempt to remedy this shortcoming in the literature, and therefore represents an inquiry into how the process of disinhibition relates to the overall process of terrorism. By examining a number of different factors theoretically and applying them to two contemporary cases of terrorism, this thesis aims to show that there are numerous disinhibitors in relation to acts of terrorism, and that, in some situations, these disinhibitors can relatively easily come into play.