Online Custom «What Is a Terrorist?» Essay Sample

Human cruelty has different manifestations. Development of humankind has contributed not only to the evolution of socially positive qualities, but also to the shadow side of interpersonal relationships. New technological capabilities allow crimes to acquire more sophisticated and large-scale forms. Some manifestations of terrorism have existed at all times, but the attacks became regular in the epoch of globalization. The discussed phenomenon, its organizers, and executors became subjects of numerous studies for the prevention and effective opposition on the domestic and international levels. Terrorists are a danger to any society as they seek to destroy as many people as possible, intimidate others, and influence the public authorities to achieve their own goals, which can be directly linked to the desire to improve their (or a community on whose behalf they act) position and status.

Terrorist Psychology

A terrorist is a complex personality from the psychological position, because it is the collective image. A terrorist act is a deviation from the norm and a form of extremism. The mentally or physically disadvantaged people can participate in it, sacrifice their lives, and take responsibility for the killing of numerous people. Some of them are individuals with a grave personality defect (Matthews, 2013). However, at the first glance, many terrorists are completely adequate but well camouflaged people with an acting talent. There are those who are obsessed with a super-idea and deliberately go to commit a terrorist act knowing all the consequences for themselves (Bandyopadhyay, n.d.). There are many persons among terrorists who had no opportunity to assert themselves and were humiliated in childhood or youth. Then, going to the next level of development, they realized that they could take revenge over not only their offenders but also the whole society. Such people have not been able to realize their ideas. It causes dissatisfaction and the desire to assert them in any way to prove their I. Society seems unfair and indifferent. Quite often, these arguments are well-grounded. Many terrorists are people, who have protected some rights and freedoms, but have been condemned, thrown out, and put over the line of the law by a state. Thus, terrorism becomes a social revenge. The trend towards externalization or finding outside sources of personal problems is a common feature of many terrorists. Their personality characteristics will significantly vary depending on the particular type of criminal activity. For example, political and idealistic terrorists are markedly different from the nationalist, religious, and other offenders.

Comparative Analysis: Terrorist and Criminal

Terrorism is a more specific form of crime. The common feature for terrorists and criminals is the desire to bring the pain and suffering caused by the fear to paralyze the will of the victim. Both concepts apply equally to violence and are characterized by the actions that directly violate the law and cause disorder, chaos, death, and other asocial phenomena. It should be highlighted that criminals (in the general sense) act locally, and their aggression is directed at another individual or a group of people. Publicity is not a prerequisite. On the contrary, the pursuit of mass awareness is the core characteristic of a terrorist. Furthermore, it is aimed at the general public rather than an individual (Smith, 2012). A goal of a terrorist is not a very murder, which is a tool to manipulate the majority (Matthews, 2013). An act of terrorism is always a dialogue with the authorities. When it comes to the political sphere, terrorists address a government pursuing their ambitious goals. Most often, they seek not financial gain but intangible benefits that are more meaningful (Smith, 2012). When it comes to culture, it is possible to consider the type of Muslim terrorism as an attempt to impose Islam. Accordingly, Muslim terrorists believe in serving a higher purpose. Therefore, most of them are ready to die in contrast to common criminals.

Conclusion

The urgency of the problem is also increasing because terrorist actions are directly related to the emergence of new problems in such areas as economics, politics, social and cross-cultural communication, etc. A terrorist can be defined as a criminal, who seeks to murder numerous people to influence the majority of society and a government through intimidation by death. Moreover, an act of terrorism needs to be publicized. Most terrorists perfectly balance a desire of self-affirmation and serving a higher purpose in their actions. However, such act of violence is as horrible and cruel as any other type of crime.