lone-actor terrorism

lone-actor terrorists

this book provides the first empirical analysis of lone-actor terrorist behaviour. based upon a unique dataset of 111 lone actors that catalogues the life span of the individual’s development, the book contains important insights into what an analysis of their behaviours might imply for practical interventions aimed at disrupting or even preventing attacks. it adopts insights and methodologies from criminology and forensic psychology to provide a holistic analysis of the behavioural underpinnings of lone-actor terrorism.

analyzing person‐exposure patterns in lone‐actor terrorism: implications for threat assessment and intelligence gathering

the lone-actor terrorist population can be extremely heterogenous and difficult to detect. intelligence is key to countering this threat. this study devises a typology of person-environment interactions which could serve as a framework for intelligence-gathering and risk assessment. we use cluster analysis and a previously-developed risk analysis framework (raf) to identify relations between three components: propensity, situation and network. the analysis reveals four person-exposure patterns (peps): solitary, susceptible, situational and selection. the solitary pep lacks common indicators of a propensity to pursue terrorist action. what indicators are present may not manifest until late in the offending process. the susceptible pep suggests a style of interaction whereby cognitive susceptibility, manifesting as mental illness, is a key factor in the emergence of the propensity/motivation to commit a terrorist attack. this configuration typifies cases where radicalisation may occur in a short time span. the situational pep demonstrates how situational stressors may act as warnings of acceleration towards violent action; the challenge being to capture evidence of these stressors and their effects. lastly, the selection pep demonstrates higher frequencies of leakage and antecedent violent behaviours. these offenders may be known to the community or other agencies, suggesting specific opportunities for detection and disruption.

a false dichotomy? mental illness and lone-actor terrorism

we test whether significant differences in mental illness exist in a matched sample of lone- and group-based terrorists. we then test whether there are distinct behavioural differences between lone-actor terrorists with and without mental illness. we then stratify our sample across a range of diagnoses and again test whether significant differences exist. we conduct a series of bivariate, multivariate, and multinomial statistical tests using a unique dataset of 119 lone-actor terrorists and a matched sample of group-based terrorists. the odds of a lone-actor terrorist having a mental illness is 13.49 times higher than the odds of a group actor having a mental illness. lone actors who were mentally ill were 18.07 times more likely to have a spouse or partner who was involved in a wider movement than those without a history of mental illness. those with a mental illness were more likely to have a proximate upcoming life change, more likely to have been a recent victim of prejudice, and experienced proximate and chronic stress. the results identify behaviours and traits that security agencies can utilise to monitor and prevent lone-actor terrorism events. the correlated behaviours provide an image of how risk can crystalise within the individual offender and that our understanding of lone-actor terrorism should be multivariate in nature.