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Terrorism has dominated the domestic and international landscape since 9/11. Determining what drives people to commit acts of terrorism is no easy task. The important new book fills a gap in the psychology and psychiatry literature by examining the relationship between evil and mental illness, and in particular amongst terrorists. How can evil, a characteristic of human nature, become extreme, intent on destruction and lead to acts of terrorism? Featuring contributions from leading experts in this field, Evil, Terrorism and Psychiatry explores whether there are specific personality traits, psychological characteristics or psychopathological conditions that may favour a lack of control of violence in terrorists. It also offers possible novel prevention strategies to help understand and prevent these acts in future. Featuring articles from a special issue of CNS Spectrums, this book also includes brand new chapters found exclusively in this book.
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No one is willingly evil, but one can become evil for a bad disposition in his body and for a training without a true education; this is hideous for everyone and happens against his will (Plato, Timaeus, 86e). This citation alone would suffice to show how understanding behavior has fascinated humans since ancient times.
Over the last few decades, the development of behavioral neuroscience has fostered the study of the biological correlates that subtend the mental processes involved in moral choices and social behavior. Novel brain-imaging methodologies, including positron emission tomography (PET), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and high-resolution electro-encephalography (EEG-mapping), have allowed scientists to adventure into the marvellous morphological and functional architecture of the human brain in an unprecedented manner. Furthermore, techniques such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) have made it possible to probe the brain by inducing temporary functional perturbations in selected cortical regions.
At the same time, the decoding of the human genome has paved the way to the study of the role of different genetic alleles in shaping personality, behavior, and vulnerability to mental disorders, as well as to understanding individual variability in response to pharmacological and even to psychotherapeutic interventions.
Neuroscience has proven to be a powerful tool to explore issues across multiple disciplines, ranging from philosophy to ethics, from economics to law, from genetics to psychiatry itself. The dialogue between social and experimental sciences has given renovated vigor to ancient questions. For instance, whether psychopathic criminals should be considered bad or mad is no longer a matter of abstract speculation, but rather has become the object of scientific investigations in which structural and functional measures in brain regions devoted to emotional processing and behavioral control are combined with evaluation of genetic factors that may affect vulnerability to aversive environmental factors during childhood. This nature by nurture interaction in turn may result in increased risk of expressing antisocial and impulsive behavior during adulthood. Recently, novel neuroscience advancements have entered the 2 forensic debate and the law.
In view of evidence coming from neuroscience, the question of the extent to which individuals are free and responsible for their actions has taken on renewed vigor. The issue reconnects to the medieval debate in the ethical and philosophical realm on free will versus determinism, a debate whose echo resonates in the courtroom. The capability to distinguish good from bad and to decide to act in one way or another is the foundation of the criminal justice system. Indeed, on such a foundation, retributive jurisprudence, typical of all modern societies, bases culpability and imputability.
In this perspective, Evil, Terrorism & Psychiatry offers an original and multidisciplinary approach to the understanding of ideological terrorism. What can neuroscience tell us about the mind—or rather, the brain—of suicide bombers? Which psychopathological factors may play a role? To what extent is religious fanaticism just a matter of molecules in the brain? Can neuroscience, psychiatry, and social sciences by working together develop effective strategies to prevent terrorism sinking deep roots within society?
Readers will find themselves viewing this issue from a new angle, no doubt from a much wider perspective than we have become accustomed to hear in the evening news.
Psychiatrist and neuroscientist, Director of IMT School for Advanced Studies in Lucca, Italy, and Head of MoMiLab, Molecular Mind Laboratory, at IMT School
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It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning, and research at the highest international levels of excellence.
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781108467766
© Donatella Marazziti and Stephen M. Stahl 2019
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 2019
Printed in the United Kingdom by TJ International Ltd. Padstow Cornwall
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Marazziti, Donatella, editor. | Stahl, Stephen M., 1951– editor.
Title: Evil, terrorism & psychiatry / edited by Donatella Marazziti, Stephen M. Stahl.
Description: Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2019. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018043274 | ISBN 9781108467766 (pbk.)
Subjects: | MESH: Terrorism – psychology | Suicide – psychology | Violence – psychology
Classification: LCC RC454.4 | NLM WM 172.5 | DDC 616.89–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018043274
ISBN 978-1-108-46776-6 Paperback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
Every effort has been made in preparing this book to provide accurate and up-to-date information that is in accord with accepted standards and practice at the time of publication. Although case histories are drawn from actual cases, every effort has been made to disguise the identities of the individuals involved. Nevertheless, the authors, editors, and publishers can make no warranties that the information contained herein is totally free from error, not least because clinical standards are constantly changing through research and regulation. The authors, editors, and publishers therefore disclaim all liability for direct or consequential damages resulting from the use of material contained in this book. Readers are strongly advised to pay careful attention to information provided by the manufacturer of any drugs or equipment that they plan to use.
Chapter 1 |
Chapter 8 |
---|---|
To Die to Kill: Suicide as a Weapon. Some Historical Antecedents of Suicide Terrorism
|
Brain Alterations Potentially Associated with Aggression and Terrorism
|
Chapter 2 |
Chapter 9 |
The Philosophy of Hate and Anger
|
Political Terrorism and Affective Polarization in “Black” and “Red” Terrorists in Italy During the Years 1968–1988
|
Chapter 3 |
Chapter 10 |
Identity, Alienation, and Violent Radicalization
|
Conditions of Life and Death of Psychiatric Patients in France During World War II: Euthanasia or Collateral Casualties?
|
Chapter 4 |
Chapter 11 |
The Mind of Suicide Terrorists
|
Neuropsychiatric Characteristics of Antiterrorist Operation Combatants in the Donbass (Ukraine)
|
Chapter 5 |
Chapter 12 |
Psychopathology of Terrorists
|
The International Scenario of Terrorism
|
Chapter 6 |
Chapter 13 |
Why is Terrorism a Man’s Business?
|
Identification and Prevention of Radicalization. Practice and Experiences with a Multidisciplinary Working Model
|
Chapter 7 |
Chapter 14 |
Religion, Violence, and the Brain: a Neuroethical Perspective
|
How to Fight Terrorism? Political and Strategic Aspects
|
Dinesh Bhugra
Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK
Bernhard Bogerts
Salus-Institut, Magdeburg, Germany
Claudio Bonito
Università Europea di Roma, Rome, Italy
Stephanie Breitschuh
Salus-Institut, Magdeburg, Germany
Alberto Carrara
Università Europea di Roma, Rome, Italy
Marina V. Gresko
Department of Radiation Psychoneurology, National Research Center for Radiation Medicine of National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine
Patrick Lemoine
Department of Psychiatry, Clinique Lyon Lumière, Lyon, France
Tatiana K. Loganovskaja
Department of Radiation Psychoneurology, National Research Center for Radiation Medicine of National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine
Konstantin N. Loganovsky
Department of Radiation Psychoneurology, National Research Center for Radiation Medicine of National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine
Donatella Marazziti
Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, Section of Psychiatry, University of Pisa, Pisa, and Fondazione BRF Onlus – Institute for Research in Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Lucca, Italy
Icro Maremmani
G. De Lisio Institute of Behavioural Sciences, and Santa Chiara University Hospital, Department of Specialty Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Donato Marzano
Italian Navy, Italian Fleet, Rome, Italy
Anne Maria Möller-Leimkühler
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Munich, Germany
Matteo Pacini
G. De Lisio Institute of Behavioural Sciences, Pisa, Italy
Armando Piccinni
Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, Section of Psychiatry, University of Pisa and Fondazione BRF Onlus – Institute for research in psychiatry and neuroscience, Lucca, Italy
Stefano Salvatori
Departimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, Section of Psychiatry, University of Pisa, Italy
Maria Schöne
Salus-Institut, Magdeburg, Germany
Dorte Sestoft
Ministry of Justice, Clinic of Forensic Psychiatry, Blegdamsvej, Copenhagen, Denmark
Stephen M. Stahl
Department of Psychiatry, University of California at San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
Guido Traversa
Università Europea di Roma, Rome, Italy
Erich Vad
Department of International Relations, Geschwister-Scholl-Institute for Political Sciences, Ludwig–Maximilians–University of Munich, Munich, Germany
Antonello Veltri
Fondazione BRF Onlus – Institute for research in psychiatry and neuroscience, and Dipartimento della Salute Mentale e Dipendenze, Azienda USL Toscana Nord Ovest, Pisa, Italy
Antonio Ventriglio
Department of Mental Health, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy
Natalia A. Zdanevich
Department of Radiation Psychoneurology, National Research Center for Radiation Medicine of National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine
The International Scenario of Terrorism
The last century has been characterized by several events that have deeply influenced the geopolitical scenario and the evolution of modern society. Aside from natural events, the First and Second World Wars shaped international equilibrium. At the price of millions of deaths, Western societies, since the end of the 1940s, have begun a virtuous path to peace, paying attention to the industrial reconstruction, which in the postwar period represented exceptional support for the economies of the defeated nations. Despite all of this, the world soon became divided between two superpowers, the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and for this reason for four decades the global balance of power was unstable. The Cold War was a simmering conflict that created global suspense: a prolonged period that witnessed an indirect conflict between these two countries through distanced client wars, trying to affirm and promote opposite values and ideologies. This bipolar period was also characterized as the two sides “playing by the rules”—clear, precise, and binding, a dispute where the enemy was well-defined. The two superpowers established limits on the tensions born from other regional crises, considering themselves arbiters among opponents aligned with one group or another. As a consequence, the armed forces of both blocks developed different war doctrines, oriented by the historical moment and the perceived threat.1
The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 reshaped the interests of Europe, which were gradually emancipated from the fear of a Russian invasion. Thus, a redefinition of the military structure as a whole took place because the commanders in chief became aware of their inadequacy to face the new challenges. The failure of the communist ideology had two consequences: (1) remodulation of the role of the military, which in the past included surveillance and nuclear and conventional deterrence; and (2) a growing confusion, especially related to new and unpredictable scenarios.
Meanwhile, since the 1970s, terrorist groups well-rooted in different European nations progressively abandoned their endogenous characteristics and adopted a transnational approach based on common ideologies. The Brigate Rosse (BR) in Italy, the Rote Armee Fraktion (RAF) in Germany, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in Ireland, and the Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) in Spain, in their own ways, shook the civil consciousness by pursuing military agendas dictated by various ideologies. Their common element was the fight against the institutions of the state. However, the rise of these groups (just a few examples of the terrorist galaxy) represented the beginning of a long season of violence and blood, which were confronted with individual strategies (which yielded various results) by each state.
The first escalation in terms of the visibility and efficiency of terrorism was represented by the appearance on the international scene of the Islamist group in the powderkeg of the Middle East. The first attack carried out by terrorists was the massacre at the Munich Olympics in 1972, when Fedayyin commandos from the Black September terrorist organization broke into the athletes’ housing and killed two Israelis, leading to a firefight with German police that brought on the death of all the Israeli hostages.
The media exposure and consequent social effect inspired the rise and proliferation of other groups throughout the world. With the ancient contraposition of Sunni and Shia believers, the Middle East became the terror laboratory, an authentic school. Moreover, the process of decolonization in several African countries represented a threat due to the increase in the number of new hostile forces. In that scenario, while the bipolar contraposition of the superpowers still exists, despite the beginning of a new season characterized by the dialogue between East and West, antiterrorist defence is called upon to answer the new threat. Endogenous terrorism is reinforced by similar organizations located in other nations, assuming wider regional connotations and rendering more difficult the preventive and repressive actions of investigative institutions.
Through the Camp David Accords of 1978, the process of building peace in the Middle East changed thanks to the end of the state of war between Israel and Egypt. Nevertheless, this historical agreement left several crisis situations unsolved, first and foremost the Lebanese and Palestinian situations, both tightly linked to the dynamic of the Syrian regime, a very discussed topic these days. However, the Camp David Accords embraced an innovative opportunity for a military instrument. The Multinational Force and Observers represent the first experiment of a “coalition of the willing.” Italy discovered its vocation for foreign military missions, earning appreciation for their first military intervention in Lebanon led by General Angioni. It was a fundamental step in the acquisition of efficacy and experience useful for the consequent mission in the Persian Gulf.2
However, Western nations are not the only peacekeeping actors. In fact, the Soviet Union in 1979 tried a military experiment by invading Afghanistan to overthrow President Amin and impose a government led by Babrak Karmal. Moscow never thought that this would become the “Soviet Vietnam.” Taking into account their military superiority, the Kremlin planned a sort of blitzkrieg, absolutely sure that they were able to defeat the Afghan fighters. Needless to say, it was not that simple, and that gave the chance for Russian leaders to change their initial intentions and abandon the mission. Nevertheless, the international community is still paying a great price for that war. The Afghan resistance was supported by nations that had the intention to weaken the Soviet Union by prolonging this proxy war. The mujahidin received unexpected support from different external actors who supplied arms, training, and equipment. Once the Afghan conflict came to its conclusion, it left in its wake some groups of resistance fighters influenced by radical Islamist ideology. These terrorist groups were trained through specific techniques that caused great difficulties for the better-equipped military forces, especially thanks to their better knowledge of the hostile territory. It was the fatherland of Al Qaeda, who represented a new phenomenon within the international panorama. It is a transregional organization that is constantly spreading and growing, thanks to the spontaneous affiliation of terrorist groups that share their ideology and goals. This new actor arose in a specific historical moment characterized by the disaggregation of the Soviet Union and the rise of new crisis sites and such failed states as Somalia. Today these organizations appear as secondary actors, because terrorism is now most dramatically linked with the Islamic State (or Daesh). The real power of this organization comes from its extraordinary media savvy, not its military capabilities. Techniques of attack, settled in the European capitals, belong to the tradition of Al Qaeda. Their tactics are organized in a simple fashion, and their efficacy derives from their willingness to sacrifice their lives, following religious rules erroneously derived from Islamic precepts. The simplicity of their attacks is supported by obsessive media exposure, which greatly magnifies their real achievements. Due to the fact that some young Muslims, often born in the West, do not feel integrated in their societies and seek to find a sense of belonging in their ancient origins, the terrorists have a vast supply of recruits from which to draw.
Prevention and repression of terrorism require capabilities that need to be trained within a short period of time. For this reason, it is fundamental to draw on the experience of military professionals who worked in the area where terrorism was born. The asymmetric techniques of terrorist attacks used by insurgents have caused such a huge number of victims, our military has allied itself with those of other countries (some strange bedfellows). The analysis of techniques and tactics led us to an awareness that the best training, as well as the best equipment, have next to no influence against enemies who see death as the supreme sacrifice that will connect them with their god and transport them to paradise.3
Those scenarios have radically changed all the long-consolidated doctrines employed during the Cold War. The enemy is no longer conventional, and neither are their armaments. Our doctrines should be adaptive and predictive. It is upon this framework that intelligence work has its floor. Constant activity in making relationships and building multicultural acceptance constitute the anthropological approach to the “operative theatre.” The challenge is continuous and multipolar. Conflicts are fought on mountains, in deserts, in Western capitals, and in cyberspace, a limitless expanse where hunting requires creativity, human innovation, and technical tools.
Nowadays, the military arm of industrialized nations is moving toward this dimension, where one cannot smell the fear of the war but where a loss can cost thousands of lives. We now almost look back at the Cold War with a melancholic nostalgia. Four decades ago, soldiers wearing a uniform were easily identifiable as the enemy. The paradox is that the old enemy and we now face the same threat.