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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
Identification and Prevention of Radicalization. Practice and Experiences with a Multidisciplinary Working Model
It is well known that psychiatric patients are exposed to an increased risk in many different areas. These areas include increased risk of social decline,1–3 increased mortality from suicide as well as somatic illnesses,4,5 increased risk for comorbidity in the form of substance abuse,6 increased risk of criminal victimization,7 and increased risk of committing violent crimes.8 From the clinician’s perspective, it is likely that the risk factors interact in a synergetic way and leave the psychiatric patient extremely vulnerable. To enhance supportive efforts in a more focused and coordinated direction, a new working model between public sectors was introduced in Denmark in 2004.
Cooperation between the police, social services, and psychiatry is an important part of the daily work for these professions in most countries. However, the cooperation generally involves only two sectors at a time. There was no formal cooperation between the three sectors in Denmark until the implementation of the PSP (police, social services, psychiatry) cooperation.
In 2004, the three sectors in the municipality of Frederiksberg (a municipality in the greater Copenhagen area with a total of 90,000 inhabitants) decided to intensify their cooperation to ensure that relevant information was shared and supportive measures enhanced concerning citizens at risk. The local police department, social services, and psychiatry/mental health services developed a new cooperation model: PSP cooperation.
On April 1, 2009, an act of Parliament scaled up the PSP cooperation to national coverage, and an evaluation of the cooperation was performed. The 2011 evaluation report stated that the PSP cooperation helped to highlight marginalized citizens at risk. It noted that, prior to PSP cooperation, authorities often lost focus on this population. The evaluation further reported, for example, that after the PSP implementation, there were fewer mentally ill people mentioned in police reports, fewer evictions, fewer domestic violence emergency calls, and generally improved cooperation between the sectors involved.9 A detailed description of the PSP model and practice was published in 2014.10
Within the last few decades, radicalization and the threat of terrorism have become key issues in Denmark and many other societies. The Radicalization Awareness Network (RAN) was created by the European Commission in 2011 as a way of connecting first-line practitioners and local actors around Europe working with radicalization. Experiences from other European countries suggest that an interdisciplinary approach is central to the prevention of radicalization and the safeguarding of individuals at risk. Multi-agency cooperation seems necessary to provide a consistent and reliable network. Other EU countries have had promising experiences with multi-agency programs, including, for example, Community Policing and the Prevention of Radicalisation (CoPPRa) in Belgium, and Working with Potentially Violent Loners (PVL) in the Care Sector in the Netherlands.11 RAN has, among many other initiatives, led to an increased focus on how employees in various governmental sectors react to concerns of possible radicalization among the citizens they meet or hear about through their work. From its beginnings in 2004, the three core sectors in the PSP cooperation have facilitated the identification of citizens at risk (e.g., of suicide, substance abuse, social decline, or mental illness) and coordinated the relevant intervention and treatment. Even though the literature does not link group-based terrorism to mental disorders, terrorists who act alone are more likely to have a background that includes mental illness.12 The vulnerable psychiatric patient would be an easy target for radicalization, and hence, radicalization could be added to the long list of risk factors acquired with major mental illness. Therefore, the pre-existing PSP cooperation was an obvious forum for identifying and dealing with concerns about radicalization and extremism,13 and the model is an example of an initiative that extends beyond criminal justice and includes public health policy and practice, which Weine et al.14 describe as a capable approach.