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Creating Young Martyrs Conditions That Make Dying in a Terrorist Attack Seem Like a Good Idea
Alice LoCicero and Samuel J Sinclair
ISBN: 0-275-99690-5
ISBN-13: 978-0-275-99690-1
148 pages
Praeger Publishers
Publication: 8/30/2008
List Price: $39.95 (UK Sterling Price: £27.95)
Availability: In Stock
Media Type: Hardcover
Also Available: Ebook
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects:
Series Title: Contemporary Psychology
Reviews:
  • "This is a relatively short book composed of six chapters. The first chapter consists of a chatty travelogue describing one author's visit to Sri Lanka. The second begins with the description of a conference held in 2007 in Madrid and then uses it as a backdrop for consideration of the problems of defining "terrorism" and "terrorist," as well as other major conceptual problems faced by scholars studying terrorism. The book relies primarily on the impressions gathered on the visit to Sri Lanka, secondary scholarly sources, literary works, and conference proceedings. The third chapter tries to apply the literature on cognitive development. The fourth focuses on the hopelessness of ending the "war" these children are facing--some child interview material is used anecdotally. The fifth considers the problem that most victims of terrorist attacks are civilians."
    —CHOICE
    5/1/2009
Description: The authors explain how and why we must understand the conditions that spur youths to become martyrs by making them think suicide bombings and other acts of self-destructive terrorism are a good way to die. LoCicero and Sinclair present cutting-edge research and theory about the political, social, and living conditions that raise the risk of children deciding to join organizations that use terrorist tactics, and, having joined, to volunteer for missions in which they intentionally die while causing death and destruction, in order to make an impact. Equally important, LoCicero and Sinclair offer concrete suggestions about how ordinary Americans can help reduce and prevent terrorism around the globe.
Table of Contents:
  • Chapter One
    Endangered Children
    Life in War-Affected Areas
    On the Ground
    Past Checkpoints, Into Town
    Across the Globe
    Knowledge, Power, Action
    Social Science of Youthful Terrorists
    Chapter Two
    2007 Madrid: I Declare this Conference Open.
    Interdisciplinary Analyses of Aggression and Terrorism
    Update on the Social Science of Aggression and Terrorism
    The Questions
    What is Terrorism?
    Defining Terrorism
    Defining a Terrorist
    Prototypes of Terrorists
    Social Scientists Describing Child Terrorists
    In the Meantime: Proposal for a Consensus Model
    Terrorism and Altruism
    Distinguishing Legitimate Militaries from Terrorist Groups
    What About Legitimate Grievances?
    Could Terrorist Acts Ever be Performed by Normal People?
    What about Demographics and Motivation?
    What about the Demographics of Child Terrorists?
    Comparing Child Terrorists with Child Soldiers
    What about Distribution of Wealth and Resources?
    A Question that did not come up: Biological Determinism for Aggression
    Chapter Three
    Twenty-First Century Terrorism and the Development of Youthful Terrorists
    Child Soldier, Child Terrorist
    Cognitive Development and Youth in War-Affected Areas
    Group-Defined Identity
    Deciding to Engage in a Terrorist Act: The Youthful Brain
    The Ecology of Development
    The Propensity to Engage in Terrorist Acts
    The Production-Line Analogy
    Preventing the Recruitment of Youth as Martyrs
    Chapter Four
    When the Last Tamil Has Died
    When will the war end? Never.
    What will it be like when the war ends?
    The Irony of a Common Theme
    Talking About It
    Freedom to Travel
    The Privilege of an Education
    How old should someone be before joining a fighting force?
    Growing up in War-affected Areas
    Ethnic Conflict: An Informed Account of a Minority Childs Experience
    From the Childs Point of View: Very Young Children in War-Affected Areas
    Middle Childhood
    Older Children: Thirteen and Beyond
    Truth and Lies
    Things You Know; Things You Dont Know
    It all Looks Clear Now
    Credible?
    Chapter Five
    Victims of 21st Century War: Are We all in This Together?
    Costs of War: Young Men and Women
    Military Service vs. Rebel Militia
    Parents of Youthful Terrorists Who have Died in Attacks
    Chain of Events
    Creating Martyrs: What Americans Need to Know
    Common American Theories About Youthful Terrorists
    Radical Differences in Experience
    Underscoring the Need for Better Knowledge of the World
    Ecological Psychology
    A Very Good Cause
    A Very Good Cause: What Do They Know and How do They Know It?
    Trust and Distrust in the US
    How Distrust of News Contributes to Recruitment of Children in War-Affected Areas
    Stop Providing Weapons.
    Resources
    Dont Discount Our Generation
    Shared Future: Human Rights, Terrorism, and Youth Around the World
    Nuclear Taboo
    Very Brief Historical Overview
    Contemporary Nuclear Threat
    Nuclear Threat
    Some Evidence and Scenarios for Possible Nuclear Attack on the United States
    Could A Terrorist Organization Obtain a Nuclear Weapon?
    Could a Nuclear Weapon be Transported into the US?
    Chapter Six
    The Fisherman
    On a Global Scale: The Fishermans Potential Network
    Good guys and bad guys: The bad guys keep on coming.
    Managing the Difficult View
    Hearts and Minds?
    Winning Hearts and Minds: A Modest Proposal
    American Compassion and Mercy
    Knowing Hearts and Minds
    Why try to understand those who would perpetrate violence on innocent people?
    Northern Ireland
    Challenging misperceptions: Everyday heroism
    About the Authors
    Series Afterword
About the Author: ALICE LOCICERO is Past President and Co-Founder of the Society of Terrorism Research, as well as Chair of Social Sciences at Endicott College. She is a certified Clinical Psychologist, and has been a faculty member at the Center for Multicultural Training and Boston Medical Center, as well as at Suffolk University. In earlier roles, LoCicero served as Senior Psychologist working with families at Children's Hospital, Boston, and as Clinical Instructor at Harvard Medical School. A member of the Massachusetts Behaviorial Health Disaster Responders, she provides mental health services to family members of victims of terrorism and other manmade and natural disasters. She traveled to Sri Lanka in May and June of 2007 to learn about conditions that make terrorism an appealing idea to some youths.

SAMUEL J. SINCLAIR is Co-Founder and President of the Society for Terrorism Research (www.societyforterrorismresearch.org). He is currently a Fellow in Psychology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He is also Founder and Co-Editor-in-Chief of the peer-refereed journal Terrorism Research, and developed as well as collaborated with an international Editorial Board comprised of some 80 experts from 14 countries on five continents. Sinclair is also the developer of the Terrorism Catastrophizing Scale, a new assessment tool measuring anticipatory fears about terrorism. He is past recipient of the Association for Threat Assessment Professionals' Chris Hatcher Memorial Scholarship Award.
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