Psychology of Terrorism

Penn State is proposing a "Psychology of Terrorism Research Center." Kevin Murphy, head of psychology, has raised critical questions about the project. Most important is "how to intervene to make terrorist groups less effective."

We should start by examining the conditions that give rise to terrorism (so that we can work to abolish them), and looking carefully at the institutions that perpetrate terrorism (so that we can work to transform them). Studying the "psychology of terrorism" without looking at the conditions and institutions that produce terror will generate largely vacuous (but well funded) results.

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