12 September 2013 Huddersfield, The University of

Professor David Cantre and Dr Donna Youngs, of the International Research Centre for Investigative Psychology based at the University of Huddersfield, have conducted research looking at the psychologies of those committing acts of terrorism, and how these psychologies dominate how they view their own actions.

To contribute to an understanding of the individual psychologies that characterise people who carry out acts of terrorism, four distinct themes are proposed that can each dominate Islamic terrorist’s conceptualisations of his/her own actions: Islamic Jihad, Political Jihad, Social and Criminal.

These themes are illustrated from interviews with people convicted of Jihadi-related acts of terrorism within India. The interviews utilised Kelly’s Repertory Grid procedure, thus allowing the Personal Construct System of the interviewees to be explored in association with their accounts of their lives.

These case studies provide rare insights from the terrorists themselves, indicating important similarities across individuals as well as distinct differences in the structure of their thinking that inform considerations of radicalisation and approaches to facilitating disengagement.

http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/18287/