Research on the correlation of mental disorders and terrorism

The paper analyzes the possible connection between mental disorders and terrorism/violent extremism. Mental health is a universal human right and it is important not only for personal but also for general social development. As this topic has been very little researched, and there is a significant s...

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Main Author: Đorić Marija
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Institute for Political Studies, Belgrade 2024-01-01
Series:Srpska Politička Misao
Subjects:
Online Access:https://scindeks-clanci.ceon.rs/data/pdf/0354-5989/2024/0354-59892403039Q.pdf
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author Đorić Marija
author_facet Đorić Marija
author_sort Đorić Marija
collection DOAJ
description The paper analyzes the possible connection between mental disorders and terrorism/violent extremism. Mental health is a universal human right and it is important not only for personal but also for general social development. As this topic has been very little researched, and there is a significant scientific gap, the author came to several conclusions with the help of a comparative analysis of existing empirical studies. There is a great stigmatization of people with mental illnesses, which affects the creation of certain prejudices that associate the sick with violent behavior (which is mostly incorrect). Conversely, some studies claim that mentally ill people are victims of violent behavior. Some researchers have found a link between trauma and violent extremism. In fact, trauma is often a trigger for violent extremism, and it is known that violent extremism is the first step towards the emergence of terrorism. It is very important to distinguish between certain types of terrorism and the correlation of mental illnesses. In fact, scientists are of the opinion that the tendency to mental illness is even 13.5 times higher among terrorists who act individually as lone wolves, compared to actors who are part of a terrorist group. In addition, the prevalence rate of mental illnesses among terrorists does not differ significantly compared to the general population. Radicalization that leads to violent extremism and terrorism is not a mental disorder and we cannot see it that way. An additional problem in the research of this topic is that there is no adequate cooperation between the medical profession and practitioners and theoreticians dealing with P/CVERLT, and we need to work on connecting them in order to have reliable data from this area. The conclusion is that this is still an under-researched topic due to the small number of (publicly available) empirical studies, as well as the confidentiality of the medical data of patients. In this context, each terrorist should be approached individually when assessing the mental state, although certain types of mental disorders are more common in specific types of terrorism. Attention should also be paid to the gender approach when assessing the mental health of terrorists. because there are certain differences between men and women.
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spelling doaj-art-654e313714934de6af6c9d4419ec7ccb2025-01-14T11:09:34ZdeuInstitute for Political Studies, BelgradeSrpska Politička Misao0354-59892024-01-01853395810.5937/spm85-502550354-59892403039QResearch on the correlation of mental disorders and terrorismĐorić Marija0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9993-1424Institut za političke studije, Beograd, SerbiaThe paper analyzes the possible connection between mental disorders and terrorism/violent extremism. Mental health is a universal human right and it is important not only for personal but also for general social development. As this topic has been very little researched, and there is a significant scientific gap, the author came to several conclusions with the help of a comparative analysis of existing empirical studies. There is a great stigmatization of people with mental illnesses, which affects the creation of certain prejudices that associate the sick with violent behavior (which is mostly incorrect). Conversely, some studies claim that mentally ill people are victims of violent behavior. Some researchers have found a link between trauma and violent extremism. In fact, trauma is often a trigger for violent extremism, and it is known that violent extremism is the first step towards the emergence of terrorism. It is very important to distinguish between certain types of terrorism and the correlation of mental illnesses. In fact, scientists are of the opinion that the tendency to mental illness is even 13.5 times higher among terrorists who act individually as lone wolves, compared to actors who are part of a terrorist group. In addition, the prevalence rate of mental illnesses among terrorists does not differ significantly compared to the general population. Radicalization that leads to violent extremism and terrorism is not a mental disorder and we cannot see it that way. An additional problem in the research of this topic is that there is no adequate cooperation between the medical profession and practitioners and theoreticians dealing with P/CVERLT, and we need to work on connecting them in order to have reliable data from this area. The conclusion is that this is still an under-researched topic due to the small number of (publicly available) empirical studies, as well as the confidentiality of the medical data of patients. In this context, each terrorist should be approached individually when assessing the mental state, although certain types of mental disorders are more common in specific types of terrorism. Attention should also be paid to the gender approach when assessing the mental health of terrorists. because there are certain differences between men and women.https://scindeks-clanci.ceon.rs/data/pdf/0354-5989/2024/0354-59892403039Q.pdfterrorismviolent extremismmental healthmental illnessmass shootingsviolence 12
spellingShingle Đorić Marija
Research on the correlation of mental disorders and terrorism
Srpska Politička Misao
terrorism
violent extremism
mental health
mental illness
mass shootings
violence 12
title Research on the correlation of mental disorders and terrorism
title_full Research on the correlation of mental disorders and terrorism
title_fullStr Research on the correlation of mental disorders and terrorism
title_full_unstemmed Research on the correlation of mental disorders and terrorism
title_short Research on the correlation of mental disorders and terrorism
title_sort research on the correlation of mental disorders and terrorism
topic terrorism
violent extremism
mental health
mental illness
mass shootings
violence 12
url https://scindeks-clanci.ceon.rs/data/pdf/0354-5989/2024/0354-59892403039Q.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT đoricmarija researchonthecorrelationofmentaldisordersandterrorism