The article analyzes the notion of terror, terrorism and a terrorist; Conditions and signs of the development of terrorism; Factors affecting the development of terrorism; Attitude of people towards terrorism. An analysis of the results of the study shows that in women, attitudes toward terrorism are mostly negative, and men have different attitudes to this phenomenon from the most negative to the most positive. The assessments of men and women who are negative about terrorism are basically specifically tough and radical, and focus on forceful methods of solving the problem of terrorism. They consider terrorism a global problem of our time, which threatens absolutely all countries without exception and with which it is necessary and necessary to fight. In their opinion, there is not a single motive that could justify the person carrying out the terrorist act. The results of the research can help to systematize and identify problem areas in the formation of people's adequate attitude to terrorism.
The concept of terrorism today is a very diverse phenomenon. Modern terrorism has recently acquired features of a global problem that requires close attention of the international community. During the study of the concept of terrorism, arose the discussions about the methods and approaches of studying this phenomenon.
One of the said approaches consists in recognition of such a distinctive feature of terrorism as intimidation. Terrorism includes: encroachments on human life, hostage-taking, extortion, crimes against justice, against the system of government, against state power. But often it is not taken into account that terrorist actions by its sense can have intimidation or annihilation of certain people, less often material values.
Many researchers believe that the following conditions are necessary for conducting terrorist acts [1]:
- Money, weapons and explosives;
- Military knowledge and the possibility of training members of terrorist gang formation;
- Reliable shelters, in states that support terrorists not only on their territory, but also outside of their own, and also use them for their political and military
At the present time, in common usage, the concepts of «terror», «terrorism» and «terrorist» are often confused, which seems to us to be one thing — «great and terrible». In order to understand what «terror» is, it is necessary to turn to the Latin meaning of the word. Terror from the Lat. is «horror», exactly, the emotional state to which terrorists seek to originate by carrying out terrorist acts. The terrorist act for them is only a means, a method, the use of which brings people into a state of terror. In general, the entire chain of «terrorist — terrorist act — terror» constitutes terrorism as an integral phenomenon [2].
«Terrorism» is a violence or a threat of its use against individuals or organizations, as well as destruction (damage) or threat of destruction (damage) of property and other material objects, which create the danger of people death, causing significant property damage or the occurrence of other socially dangerous consequences, carried out with a purpose of violating the public security, intimidating the population or influencing to the decision adoption by the authorities that are beneficial to terrorists, or satisfaction of their unlawful property and (or) other interests; an encroachment to the life of a state or public figure committed with a view of stopping his state or other political activity or from retaliation for such activities; an attack to a representative of a foreign state or an employee of an international organization who use international protection, as well as to the office premises or vehicles of persons who use international protection, if the act is committed with a view of provoking a war or complicating international relations.
Terrorism has always shocked the public and provoked the most controversial assessments and responses. A few decades ago, at the mention of the word «terrorist» in the minds of people was loomed the image of a tousled black-bearded anarchist alien hurling bombs and looking at the world with a devilish smile. This immoral and fanatical subject is sinister and ridiculous at the same time. Despite the fact that Dostoevsky and Joseph Conrad in their works showed the image of a representative of the terrorist movement, the original prototype for them was just such a stereotype. To date, the image of the terrorist has been somewhat transformed, but not too deviated from the original template. It must be said that at all times terrorists had their admirers and confidants, and today one can hear laudatory remarks about them.
It is known that people who join terrorist groups have one of the dominant personality traits as externalization, a sense of identity and egocentrism. Thus, a common feature of terrorists is the need to include such people in the group, namely the problem of self-identity [3].
E.Show as a result of the conducted researches denotes 4 factors, leading a person to terrorism [4]. Such factors in his opinion are:
- earlysocialization;
- narcissistic violations;
- Conflict situations, especially confrontation with the security forces (with the police);
In the opinion of some researchers, first of all, individuals from the risk groups, and secondly, people with low self-esteem become terrorists [5]. Therefore, for them an important factor is belonging to the group, which provides them with a certain social role. The withdrawal from this group is impossible for most members, since this is equivalent not only to physical destruction, but also to psychological murder or suicide, or loss of self-identity. This, in our opinion, is due to the low self-esteem of a member of a terrorist group that is well succumbed to authoritarian influence from the leader. Incorporating them into a terrorist group, gives them the opportunity to gain some social stability and status. In this regard, any attack on their organization is perceived by them as a personal insult, which significantly increases group cohesion. On the other hand, the world for him is clearly divided into white and black, right and wrong, his own and not his own, that is, enemies, so there is no ambiguity, no doubt. And with such a vital position it is much more convenient to live than to make choices every time and to doubt the correctness of your step. Of course, a terrorist organization, like any authoritarian structure, has its own rigid hierarchical system, where the leader by whose decree is prompted the enemy or who he should fight against. All these factors must be remembered while organizing the fight against terrorism.
In the twentieth century, the study of international terrorism has become very relevant. Despite the numerous discussions on the study of this problem, there is still no generally accepted definition of the concept of «terrorism». Evaluation often depends on political views, religious beliefs and ethnicity. And to this day, the search for a unified approach to the study of the problem of terrorism continues.
To date, the problem of terrorism is one of the most important for all countries and states, since over time it is not solved, but only exacerbated. At the same time, despite the enormous importance of this problem, and the growing research in this area, there remains a large number of unresolved issues that require an early response and resolution of the problem of terrorism. One of these important aspects is the population's attitude towards terrorism. Despite the fact that the attention of specialists is attracted to the psychological aspects of terrorism, scientists still overlook the very important component of this problem. Namely, the determinants of the formation of the attitude to terrorism in society, therefore, the issue related to the formation of the society's attitude to this phenomenon remains practically undisclosed.
In the studies of psychologists different psychological and social characteristics of forming the attitude of society to terrorism in ordinary consciousness are singled out. It can be noted from the mass media that the promotion to terrorist acts is not simply due to the silence of the population or their ignorance of terrorism, but sometimes because of the consent of some of the citizens to actively participate in terrorist acts. At the same time, any beliefs can serve as motivators: from the ideological to the material, from the religious to the social, etc., but all this, in our opinion, is done for the sole purpose, namely with the purpose of profit.
So, the attitude of society to terrorism depends on various factors: on the degree of consolidation around the purposes of terrorist organizations, on the perception by society of the value of human life, on the level of the legal consciousness of citizens, etc.
It is known that any society that has faced the problem of terrorism, after a while, changes its attitude to this phenomenon. The appearance of terrorism firstly splits the thinking of the population. One part of society will categorically reject terrorism. Other part, in some cases, even support. The third will generally justify and support terrorism in all its manifestations [6].
As shown by the theoretical analysis, the problem of attitude to terrorist activity is mainly considered in the age aspect, the attitude of youth towards terrorism is studied. We decided to study the attitude to terrorism in a gender context.
For the study, the method of questioning was chosen. This method was allowed to study the social attitudes of the subjects. Respondents were offered the author's questionnaire «Studying attitudes towards various manifestations of terrorism», which contained closed and open questions. The questionnaire was developed on the basis of research by A. Drozdov, a teacher at the Chernihiv State Pedagogical University, who studied the attitude of student youth towards terrorism [7].
The sample of our study was made by men and women aged from 17 to 55 years in the number of 100 people (Fig.).
Figure. Gender and age indicators of the study participants: the diagram on the left shows the quantitative indicators of the male subjects, the diagram on the right — the female subjects
In our study it was important to see the attitude to terrorism not only of young people, but of middle and mature age: 1 group — early maturity (17–25 years), 2 group — middle maturity (25–40 years), 3 group — late maturity 40–55 years). The entire sample was divided into 2 subgroups: 50 men and 50 women.
The study was conducted individually with each subject in specially organized conditions. During the use of the questionnaire, the subjects were offered instructions and special forms with which they worked. Results on these forms were calculated using mathematical statistics.
Questionnaire — «Study of attitudes towards various manifestations of terrorism». It allows to reveal the attitude of respondents to terrorism, its manifestations, methods, etc. Intellectual component (what respondents know about terrorism), emotional (how to relate to it) and behavioral (assessment of potential willingness to participate in the preparation or commission of a terrorist act and actions in the event of a terrorist attack).
The author's questionnaire allowed us to divide the sample into the following subgroups: of the total sample among men, 24 % are conditionally-positively to terrorism, 24 % conditionally neutral and 52 % negative. Among women, only 24 % refer to the manifestation of terrorism neutrally and 76 % negatively. Thus, among women, there were no such subjects who would treat terrorism positively, while among the men being tested, 24 % of the sample viewed terrorism positively.
The assessments of men and women who are negative about terrorism are basically concrete and radical, and focus on forceful methods of solving the problem of terrorism. They consider terrorism as a global problem of our time, which threatens absolutely all countries without exception and with which it is necessary and needed to fight. In their opinion, there is not a single motive that could justify the person to carry out the terrorist act.
Participants in the study, which are conditionally neutral to the terrorist act, most often find it difficult to answer questions related to the terrorist act. They try to stick to neutral answers, that is, they believe that terrorism is neither good nor bad, it all depends on who is attacking whom. They do not suggest ways to solve this problem, believing that this should be handled by the state or someone else.
Men who are conditionally positive about terrorism justify the actions of terrorists, suggest that this makes sense, consider terrorist acts as a way of realizing certain goals or ideas, and this is the only possible and effective method of struggle.
For a more detailed explanation of the attitude of the subjects to various manifestations of terrorism, we also were interested in their answers to the open questions of the questionnaire. So, based on the results of processing the questionnaire, the following tendencies can be noted: women's answers to questions related to the definition of terrorist activity are more categorical and clear. They define terrorism for themselves as horror, evil, death, cruelty, crime, war and the global problem. Unlike women, male test subjects are less categorical in their responses to the question of terrorism, defining it as a strange crime, insanity and a mess. And those men who treat terrorism positively, call it a meaning, a game and a method of intimidation.
In general, most of the participants in the study, despite gender differences, treat terrorism in the negative. Only respondents who positively perceive terrorist actions emphasize their attitude with positive answers and assumptions that this is for someone, as some realization of their own goals or ideas.
Only the respondents who positively perceive terrorist actions emphasize their attitude with positive answers and assumptions that this is for someone, as some realization of their own goals or ideas.
Answers to the question of why terrorist acts are occurring did not make much difference between men and women. All respondents believe that terrorist acts occur because many states are not following the right policy, they do not observe laws, and do not consider people and their opinions. In one, both men and women, adhere to a unified view that people who are mentally unhealthy, or people who want to pay attention to themselves, commit acts of terrorism.
In the fight against terrorism, as well as their prevention, the opinions of men and women differ. Men offer humane measures to solve this problem in the form of accepting the requirements and understanding of each party, changing the policies of countries and laws, and offering to seek consensus among all countries, religions, nations and people. Women, however, offered more radical and harsh measures to combat this phenomenon. The most popular answers were to execute, kill, exterminate the guilty, imprison for lifelong, also tighten control, take all possible and not possible methods, create special units to address this issue.
Thus, it should be noted that women are more specific in assessing terrorism, in contrast to men. As it is known, there were not those subjects who treated terrorism positively in a group of women, but among the men such respondents were. Women treat terrorism unequivocally, radically. They show a clearer and more concrete position in relation to terrorist activities. Men prefer to be more loyal to terrorism and terrorist acts, compared to women.
It is known that the attitude of society towards terrorism depends on various factors: on the degree of consolidation around the purposes of terrorist organizations, on the perception by society of the value of human life, on the level of the legal consciousness of citizens, etc.
If there is a real problem for the purpose of terrorists — cultural, social, political, a part of society sensitive to it will support, if not will be supported the terrorist methods, the ideas or goals they set for themselves. Namely from this soil the terrorism grows fruitfully and draws support. Movement of terrorists without support of at least a small part of the public is instantly faded. Consequently, the absence of acute social problems deprives the terrorism of the necessary social support [8].
In the studies of domestic and foreign psychologists different psychological and social characteristics of the formation of the attitude of society to terrorism in ordinary consciousness are singled out. Most of the researchers are interested in the attitude of young people towards terrorism, and they do not always pay attention to the sex of their subjects. And in fact it is very important to study the participation of women and men in terrorist movements, it is also important because it contributes to the study of problems of women's and men's participation in political activities, including the fact that, women are attracted in terrorist acts more frequently. Thus, it is important, in our opinion, to study the relationship of men and women to terrorist phenomena and actions. Research of this kind is necessary in order to investigate one of the factors influencing terrorism on a person, that is, who is more susceptible to various types of terrorist acts.
Analysis of the results of the research from a gender perspective showed that women have a negative attitude towards terrorism, and men have different attitudes to this phenomenon from negative to positive.
The results of the research can help to systematize and identify problem areas in the formation of people's adequate attitude to terrorism:
- Further diagnosis of the relationship of men and women to the manifestation of terrorism;
- enlightening and preventive work to improve the effectiveness of the population in relation to terrorism and adequate behavior to the manifestations of terrorist acts;
- in the development of a special courses program in the process of professional training of students when studying problems related to the psychological features of the manifestation of terrorism and the attitude towards it;
- the possibility of studying and further creating an effective program to organize work to neutralize the negative impact on people of the consequences of terrorist activities;
- recommendations for practical psychologists, for negotiating with
References
- Bodansky, Y. (1993) Target America: Terrorism in the U.S. Shapelsky Publishers Inc. Retrieved from https://researchgate.net
- Olshansky, V. (2002). Psikholohiia terrorizma [Psychology of terrorism]. Saint Petersburg: Pіter [in Russian].
- Miller, (1988). The literature of terrorism. Terrorism. An International Journal, 14, 59–66.
- Olson, P.A. (1988). The terrorist and the terrorized: Some Psychoanalytic considerations. Summer. Retrived from http://psinovo.ru/referati_po_psichologii_i_pedagogike/terrorizm_psichologicheskie_i_politicheskie_aspekti
- Chernеnilov, V.I. Psikholohi o terrorizme [Psychologists about terrorism]. ru. Retried from http://scienceport.ru/ library/liball/333-psihologi-o-terrorizme/
- Kislyakov, P.A. Nauka i obrazovanie protiv terrorizma, ekstremizma i ksenofobii [Science and education against terrorism, extremism and xenophobia]. Retrived from file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/User/%D0%9C%D0%BE%D0%B8%20% D0%B4%D0%BE%D0
- Drozdov, (2002). Otnoshenie studencheskoi molodezhi k terrorizmu [The attitude of student youth towards terrorism].Politicheskaia psikholohiia — Political psychology, 117–127 [in Russian].
- Yakovenko, I. (2005). Terrorizm [Terrorism]. Neva, 12. Retrived from http://magazines.russ.ru/neva/2005/12/ia11.html. [in Russian].