Creating Young Martyrs: Conditions That Make Dying in a Terrorist Attack Seem Like a Good Idea

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.

Review :
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.