Mind set of terrorists

Large scale indiscriminate violence has become the reality of today's terrorism

There has been a large scale spurt in terrorist activity in recent years. None of us feel safe in visiting public places anymore as in the twenty first century; there is a general feeling that terrorism attacks can take place anywhere and at any moment without warning. Lots of funds are being invested by major nations in fighting this unwanted menace to make this world a safer place to live in. However, apart from undertaking military measures in combating terror, there is also a growing need to assess the psychological mindset of terrorists. Gaining insight into the mind of a terrorist or potential terrorist can be quite helpful as it can help prevent terrorist attacks even before they occur by focusing and interpreting terrorism related behavior.

Terrorists are usually people who may suffer from extremely low levels of self-esteem. Such people are characterized by a definitive lack of career options or a stable source of income. They are in the search of a goal in life and attaching themselves to a terrorism propagating group raises their level of confidence and enables them to feel important and useful. Such people may not showcase any leadership skills in other life areas but may exhibit strong leadership tendencies while working for such groups.

Terrorist always try to justify the violence and killing in the name of religion. Although in popular cultures, suicide is deemed to be an act of cowardice that a person performs only when he/she loses all hope; in a few religions, it is considered as an act of martyrdom that is duly rewarded by God in the afterlife. The family of people who are willing to be a part of suicide bombings and walk into the clutches of death of their own accord are felicitated and accorded an important position in the society apart from being bestowed with honors and monetary rewards.

Terrorist organizations work with a fixed agenda. They provide justification for their actions by fixing upon an injustice that is seemingly being committed against them. They view the affluent class of society as evil who are supposedly preventing their progress. Instead of working for their goals, they take to violence and adopt the path of aggression and mass murders. They hardly ever show any guilt as they perceive other people as objects and a metaphor for evil. This makes it hard for them to show any emotion regarding the loss of human lives.

The training of a terrorist and the development of such a mindset begins quite early on in life in most terrorism related camps. The age group of ten or eleven is considered to be most appropriate by the terrorist leaders as this is the stage when children like to indulge in a tit for tat kind of a behavior. The leaders make sure that these children are stuck in a rut regarding this mindset and never outgrow it even as they become adults. They are taught to fight against injustices through violent activities. The kids do not really know a different way of life and by the time that they can realize the difference between good and bad, it is most definitely too late for them to escape their respective groups or terrorist camps.