NCJ Number
62411
Journal
ENCOUNTER Volume: 40 Issue: 2 Dated: (FEBRUARY 1973) Pages: 17-24
Date Published
1973
Length
8 pages
Annotation
MODERN TECHNOLOGY HAS ENABLED EXTREMELY SMALL GROUPS TO ACHIEVE THE MINIMUM CRITICAL MASS NECESSARY FOR THE PERPETUATION OF OPERATIONAL TERRORISM.
Abstract
THE MODERN SYSTEM OF MASS COMMUNICATION AND PRODUCTION ALLOWS A PERMANENT MARGINAL FRINGE OF SOCIETY TO CONGREGATE FOR THE PURPOSE OF COMMITTING ANTISOCIAL ACTS WITH A FACILITY WHICH DID NOT EXIST IN THE PAST. TERRORISTS ARE ABLE TO ORGANIZE THEMSELVES INTO A SPECIALIZED DESTRUCTIVE SOCIAL GROUP POSSESSING A HIGH DEGREE OF BEHAVIORAL UNPREDICTABILITY WITH INTERNATIONAL IMPACT ON A STANDARDIZED SOCIETY. MODERN TERRORISTS DERIVE THIS UNPREDICTABILITY FROM THREE FACTORS: THEIR MULTIPLE TARGETS, THEIR LIMITED NUMBERS, AND THE VARIETY OF THEIR CULTURAL ROOTS. AS SPECIALIZED, MARGINAL, ANTI-SOCIAL POPULATIONS WITH LITTLE OR NO INTEREST IN THE PEOPLE THEY CLAIM TO REPRESENT, TERRORISTS CANNOT BE CONTROLLED WITHOUT COORDINATED INTERNATIONAL ACTION. THEY ARE NO LONGER A POLITICAL PHENOMENON LINKED TO PARTICULAR HISTORICAL OR ECONOMIC SITUATIONS BUT A SOCIOECOLOGICAL FEATURE OF MODERN SOCIETY. UNCONTROLLED VIOLENCE IS CONTAGIOUS AND IS THUS AN INTERNATIONAL PROBLEM OF SOCIAL ECOLOGY WHICH MAY BE IRREVERSIBLE. (MJW)