NCJ Number
116565
Date Published
1988
Length
15 pages
Annotation
Interviews with governmental officials and academics and reviews of recent literature formed the basis of an analysis of the way that common criminality shapes political terrorist organizations and their activities and how various audiences, especially the agencies of social and political control, react to this aspect of terrorist organizations.
Abstract
The research also examined how common criminals and their organizations are changed by political terrorist ideologies. In addition, it considered the reaction of formal control agencies when an organization begins to define itself politically. It noted that ideology is the most important factor that distinguishes among political crimes, political terrorism, and common criminality. Governments may react to political terrorism by designating political terrorists as common criminals, by treating them more harshly or more leniently than other criminals, or by defining the situation as a civil war. Every kind of political terrorism includes some form of common criminality. Terrorist groups can engage in common crimes as part of their political activities, for instrumental purposes, for expressive purposes, or as part of psychological warfare. Terrorist organizations can also include common criminals or maintain business relations with outside common criminal groups. Finally, an ideological group can evolve into a terrorist group, thus entering the criminal world as well.