TERRORISM BY THE BOMB - A NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE FOR THE YEAR 1975

• NCJ Number: 62369
• Journal: JOURNAL ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS Volume: 8 Issue: 4 Dated: (1978-1979) Pages: 297-335
• Author(s): D E GEORGES; M M ZANDI
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 39 pages
• Corporate Author: Baywood Publishing Co, Inc.
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

THIS ANALYSIS OF BOMB DATA COLLECTED BY THE FBI'S NATIONAL BOMB CENTER DURING 1975 CONCLUDES THAT CRUDE NONMILITARY EXPLOSIVE DEVICES WITH LITTLE INHERENT KILLING POWER WERE COMMONLY UTILIZED.

Abstract

PSYCHIC TERROR RATHER THAN KILLINGS OR MAIMINGS, WAS THE MOST COMMON RESULT OF THE BOMBINGS. THE MOTIVE WAS UNKNOWN IN APPROXIMATELY 78 PERCENT OF THE BOMBING INCIDENTS. HOWEVER, WHEN THE MOTIVE WAS KNOWN, EXTREMIST MOTIVES ACCOUNTED FOR ALMOST 50 PERCENT OF THE INCIDENTS. NO SINGLE MOTIVE WAS HIGHLY RELATED TO KILLINGS, BUT EXTREMIST ACTIVITY APPEARED TO BE MORE CLOSELY RELATED THAN ANY OTHER SINGLE MOTIVE CATEGORY. EXPLOSIVES APPEARED TO BE MORE CLOSELY ASSOCIATED WITH KILLINGS, INJURIES, AND PROPERTY DAMAGE THAN WERE FLAMMABLE LIQUIDS. THE LARGEST NUMBER OF BOMBING INCIDENTS DURING 1975 TOOK PLACE IN CITIES WITH POPULATIONS OF UNDER 25,000. THE PACIFIC, EAST NORTH CENTRAL AND SOUTH ATLANTIC REGIONS EXPERIENCED MORE BOMBINGS THAN THEIR REGIONAL COUNTERPARTS, WHILE NEW ENGLAND, WEST NORTH CENTRAL AND EAST SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONS EXPERIENCED THE FEWEST INCIDENTS. THE MOST HIGHLY URBANIZED AND INDUSTRALIZED STATES WERE ALSO THE STATES WITH THE MOST BOMBINGS. TABULAR DATA AND REFERENCES ARE GIVEN. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED--MJW).