Terrorist Minds: The Psychology of Violent Extremism from Al-Qaeda to the Far Right

by John Horgan

What makes a person want to become a terrorist? Who becomes involved in terrorism, and why? In what ways does participating in violent extremism change someone? And how can people become deradicalized?

John Horgan―one of the world’s leading experts on the psychology of terrorism―takes readers on a globe-spanning journey into the terrorist mindset. Drawing on groundbreaking personal interviews as well as decades of research from psychologists and others, he traces the pathways that lead people into violent extremism and explores what happens to them as their involvement deepens. Horgan provides an up-to-date, evidence-based understanding of the patterns, motives, and mentalities of violent extremists from the Islamic State and al-Shabaab to white supremacists and incels. He argues that there is not a straightforward psychological profile of a terrorist, in part because of the great variety of today’s extremists, who are able to attract a more diverse pool of recruits than ever before. But even though there is no one-size-fits-all profile, psychological study can provide crucial insight into why and how people become terrorists.

Accessible and nuanced, Terrorist Minds is an essential book for readers interested in what psychology can explain about extremist behavior.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, War, History

248 pages, Paperback

Published December 26, 2023

About the author

JOHN HORGAN is a science journalist and Director of the Center for Science Writings at the Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey. A former senior writer at Scientific American (1986-1997), he has also written for The New York Times, Time, Newsweek, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The New Republic, Slate, Discover, The London Times, The Times Literary Supplement, New Scientist, and other publications around the world. He blogs for the Center for Science Writings and for Bloggingheads.tv (see links at left).

His latest book is Rational Mysticism: Dispatches from the Border Between Science and Spirituality, published in hardcover by Houghton Mifflin in January 2003 and in paperback by Mariner Books in March 2004.

Reviews

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good insight on the psychology of terrorism. Quite scholarly, but if you're used to reading academic texts, it's easy to read. Well researched with many examples. It's ofcourse a rough read, especially with the examples in the beginning I had to put it away a few times. Interesting!

Thank you so much to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC to read & review. These are my honest opinions.

[R.Z. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is an overview of studies about terrorism. Author John Horgan gives brief summaries of numerous studies on terrorist groups and lone terrorist actors and discusses the limitations of what these studies can tell us. This might be most valuable to academics and researchers, but the general reader may find the content a bid tedious.

[Madison ✨ (mad.lyreading) · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Horgan writes in the beginning of this book that this is for the lay reader rather than the academic. I think that, while he clearly wrote with that intension, his book struggles a bit both in that it is not academic enough yet too academic.

This book is written as an overview of many studies in the area of the psychology of terrorism. However, I was often feeling like there was not enough information to support what Horgan was saying. While the book is heavily cited, he wrote about the general findings of studies in a way that made it seem as if they were more generalized statements. I was wanting more - and then I remembered that the book was not written to be that academic. But when I looked at it from a layperson point of view, it still felt insufficient. I think what Horgan struggles with is the fact that so many of the answers he is trying to reach are merely, "it depends." You cannot have a distinct answer to why one person becomes a terrorist and why another doesn't, because it is too complex. The academic area of the book shone because academia is meant to hold space for nuances.

In general, if you want to just read about a profile of what makes someone a terrorist, you're not going to get it in this book. Not because the book is poorly written, but just because that topic is too simple for an easy book to be written about.

Thank you to Columbia University Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

[Ari's Library || booksandpieces · Rating 5 out of 5]

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 :
With Terrorist Minds, John Horgan ventures into a sensitive but necessary domain that has been the subject of much speculative narrative. With violence all over the world at an all time high, there is a need to establish concrete conclusions, while remaining conscious of the complexities of terrorism. The book is well researched, and it approaches a rather sensitive topic with adequate care and thoughtful nuances. The author dives deep into the phenomenon of "terrorism", its mechanics and nuances, what it means to be a terrorist, while dissecting infamous incidents.

𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐬 :
📖 Terrorism and it's Intimacy : The writer points out the mechanics of terrorism becoming much more "intimate", a point that can get a reader hooked on from the get-go. It continues later in the book with Lang's take on 'dehumanization'. There's an elaborate explanation of the same, with a focus on how terrorism has evolved and mutated itself to survive in a perpetually changing civilization.
📖 Holistic Coverage : The text attempts to cover a lot of infamous terror attacks, without stereotyping or biasing itself towards any particular ethnicity, religion, or group. There is no skewed focus on a particular narrative, instead, it approaches terrorism with the strong certainty of humane rationality. It also focuses on gender involvement in terrorism, the roles that are typically assigned to the participants, and how, for lack of a uniform definition, certain parties' involvement never receives the limelight of research based conclusion.
📖 The Constitution of Terrorism : One of the most deadliest mass shootings in the history of the United States, ruffled up local police and the FBI when they simply could not find a reason or motivation for it. What exactly do you call an act of fatal violence that is not driven by a particular ideology or intention? By highlighting this incident, the author draws the reader in towards the eternal dichotomy of law and the upholders of said law.
📖 Gaps in the Rule of Law : Pointing out the fact that terrorist acts carried out by different groups of people are often put under different statutes of law was a game changer for me. The subjectiveness of terrorism allows for large gaps in the dispensation of justice to those afflicted directly or indirectly. It gives the public a liberal range of consideration, allowing hatred and spite to accumulate, which increases communalism, which in turn leads to terrorism : a vicious cycle that needs research
📖The Terrorism in Counter Terrorism : The author concludes the first part of the book with a provisional definition that includes the term "non-state" entities. It opens up an interesting avenue of deliberation regarding State and terrorism: what exactly does State stand for? Is it simply the order of law that the majority agrees with, or is it a power that simply exists by asserting dominance over dissenting voices? It's an interesting scope for discussion and thought.
📖 Difficulty of Experimentation : Unlike other fields of academia where there is a prospect of experiment, it is incredibly hard to conduct any such study with terrorism as focus. Usually, researchers have to deal with extremely limited data and stringent police systems/governments, while keeping in mind the mental state of the afflicted and public perception. Collecting data regarding ethnicity, race, gender, education, social status, mental issues, etc., becomes exponentially difficult, and this is the exact data that is necessary to increase general sensitivity and awareness.
📖 Unity in Diversity : while the author stresses on the complex diversity of terrorism, the widespread occurrence of it ties the entire world together in a cusp of collective responsibility to look into this matter more. This book is a very good start towards this matter, and can be recommended as a must read for all backgrounds.
📖 Mechanics of Terrorism : The text covers various aspects of terrorism, starting from a grass-root level. The focus on 'Recruitment' comes across as the most significant part of the book, a veritable social message entailing exactly how psychological terrorism seems to occur before attacks of physical violence. Such details need to be spread as education, to save vulnerable minds from taking up morally wrong steps in a moment of weakness.
📖 References : Being an academic work, many other research projects are referenced. Although explained well, a reader might find it difficult to keep up without extensive knowledge of the same.
Overall, it was a very interesting and important read that I will definitely be suggesting to others.

[Elyrria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this book was an impressive work of academic scholarship! I cannot imagine how much time it took to do the research to write this. John Horgan is a distinguished psychology professor, who is very well versed in the psychology and deradicalization aspects of terrorism. I would love to sit in on one of his classes one day!

I loved this book, because I learned from it. I am a nerd plain and simple, and I love eating up all the psychology facts my brain can handle. If you are writing an academic paper or pursuing a criminal justice degree (etc.), then this book will be an incredible resource for you to utilize in your research. Anyone interested in psychology, sociology, or even true crime, will also enjoy this read. I learned about the different subtypes of terrorism and the roles people play within it. The flow of the book keeps things moving along by providing examples of terrorism from the incel community and famous organizations such as QANON. The book distinguishes between what is and is not terrorism, which may surprise the reader!

This is one of those books that you will want to tab or highlight in. I will be purchasing the hard copy when it comes out, so that I can put tabs in it and refer back to it when I want to. Do you want to feel like a member of Criminal Minds who is "in the know" about what truly constitutes as a terrorist threat and how terrorists become the people they are? Terrorist Minds will scratch that itch for you! Anyone who is into social sciences will want this book on their shelf.

Thank you so much to the author, to NetGalley, and to the publishers at Columbia University Press for sending this to me! My only question to Mr. Horgan is... When does your next book come out??

[Lisa Konet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very in-depth, comprehensive book about the subject of terrorism. EVERYTHING about terrorism from how its supposed early beginnings, well known sects, and why it is still a real threat in the world. Horgan's well-researched account reads more like a textbook, and at some points gets very technical, but this is a great place to learn more a terrifying issue. It is still a real issue in the United States and globally.

Thanks to Netgalley, John Horgan and Columbia University Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Already available!

[J Earl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrorist Minds by John Horgan is an excellent look at the psychology of violent extremism, both detailed and nuanced while also admitting to the blind spots of the research.

Like any topic, how terms are defined and used are essential. To that end Horgan looks at the many definitions of terrorism currently used and, while acknowledging there are a lot, gives us one he says is at the core of just about all of them, with the bulk of the definitions being different in subtle ways. So while not a universal definition, it is one that encompasses the core of the vast majority.

Perhaps the bigger issue is defining who is or is not a terrorist. We can't use whether or not one is convicted of a terrorist act since many are prosecuted under different laws based on jurisdictions. We also have to consider tiers of terrorists, for example one who donates to an organization that commits terrorist acts compared to the bomber who carries out those acts.

With these definitions in mind, we begin to look at how some extremists gravitate toward violence while others don't. One doesn't even need to be an extremist in ideology to be a terrorist, just think about the "good" Christians who believe abortion is wrong, that taking a human life is for God to determine, then they go out and take human lives. Mythologies such as religions can drive mainstream people to terrorist acts.

What I think Horgan does very well is show that while the specifics of choosing terrorism vary from movement to movement and even within each movement from person to person, there are some strong commonalities that are present in many of these people. Part of the problem with making too strong of an assessment goes back to the definition problem. If someone is not considered a terrorist, whether because their crime was not prosecuted as such or because their brand of terrorism is state-sanctioned (unofficially, of course) so they were acquitted, then they are neither part of the statistics nor a subject in any research on terrorism.

I would highly recommend this book to those who want to better understand the world we currently live in and those individuals who have an out-sized influence on it. Understand that gaining knowledge does not always mean having the final definitive answer, we are still learning. But we must know what is already known, as well as what isn't, in order to learn more.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

[Brandon Westlake · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book first raises a key issue that I think other work misses: the debate over extremism vs terrorism. In grappling with that question, the author asks when is there a threat, and how does one know? And how do we as a society deal with the multiple definitions of terrorism?

All of these questions are issues that others address in their own unique way. Pick up any book on terrorism and it begins with a definition, but Horgan takes it a step further: there is an issue when no one can agree on the same definition, or the characteristics, therefore, of what a terrorist is.

Furthermore, it is hard to make a demographic profile of a terrorist, because there is no true defining profile of who that person is. As the book makes clear, "context is everything." This is unsettling; we so often want ideas and profiles to fit nicely within a box of set parameters. But, in something that is ever-changing and dependent on context, it is hard to do. In trying to make ourselves safe after the previous attack, in other words, we may be making ourselves vulnerable to the next attack, and don't recognize it until we have to adjust the paradigm of terror.

I found it fascinating, but also very important, in how the author makes the argument that we have often incorrectly made determinations about motivation and dehumanization. He then goes through the six stages taken to capture the minds of young people. These are interesting points, as are his explanation on recidivism.

In the end, Horgan admits that research on terrorism is hard to do. It feels like few admit that, but many authors imply it by the depth of complexity associated with the topic.

Ultimately, this book is not just about terrorism itself, it is a meta-analysis of terrorism studies. I hope that Horgan will make readers think more about the implications of his work, that is, how can we be more aware, and then make adjustments, to our knowledge. It might save lives