We are reading yet another suicide bombing that killed the democratic political leader Ms Benazir Bhutto and hundreds of other innocents in Pakistan yesterday. The news item catches world attention and world leaders make an uproar when a world famous, charismatic leader is killed in such an attack. otherwise, hundreds of such news items that appear in news papers everyday very soon become “yesterday’s news” and sadly and conveniently forgotten!
Why do people get ready to kill hundreds of innocent people in such suicidal attacks? How are they trained to psychologically prepare for such blood-sheds? What kind of personality traits do these attackers have? Let us try to analyse.
There have been many psychological studies done on such attackers, who due to some reason, have failed in their missions and are cooling their heels in prisons world over. The studies reveal that these people would join such Terrorist Training Camps at a very young age of 10 to 12 years. The candidates are generally identified by the trainers by their lack of self esteem and self worth due to various traumas undergone in their childhood. Most of them have a dependent personality wherein they lack independent thinking and are very suggestible to any outside influence. Psychologists have also found in them a lag in their emotional and moral development that makes it difficult for these children to discriminate right from the wrong. They are generally insensitive to others emotions. These children find it difficult to develop a solid identity of their own and hence many gaps or cracks are present in their individual identities. The trainers find it easy to fill these gaps with their own pre-meditated extreme ideologies so that the individuals who join these groups find solace in acquiring a group identity and swear by it. As the training proceeds in the form of educating them with new ideologies and ideals, the group members are totally cut off from communicating with the outside world through any kind of medium, so that they start believing in what is being taught without as much questioning the authority. (as you all realize, our thinking expands and many changes occur in our attitudes and outlook to life as we grow getting exposed to the outside world through media)
Since they were opressed socially or economically or educationally or by the dysfunctional families earlier, they would have undergone massive damages to their self worth. The training teaches them that the highest objective of life, “martyrdom” can be achieved by destroying the evil in the world in the name of god and to such people god promises all respect and all kinds of happiness in heaven after this life. This boosts their low self-esteem to a new high! They are even lured by the promise of god that a number of virgins will be at their service when they go to heaven. At the time of recruitment into these camps, they are promised a huge amount of money to their families as a reward for the sacrifice that they are making in the name of religion. Since many are from economically weaker sections, this reward of money to their poor families also motivate them to join the training camps.
The trainees usually keep this information a secret from their families. This secrecy accords them a new ‘power’ over others who had earlier subjugated them in so many ways. Their isolation from the outside world and the strict imposition of extreme ideals make them rigid in their outlook of life and they stubbornly believe that what they are taught to do is the absolute truth! And very soon they get ready to perform what they have been trained to do with a smile on their lips and hope in their hearts that God would truly bless them for their deed! No guilt or no remorse……………………..
Isn’t the psychology behind suicidal attacks terrorisingly fascinating?!
Do we now realize the importance of nurturing a child’s mind with love and security and self-respect so that the child can grow into a responsible adult who can spread the same love and joy to the whole world and vow to eradicate terrorism from the face of the earth?
undoubtedly you are 100% correct in your analysis . But you are neglecting one important point ; that is the root cause behind these terrorism attacks . “Religion” is one of the factor which influences these nurseries . ” Majhab nahi sikhata apas me bair rakhna -मजहब नही सिखाता आपस मे बैर रखना ” looks ideal verse but when it comes in reality looks very dangerous. Each & every religion though strictly speaking do not teach hatredness but when counting of head starts , it looks otherwise . Benzair’s killing is one of those hatred idea which evolves from religion. ” One religion -one nation theory ” looks shattered in Pakistan.
Well, a good post.. it sometimes has bothered me that how do the these people gain the audacity to do such an act…..
very good explaination for that..
# arvind,
thanks. i am happy my explanation has helped someone understand the psychology behind such acts.
# dr tandon,
thanks for your visit and placing a comment. i understand the part of “strong religious sentiments” behind such acts. since that is a very sensitive issue, i have tried to downplay it. however, you may notice that it has indirectly been mentioned.
i needed to delete the last sentence in your comment because of the above reason. hope u understand. thanks again.
” Most of them have a dependent personality wherein they lack independent thinking and are very suggestible to any outside influence”.
The above describes just about any middle class kid say in Banglaore who is coerced to go through an IT education route ( to give a contemporary example) by outside influences of parents!
“Do we now realize the importance of nurturing a child’s mind with love and security and self-respect so that the child can grow into a responsible adult who can spread the same love and joy to the whole world and vow to eradicate terrorism from the face of the earth?”
Much as I respect psychological studies that are cited, there seems to be one ingredient missing, ‘the commin enemy’ or the ‘common cause’. Suicide bombing technique, and the reasoning of sacrificing one’s life for a ‘common cause’ was perfected by Tamil Tigers in SriLanka, and then the rest is history. I have heard religion as a strong reason, particularly Islam with its martyrdom prize of 1000 virgins waiting at the gate of heaven! But for Tamil Tigers who are predominantly hindus, no hindu scripture promises a single virgin when the bomber ascends to heaven, nay descents to hell! Be it a religion or a language, there has to be ‘a common enemy’ or a’common cause ‘ ( religious, linguistic..) for the indoctrination to work.
The psychological studies quoted seem not to explain fully when aplying the age, economic and sociological tests to find out why the London bombers did what they did blowing up trains that carried innocent passengers. These were youngmen with middle class background, well educated, led a good life, one even as a kindly nursery school teacher for a few years. Their families did not need money. Indeed they owned houses and are ‘run of the mill immigrants’. The young men were born in Britain and were educated in a multicultural Britain. For them it is a ‘common cause’ the invasion of a muslim country which allowed alqaeda to radicalise them.
ram, i agree with you that none of the reasons quoted in my post applies to the bombers of London. here it was sheer religious fanaticism – they just could not tolerate any of the developed nations trying to oppress them. was it more a ‘perceived oppression’ than the truth??? i do not know.
The bombers are in a developed nation, where they were born and brought up. They were given opportunities to go to universities. One of them , a bearded young man was even a nursery school teacher where white middle class Christian children studied. If they were so execised about Iraq, nothing prevented them to go there and fight the ‘oppressors’, the British and the Americans. Near the Aldegate subway station where a metro train was blown up , most of the dead were muslims, as that is an area where lots of muslims live. If religion is the cause, why kill their own kind, in a country of white people and Christians.
The reason why I quoted the London bombers is that often psyhcological analysis take s a problem space and the variants and carry out analysis which often does not apply to all problem spaces. The complexities are such that it is very difficult to define the profile of a’suicide bomber’.
does this ram has blog too..this guy writes a lot of comments in ur blog..
would love to visit his blog..
Ram, many of my blog visitors would like to know if you have a blog too. i only have your email but no URL. please start one and i am sure it will soon be heading the “hit-list”!
yes, psychologists have to face lot of limitations with number of confounding variables. but many of the research results are applicable and make it easy to predict certain outcomes.
most of the suicide attacks are successful in fulfilling the objective of terrorising people and that further motivates them to further their acts. the “martyrs” are glorified, their pictures pasted everywhere and worshipped by their ‘admirers’ that inturn attract more to join their camps!
Fortunately, I do not have one of my own! That gives me opportunties and time to read interesting and educative blogs like yours and Abraham’s. I suppose as a retired computer science professor in the West, I can create one without much problem, despite my busy schedule every day
which does not seem to diminish even after my retirement. Perhaps that is for another day.
Though there are blogs and blogs, I would like to see a blog which gives a rounded opportunities particularly the young
to know more about their country (India) and the rich culture.
It is really sad to see that members of older generation in India who are literate are most interested in the West and technologies that just satisfies human desires at a meta level. They should in my opinion also put effort to educate the young about their country and culture. I had the privilege of studying Sanskrit, our branch of Vedic scripture ( among Rig, Yajus and Sama) and nuances of Advaita philosophy at a very young age. Study of works of Kalidasa and interpretation of that superb piece Bajagovindam by the great Shankara for example exercised my mind in a way that prepared me to better understand and develop analysis and argument skills in my later years when I began my studies in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Computer Science.
In my earlier working life in India, I also had the rare privilege of teaching students who had similar preparation, and it is no surprise that a few of them have scaled dizzy heights as CEOs of IT enterprises. I am indeed very proud of them. It is not enough for the young men or women to make them their role models, but very essential to know what made them where they are today. In my opinion they would have succeeded whatever fields they care to choose not necessarily IT, such was their breadth and depth of knowledge and analytical abilities thanks to their very traditional background. That sounds like typical vergage from an old man!!
I would like to remain a humble scribbler ‘Ram’ at least for the time.
Correction:
It should be ‘verbage’.
You have handled a difficult topic quite well. But questions do remain. I am not competent to discuss meaningfully the psychological technicalities of suicide attacks but have often wondered why people undertake such missions.
Not that this is something new, or historically confined to a particular religion or region. The original concept of commando force was, I think, to operate where the odds are almost totally against and the chances of survival are almost nonexistent. During wars volunteers are invited for suicide missions. Some come forward and others don’t. What makes the mindset different among those who have received the same training?
All through history we find winning armies slaughtering innocent people, raping women, and looting. These were done by men who, in normal conditions, would have been law abiding citizens back home.
Among the Rajputs the dictum for those leaving for battle was ‘Come back with the shield or in it’. Defeat was unacceptable. In Japan, Hara-kiri was a matter of honour. It was a ritual suicide which the Kamikaze pilots took to a different level.
Modern terrorism of course is a seperate matter and involves killing of many innocents. One could say that it originated with the 1972 Munich Olympics and goes on unabated. What prompts such actions? What is the motivation? I feel there is no single answer to these questions.
But it should be possible to treat the symptoms, to arrest the spread of the cancer. This cannot be achieved by going ‘bag bang’ against non-existent missiles, or trigger-happy reactions.
The comity of nations should include the understanding that threat perceptions vary from country to country and each should be given equal importance and tackled sincerely as a common cause.
Easier said than done?
thank you, tharakan, for your visit and the interesting comments and airing doubts that bug us all.
individual psychology differs from group psychology. as i mentioned earlier, once the individual joins a group that fights for a cause that is perfectly ‘just’ for the group, the individual identity dissolves and takes up the group identity. more so when the individual is not too sure of his own identity, the group id that is offered brings on much solace and with it generates a new pride of ‘belongingness’ and ups the self esteem. the group cohesiveness is so strong that they are ready to die for each other. their group leader is god to them and his commands are followed with utter devotion and faith.
many of these groups become cults with the sole authority of the group leader and they take pride in subjugating themselves to his authority. they become blind to the possibility of the existence of any other perception other than what the group believs in. many of their beliefs are bizarre, like for example, they would believe that the end of the world is coming soon and their committing the act of group-suicide (they do not think they are dying) would somehow save them from the imminent dissolution of earth, as they have immense faith in the super natural abilities of their cult leader to protect them from destruction!
and many suicide attacks are done with a cause they believe in and also perhaps, for the sensationalization-quotient that they evoke in society.
i must admit my limitations in handling such a complex topic. i have tried my best to give my humble explanations. i would welcome more insightful explanations from any of the blog readers. thanks to all of you for the interesting discussion that we could all take part in.
Latha, a good writeup. And an equally interesting sequence of discussion as well. I also feel that lack emotional security and comfort is among the prime reason for youth straying; terrorism is one santuary they take.
Abraham:
As far as I know most of the psychological studies were done using the Middle East or ‘Palestine Model’ where the suide bomber is typically a young man, mostly a teen ager who is not old enough to nurture grivance against the Zionist enemy. If you want to define Palestinian terrorist organisations as cults, then by definition cults exist through the process of brain washing. But more often a suicide young bomber’s family is threatened with retribution if they are not unwilling to ‘donate’ one of their sons to be trained as a suicide bomber. The carrot offered is long term protection and support of the family concerned. This approach I understand was very effectively employed by Tamil Tigers which was later copied by Palestinian terrorists. The tail piece here is late Saddam Hussain gave the Plalestinian family concerned $10,000 as payment for the dead person’s effort.
The suicide bombers in Iraq and lately in Afghanistan directed against the soldiers/prominent persons such the UN Representative in Iraq are similarly chosen and trained, but tended to be adults. One would not be surprised If Benazir’s bomber/s is turned out to be an adult or adults.
The ‘common cause’ rings loud here. In Europe, any family who refuse to be involved in the ‘common cause’ and escape the country with all their sons intact is give the highest priority refugee status and the country which accepts them usually house them in a ’safe place’.
# thanks, pradeep, for your feedback.
# i am honoured by the visits of elders like Mr Ram and
Mr Abraham and giving us all a lot of interesting information and insights.
Thank you Ram and Latha for the explanations.