Palestinian suicide bombers

✍ Scribed by Mali Soibelman

• Book ID: 102353664
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2004
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 87 KB
• Volume: 1
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1544-4759
• DOI: 10.1002/jip.16

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

The factors underlying the development of Palestinian suicide bombers are explored through a review of published studies and drawing on interviews with five bombers caught before they detonated the bombs they were carrying. The concomitants of becoming a suicide bomber are explored through political, social and psychological processes, including religious and ideological belief systems and personal characteristics. It is argued that there is no single cause or explanation for taking on this role, but that it comes out of a mixture of circumstances, which varies from individual to individual. The current review challenges the common assumption that all suicide bombers are teenage religious fanatics and shows that less extreme personality characteristics can lead to a person deciding to kill him/herself for a cause, given other circumstances. The implications of these findings as well as the weaknesses in the current study are discussed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.