European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 18, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Roots of terrorism Are found in brutality of shattered childhood by Dan i Al Golem an new York times he route of the terrorist trom childhood to a specific violent act is emerging in Rich detail irom now research researchers have found the making of a terrorist involves a unique interplay Between i he Bel Els and dynamic of the terrorist group and the psychological makeup of its members. The most important new Dala come from detailed interviews with and psychological tests of Mote than 500 members of terrorist organizations who Aro still at Large and with More than 100 who have been imprisoned Tor terrorist Al lacks in this country and abroad Many of those studied wore first interviewed in a study of children growing up in an atmosphere of violence As in Noi Hern Ireland. Those studied Range from terrorist factions of the Lush Republican army and the Palms me liberation organization to the Lone survivor of the attack on Lod Airport in is race most recently researchers have Boon studying comrades the Black youths in South Africa who at Lack and kill other Blacks they accuse of aiding the pie Long government. The research was a major a topic Al a meeting of i he american psychological association in Washington White there Are Many actors that give Rise to terrorism psychological researchers naturally enough locus on the emotional factors that Lead one person father than Mother to become a terrorist. Of course no generalizations will lit every terrorist. What seems the essence of terrorism to one person May seem embodiment of patriotism to another. But. In general. Iho of parts consider terrorists to tie people who. In the name of what they consider a lofty moral cause engage in indiscriminate acts of violence for Al Vicli Muo or instill terror in innocent people. Ii15 Ihu cold blooded Ness of terrorists their aloofness from the pain they cause their victims that makes them seem a Breed apart trom Normal people. Bui the research shows thai most terrorists Are not suffering irom any particular psychological disorder the experts say terrorists must be understood not just in terms of i heir individual psychology but also in terms of the Lairmer forces influencing their lives. There is a meeting of personal and his Lorica forces at work n Breeding the fanaticism that leads to terrorism said Robert Jay Lifton. A psychiatrist at the John Jay College of criminal Justice who has studied Many kinds of extremists fanaticism Breeds on social upheavals such as1 the loss of traditional ways or devastating War that leave people ice Ling dislocated As though they and their world were falling apart. The loss of traditions that give meaning to life leaves people prey to extreme ideologies he said. Clinging to some absolute truth brings a sense of stability and  the hallmark of the fanatic s ideology is an Apoc Lyylie vision that divides the world into Good and evil said Mortimer Ostow a psychoanalyst on the faculty of to jewish theological Seminary. This vision of Tho world according to slow and others is espoused in the doctrines of virtually All terrorist groups including those As diverse As the Lormer Baader Meinhoff gang in West Germany pol pot s Khmer Rouge in Cambodia and the Ayatollah Khomeini s party of god in Iran. This View of a world split into Good and bad joins with a Strong sense of hopelessness fell by those who become terrorists research shows. For Many children who idler join terrorist groups the sense of hopelessness turns into burning rage according to data Coli eucled by Rona Fields a clinical psychologist in Alexandria va., who has tested More than 200 children mainly in Northern Ireland palestinian refugee Camps and the israeli occupied West Bank. Fields who has spent 20 years interviewing and administering psychological tests to terrorists and Appolo boy in Beirut for Many of the children who later become terrorists the Only adults who seem Able to control their destiny and who alter positive models Are those who belong to the terrorist groups. Page 16 the stars and stripes children around Tho world said she has later met Many of the children she tested after they have joined Tortoris groups in one lest in which children Are shown pictures and make up stories Aboul them those children were unable to conjure Hope even in imagination she sold in their fantasy planes terrible things happen to children and there is nobody including their Mother and father who can help or Fields said in the stories of most healthy children Tho same sorts of predicaments almost always end with a Happy Rescue " these children fixate on an in ankle sense of Impo Lenl rage a rage which stays with them As they grow to adulthood or Fields said. Along with thai rage they have neither the expectation nor Hope of being anything other than powerless Lor the rest of their  but terrorist groups offer a Way of looking at the world that both explains the present feelings of hopelessness and offers a Way out. They describe a current of imminent conflict Between the forces of Good and evil in which though the forces of evil win prevail at first they will ultimately be Defeated by the forces of Good Ostow said. Thai Victory will Mark the end of Tho present Era and the initiation of a new Era of peace Harmony and general  Wal sets these a Saioni apart from similar religious beliefs is the idea that terrorists must act to bring this new Era Aboul and that any kind of action is justified. The terrorist s action will make the crucial dire enee. This Tor example is the View thai impels Shutes in Lebanon to engage in suicide bombings. When terrorists Are led to brutality in the service of their cause they see themselves As acting to save the world some experts say. This plus the rage that fuels their beliefs leads to a callous attitude toward their victims whom they see As enemies in a vast drama of Good and evil the experts say. The coldly calculating bomb planter or Assassin is saturday. October 1fl, 19b6 impervious to the restraint of Ordinary emotions like Empal Yor compassion said William Dember a psychologist at the University o Cincinnati. His ideology Deaden his  for Many of the children who later become terrorists the Only adults who seem Able to control their destiny and who offer positive models Are those who belong to the terrorist groups. Fields said. In this respect the new recruit finds Solace in joining the group. The group and its leaders play the psychological role of a Strong protective Parent. The fanatic needs a Strong identification with a Leader who oilers him psychological strength to lacks said Marvin Zonis. A political scientist Al the University of Chicago. Ii provides a sense of wholeness he does not have on his own. Khomeini played upon his followers sense of being victimized and  another finding emerging trom the studios is that an unusually High proportion of those who have actually performed terrorist acts had As Young children suffered a severe illness that brought them to the verge of death. Of the convicted terrorists we studied close to half had a history of life threatening  said or. Louis j. West a psychiatrist at the University of California at los Angeles who studied terrorists from Europe and the United states. In those areas of the world he said Only about 5 percent of most adults had survived such close brushes with death. With his colleague the Sale Jeanne Knudson West Analysed in depth interviews and psychological assessments of More than 100 convicted terrorists. Psychologists have Long observed West said that being so close to death at an Early age and spending so Long immobilized in bed is terrifying for a  the effect frequently is Tor the child to grow to adulthood with a denial of the risk of death he said. Having come so close to it he needs to prove to himself that he is not at risk of dying. Unconsciously that can Lead him to put him Soll in High risk situations. Like a hijacking to prove hell survive