Would you consider the patient a terrorist? Can a pattern of escalation be discerned in Mr. P’s case?
Dr. Sperber’s observations
Terrorism is defined as the use of violence or threats to intimidate or arouse anxiety to further some objective. The objectives, which terrorists feel cannot be accomplished in conventional ways, may be political, religious, ethno-nationalistic, or psychosocial (as was Mr. P’s objective).
Mr. P’s emotional state evolved from feelings of powerlessness and disrespect, to mortification, to shame rage and a thirst for vengeance that ultimately drove him to a terroristic act. It is hypothesized that these emotions are also the precipitating factors in all of terrorism’s guises (Table).
Powerlessness. Feelings of impotence constitute one of the most important factors that give rise to terrorism. As Hoffman writes, “All terrorism involves the quest for power—power to dominate and coerce, to intimidate and control … Terrorism is designed to create power where there is none, or to consolidate power where there is very little.”2
ESCALATION TO TERRORISM
Kaufman notes that those who feel powerless identify with the aggressor. “Terrorism is essentially a strategy of the powerless. Groups who have felt decidedly powerless and humiliated for decades have reversed roles. The tormented now become tormentors.”3
The crippling auto accident rendered Mr. P physically powerless. This was compounded by the psychic impotence that began when his once-inseparable friend abandoned him.
Disrespect. We all need to bond with other humans. Those who feel disrespected, rejected, abandoned, or marginalized may use violence to reconnect.
“The need to belong is of central importance,” Post writes. “Alone, alienated, on the margins of society, seeking to belong, to find acceptance, to find others who feel the same way…for such individuals what a wonderful feeling it is to find that one is not alone, to find likeminded individuals … to be accepted at last.”4
Through their disrespect, the students in the chat room made Mr. P feel discredited and marginalized. That intense pain also reopened the psychic wound of having lost his best friend.
Mortification. Disrespect, coupled with the powerlessness of being unable to alter the humiliation, produces the most dysphoric of all human emotions—mortification.
Mortification, from the Latin mortis (death) and facere (to make), makes one literally feel like dying. Such feelings often result in suicide, although murder or homicide accompanied by suicide may also occur.
At the time of his arrest in 1999, Mr. P told police, “I’d like to slit my ex-friend’s throat.”1 When questioned about his statement, he replied, “It was just a figure of speech. I would never do such a thing.”
Shame rage. Shame is a difficult emotion to dispel. When overwhelmed by guilt, one can place blame: “It’s not my fault—he did it.” The ashamed, however, are unable to project or externalize their shame, which only intensifies the dysphoria, increasing the angry affect and further mortifying the victim.
Vengeance. At a certain level of intensity, the urge to end shame rage curdles it into the yearning for “sweet” revenge. The desire to “get even” and “right wrongs,” however, only adds to the disrespect and disempowerment, fueling retaliative flames and increasing the victim’s likelihood of committing a terrorist act.
What is Mr. P’s diagnosis? What treatment goals would you set for this patient?
Dr. Sperber’s observations
Psychopathologists seek to find a mental disorder or personality type common to all terrorists. Antisocial, narcissistic, and borderline personality disorders are the most frequently identified. “Terrorism is characterized by what I call paradoxical narcissism,” Pies writes. “Terrorists—particularly those with a radical or fundamentalist religious bent—appoint themselves as judge, jury and (quite literally) executioner of those they despise.5
Regarding antisocial personality disorder, Cooper states that political terrorists might more accurately be described as “psychopathic or sociopathic personalities for whom political terrorism provides a vehicle for impulses that would otherwise find another outlet.”6
A study of the psychodynamic factors leading to terrorism may be more fruitful than the ongoing search for a personality type or cognitive style common to all terrorists. Those who fit the mold of a terrorist perceive some inequity or injustice that they seek to rectify and may or may not have a personality disorder. Mr. P, in fact, was diagnosed with a personality disorder.
The correlation between age and terorrism also cannot be ignored. Many young people embark on the challenges of adulthood with confidence, enthusiasm, and idealism, but some, like Mr. P, encounter marginalization, disrespect, and powerlessness. In exploring the relationship of terrorism to age and group process, Levine reports: