NCJ Number
85903
Date Published
1982
Length
31 pages
Annotation
Concepts useful to the consideration of terrorist victimization are examined, including assumptions underlying the concept of terrorism, related events that can serve as models for victimization by terrorists, and the effects of victimization.
Abstract
The definitions of victim all point to the victims' powerlessness to prevent the events that victimize them. However, this powerlessness should not be confused with an inability to cope actively with terrorist events and their aftermath. Two presuppositions pervading the concepts of terrorism are the principle that human life has value and the presupposition that terrorist violence is limited. Related events that can partially serve as models for terrorist victimization are grief following the loss of a loved one or a cherished goal, death imagery, an inescapable encounter with bloody or terrible events, and the experience of rape victims. Rape can serve as a model for terrorist victimization in many ways, particularly in the isolation of the victim through feelings of guilt and shame. Victims of both rape and terrorism also become isolated from others, as a result of discomfort caused by the issues of violence or sexuality associated with the incident. Other factors operating in a terrorist incident are the stress caused by the absence of explanation and information, and the Stockholm Syndrome, through which the terrorist comes to be seen as a victim. However, victims can derive positive outcomes from the terrorist experience. The two basic kinds of positive outcomes are those that result from the interpersonal relationships of sharing and helping and those involving intrapersonal processes that can be labeled stoicism or courage. The writings of Vice Admiral James Stockdale, who spent over 7 years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, are one of the most helpful formulations of the intrapersonal dimensions of terrorist victimization. Thirty-nine reference notes are included.