Terrorist Minds

The following sections are included:

• Dedication
• Preface
• About the Author
• Acknowledgements
• Contents
• List of Tables and Figure

The following sections are included:

• From Social-Psychological Profiling of Terrorist Leaders in Israeli Prisons to Assessing the Risks in Managing Them
• The Focus of the Book and Main Foundation

The following sections are included:

• Definitions of Relevant Terms
• Fatah — Palestinian National Liberation Movement (in Arabic: Harakat al-Tahrir al-Watani al-Filastini)
• Hamas, Islamic Resistance Movement (In Arabic: Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamia)
• Palestinian Islamic Jihad — PIJ (In Arabic: Harakat Al-Jihad Al-Islami fi Filistin)
• Profiling
• Terrorists Profiling
• Terrorists Social-Psychological Profiling
• Social Influence Factors
• Personality Profile
• Mindset
• Leadership Profile
• The ‘Trait Theory’ of Leadership
• Imprisonment
• De-radicalisation Programs in Prisons
• Terrorist Risk Assessment

The main research for this book, while objective and academically independent, was conducted in collaboration with the Israeli Prison Service (IPS), and addresses a specific interest of its intelligence department: the terrorist groups’ leaders. The prison authorities have encountered the same problem as researchers in this field in terms of the lack of up-to-date information on the leaders themselves. It is important to note the full cooperation of the prison authorities, which involved allowing the author access to the numerous interviewees, as well as any information needed for conducting the study, such as the interviewees’ files and other data established from prison personnel.

The following sections are included:

• Introduction
• Socioeconomic Status
• Adolescence
• Marital Status and Family Size
• Relations with the Family
• Social Environment Related to Terrorism
• Perceptions of the Terrorist Organisations
• Conclusions

The following sections are included:

• Introduction
• Manipulativeness
• Responsibility
• Behavioural Inhibitions
• The Capacity for Remorse
• Self-evaluation
• Fluency, Cooperation and Charm — The Author Input
• Other Social Aspects of Personality
• Conclusions

The following sections are included:

• Introduction
• Techniques Used by the Majority of the Interviewees
• Techniques Used by the Interviewees
• Conclusions

The following sections are included:

• Introduction
• Leadership of Terrorist Organisations in Israeli Prisons
• The Interviewees’ Self-perception as Leaders
• Charisma: Yes or No?
• Conclusion

The following sections are included:

• Introduction
• Pains of Imprisonment?
• Radicalisation or De-radicalisation in Israeli Prisons
• Conclusions

The phenomenon of terrorist leadership in Israeli prisons is unique in terms of scope and conduct, rendering comparison with the same phenomenon in other locations fairly fruitless. Crucially, this topic is significantly under-studied and is not well understood by academics and decision-makers alike; therefore, it was most difficult to find a solid literature base and evidence from previous studies to reinforce the findings and assertions this study has made…

The author of this book has been conducting terrorist risk assessments since 2017 in two forms: direct risk assessments and indirect ones. The direct risk assessments are mainly carried out on prisoners in Israel when there is a need for an evaluation of the prisoner’s circumstances in terms of the risk he or she poses, as well as recommendations for relevant rehabilitation programs, if applicable. These types of risk assessments are needed due to different circumstances relating to the terrorist/security prisoner, such as forthcoming release or change of status while in prison, etc…

The following sections are included:

• Importance of the Social-Psychological Profiling and Practice Implications
• From the Social-Psychological Profile to Assessing the Risk

As mentioned previously in the methodology chapter, the assumption of qualitative research is that completely objective research is impossible, because any phenomena observed by humans must pass through their personal ‘filter’, and is therefore affected by the researcher’s individual and cultural knowledge. Therefore, there are many valid perceptions of reality that are constructed by both groups and individuals. Interviews, such as the ones conducted in this study, are a form of intervention and have an effect on the participants. This effect creates a limitation, since it is possible that the words of the participants during the interview were influenced by the interaction created between them and the interviewer. Qualitative research methods involve the formation of a personal relationship between the researcher and the participants as the latter share emotional and complex life stories. It may be that the participants’ personal exposure to the interviewer has an impact on the course of the interview and its content. Furthermore, in qualitative research, validity and consistency are tested according to the degree of trustworthiness of the study. This can usually be established through validation of the interviews; by presenting the findings to the participants and asking them to confirm and ratify them. However, this could not be done in this study, due to the technical difficulties of carrying out a second round of meetings with the participants; therefore, the only validation that can be achieved is by ‘observer triangulation’, as the supervisor of the study reads the data and validates the research…

The following sections are included:

• Appendix 1: Ethical Approval Document — Bar-Ilan University
• Appendix 2: IPS Research Approval
• Appendix 3: Prisoner Consent Form
• Appendix 4: Email Confirmation for Registration as Signatory to the Code of Conduct for Serendipitous Research at KCL
• Appendix 5: Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance from 1948
• Appendix 6: PCL-SV Item Description
• Appendix 7: Table of Percentile Ranks for PCL-SV Total and Factor Scores