The Psychological Study of Religious Violence: A Theoretical and Methodological Discussion

Tomas Lindgren

doi:10.24260/alalbab.v5i2.471

The Psychological Study of Religious Violence: A Theoretical and Methodological Discussion

Tomas Lindgren

Abstract

The aim of this article is to discuss the use and usefulness of psychological theory and psychological methods in the study of religious violence. My analysis of previous research revealed an imbalance between data, method and theory. There are few psychological studies on religious terrorism based on first-hand empirical data. The analysis also showed that psychological explanations of religious terrorism are, in general, not sensitive to cultural factors. Religious terrorism is a culturally constituted phenomenon. It is therefore important that research on religious violence is based on theoretical and empirical approaches sensitive to the cultural construction of violence. This means that psychologists of religion must be willing to use novel and creative methods sensitive to the unique cultural context where the violent behaviour is acted out and interpreted by the actors of the violent drama, for example, discourse analysis or narrative research. In the self-corrective and growth-inducing feedback process between these methods and primary data it would be possible to develop valid psychological explanations of religious violence.

Keywords

psychology; religious; violence; theory; method

Full Text:

PDF

References

Atran, S. 2010. Talking to the enemy: Faith, brotherhood and the (un)making of terrorists. New York: Ecco Press.

Avalos, H. 2005. Fighting words: The origins of religious violence. Amherst: Prometheus Books.

Bandura, A. 1998. “Mechanisms of moral disengagement.” in W. Reich (Ed.), Origins of terrorism: Psychologies, ideologies, theologies, states of mind. Washington: The Woodrow Wilson Centre Press.

Barber, B. 2003. Heart and stones: Palestinian youth from the intifada. New York: Palgrave.

Belzen, J. A. 2009. Towards cultural psychology of religion: Principles, approaches, applications. Dordrecht: Springer Verlag.

Berkowitz, L. 1965. “Some aspects of observed aggression.” in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 12, pp. 359-369.

Bloom, M. 2005. Dying to kill: The allure of suicide terror. New York: Colombia University Press.

Boyer, P. 2001. Religion explained: The evolutionary origin of religious thought. New York: Basic Books.

Brennan, W. 1995. Dehumanizing the vulnerable: When word games take lives. Chicago: Loyola University Press.

Carrette, J. R. 2001. “Post-structuralism and the psychology of religion: The challenge of critical psychology.” in D. Jonte-Pace & W. B. Parsons (Eds.), Religion and psychology: Mapping the terrain. London: Routledge.

Cooper, H. H. A. 1977. “What is a terrorist? A psychological perspective.” in Legal Medical Quarterly, 2, pp. 16-32.

Crocker, J, & Lawrence, J. S. 1999. “Social stigma and self-esteem: The role of contingencies of worth.” in D. A. Prentice & D. T. Miller (Eds.), Cultural divides: Understanding and overcoming group conflict. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Dennis, A. J. 2005. “Osama bin Laden: The sum of all fears.” in W. T. Schultz (Ed.), Handbook of psychobiography. New York: Oxford University Press.

Dollard, J. 1939. Frustration and aggression. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Drummond, J. 2002. “From the northwest imperative to global jihad.” in C. Stout (Ed.), The psychology of terrorism (Volume 1). Westport: Praeger.

Figueroa, R. A. 1980. “Field dependence, ethnicity and cognitive styles.” in Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 5, pp.71-82.

Friedland, N. 1992. “Becoming a terrorist: Social and individual antecedents.” in L. Howard (Ed.), Terrorism: Roots, impacts, responses. New York: Praeger.

Greenberg, J. T. (et al). 1990. ”Evidence for terror management theory II: The effects of mortality salience on reactions to those who threaten or bolster the cultural worldview.” in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, pp. 308-318.

Grossman, D. 1996. On killing: The psychological cost of learning to kill in war and society. New York: Back Bay Books Little, Brown and Company.

Gudykunst, W. B. (et al). 1989. ”A cross-cultural comparison of self-monitoring.” in Communication Research Reports, 6, pp. 7-12.

Hamid, P. N. 1994. “Self-monitoring, locus of control, and social encounters of Chinese and New Zealand students.” in Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 25, pp. 353-368.

Harmon, C. 2000. Terrorism today. London: Frank Cass.

Ho, D. Y. 1998. “Indigenous psychologies: Asian perspectives.” in Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 29, pp. 88-103.

Hoffman, B. 1998. Inside terrorism. Colombia University Press.

Hoffman, V. J. 1995. “Muslim fundamentalists: Psychosocial profiles.” in M E. Marty & R. S. Appelby (Eds.), Fundamentalism comprehended. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Horgan, J. 2003. “The search for the terrorist personality.” in A Silke (Ed.), terrorists, victims and society: Psychological perspectives on terrorism and its consequences. Chichester: Wiley.

Horgan, J. 2005. The psychology of terrorism. London: Routledge.

Hubbard, D. 1978. “Terrorism and protest.” in Legal Medical Quarterly, 2, pp. 188-197.

Hudson, R. A. 2005. The sociology and psychology of terrorism: Who becomes a terrorist and why? Honolulu: University Press of the Pacific.

Janis, I. L. 1972. Victims of groupthink: A psychological study of foreign-policy decisions and fiascoes. Boston: Houghton-Miffin.

Jones, J. 2008. Blood that cries out from the earth: The psychology of religious terrorism. New York: Oxford University Press.

Juergensmeyer, M. 2003. Terror in the mind of God: The global rise of religious violence. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Kakar, S. 1996. The colors of violence: Cultural identities, religion, and conflict. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Kellen, K. 1982. On terrorists and terrorism: A Rand Note N-1942-RC. Santa Monica: Rand.

Kelman, H., & Hamilton, V. L. 1990. Crimes of obedience: Toward a social psychology of authority and responsibility. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Khaled, L. 1973. My people shall live: The autobiography of a revolutionary. London: Hodder and Stoughton.

Kvale, S. (Ed.). 1992. Psychology and postmodernism. London: SAGE.

Laqueur, W. 1999. The new terrorism: Fanaticism and the arms of destruction. New York: Oxford University Press.

Lederer, G. 1982. Trends in authoritarianism: A study of adolescents in West Germany and the United States since 1945. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 13, pp. 299-314.

Lindgren, T. 2009. Fundamentalism och helig terror [Fundamentalism and holy terror]. Lund, Sweden: Studentlitteratur.

Lindgren, T. 2014. Religion och konflikt [Religion and conflict]. Skellefteå, Sweden: Artos bokförlag.

Lorenz, K. 1982. On aggression. London, UK: Routledge.

McCauley, C. 2002. ”The psychology of group identification and the power of ethnic nationalism.” in D. Chirot & M. E. P. Seligman (Eds.), Ethnopolitical warfare: causes, consequences, and possible solutions. Washington: American Psychological Association.

Merari, A. 2010. Driven to death: Psychological and social aspects of suicide terrorism: New York: Oxford University Press.

McCauley, C. 2004. “Psychological issues in understanding terrorism and the response to terrorism.” in C. E Stout (Ed.), Psychology of terrorism: Coping with the continuing threat. Westport: Praeger Publishers.

McCrae, C. N., Bodenhausen, G. V., & Milne, A. B. 1998. “Saying no to unwanted thoughts: Self-focus and the regulation of mental life.” in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, pp. 578-579.

McGregor, H. A. (et al). 1998. “Terror management and aggression: Evidence that mortal salience motivates aggression against worldview-threatening others.” in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, pp. 590-605.

Milgram, S. 1974. Obedience to authority: An experimental view. New York: Harper & Row.

Oliver, A. & Steinberg, P. 2005. The road to martyr’s square: A journey into the world of the suicide bombers. New York: Oxford University Press.

Paloutzian, R. F. & Park, C. L. 2005. “Integrative themes in the current science of the psychology of religion.” in R. F. Paloutzian & C. L. Park (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of religion and spirituality. New York: The Guilford Press.

Pape, R. A. 2006. Dying to win: The strategic logic of suicide terrorism. New York: Random House.

Post, J. 1987. “Group and organizational dynamics of political terrorism: Implications for counterterrorist policy.” in P. Wilkinson & A. M. Stewart (Eds.), Contemporary research on terrorism. Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press.

Post, J. 1998. “Terrorist psycho-logic: Terrorist behavior as a product of psychological forces.” in W. Reich (Ed.), Origins of terrorism: Psychologies, ideologies, theologies, states of mind. Washington: The Woodrow Wilson Centre Press.

Post, J. 2004. Leaders and their followers in a dangerous world: The psychology of political behavior. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

Potts, M. & Hayden, T. 2008. Sex and war: How biology explains warfare and terrorism and offers a path to a safer world. Dallas: Benbella Books.

Pyszcynski, T., Greenberg, J., & Solomon, S. 1997. ”Why do we need what we Nneed? A terror management perspective on the roots of human social motivation.” in Psychological Inquiry, 8, pp. 1-20.

Runciman, W. G. 1966. Relative deprivation and social justice: A study of attitudes to social inequality in twentieth-century England. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

Sageman, M. 2008. Leaderless jihad: Terror networks in the twenty-first century. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Scheper-Hughes, N. 1997. “Peace-time crimes.” in Social Identities, 3, pp. 471-497.

Shaw, E. D. 1986. “Political terrorists: Dangers of diagnosis and an alternative to the psychopathological model.” in International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 8, pp. 359-368.

Silberman, I. 2005. “Religious violence, terrorism, and peace: A meaning-system analysis.” in R. F. Paloutzian & C. L. Park (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of religion and spirituality. New York: The Guilford Press.

Silke, A. 2003. “Becoming a Terrorist.” in A Silke (Ed.), Terrorists, victims and society: Psychological perspectives on terrorism and its consequences. Chichester: Wiley.

Smith, J. A. (Ed.). 1995. Rethinking psychology. London: SAGE.

Stern, J. 2004. Terror in the name of God: Why religious militants kill. New York: HarperCollins.

Taylor, M. 1988. The terrorist. London: Brassey’s.

Taylor, M. 1991. The fanatics. London: Brassey’s.

Taylor M. & Quayle, J. 1994. Terrorist lives. London: Brassey’s.

Valzelli, L. 1981. Psychobiology of aggression and violence. New York: Raven.