Profile of a terrorist

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Abstract
One of the research needs under the topic “terrorism” has been to establish a sociological profile of terrorists active in the contemporary urban phenomenon. Using data predominantly from foreign news sources, the authors posit a general profile of today's terrorist. Statistics compiled on over 350 known terrorists from eighteen Middle Eastern, Latin American, West European and Japanese groups revealed the composite terrorist as a single male, aged 22 to 24, with at least a partial university education, most often in the humanities. Terrorists who have practiced vocations have generally been in law, medicine, journalism, teaching and—in only Turkish and Iranian groups—engineering and technical occupations. Today's terrorist comes from an affluent middle‐ or upper‐class family that enjoys some social prestige. The university served as the recruiting ground for all but one of the groups surveyed, and it was there that most terrorists were first exposed to the ideas of Marxism or other revolutionary theories. Despite the Marxist motivation claimed for their actions, it is believed that most terrorists derive much of their impetus from frustration mixed with anarchist or nihilist notions. Several potential trends warrant considerable further scrutiny. These include a general lowering of the entry age into operational activity, increased involvement by technically trained individuals, and ever‐increasing operational and leadership roles for women.

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