Digital Commons Network^™

Attitudes Of Sinjari Yezidis In Iraq Regarding The Rape Of Yezidi Women And The Babies Born From Rape During The Isis Genocide, Jordan Greaser

Theses & Dissertations

This thesis evaluated the attitude of acceptance among Sinjari Yezidis toward Yezidi women who were captured and raped by ISIS captors. In addition, attitudes of acceptance were also studied on behalf of the children born due to rape. These attitudes were recorded by a 25-question attitudinal survey and then analyzed on a question by question bases. The outcome of the following study showed an overwhelming acceptance of the women but a mixed acceptance of their children. Based on the study findings, religious beliefs may be the best way to understand the level of acceptance the Yezidi community has toward the …

Whose Monster? A Study In The Rise To Power Of Al Qaeda And The Taliban, Nicholas Kotarski

History Theses

This thesis seeks to determine which factors and parties were most responsible for the transformation of the Mujahedeen who pushed the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan into what would eventually become al Qaeda and the Taliban in the 1990s. First brought to America's attention due to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, they would gain increased notoriety as the decade progressed due to the Taliban's treatment of Afghan women, and finally culminating in the tragic terrorist attacks on September 11th 2001.

Counterterrorism And Human Rights: A Comparative Analysis Of United States And European Laws, And Suggestions For Turkish Law Reform, Gulen Soyaslan

SJD Dissertations

This dissertation examines whether Turkish law could be amended in order to address the concerns of counterterrorism officials without unnecessarily infringing on individual rights. It differs from other research conducted on counterterrorism law in a number of ways. First, it provides general information on the concept of terrorism and the history and evolution of terrorism in Turkey. It further compares terrorism in Turkey with Europe and the United States. Second, it compares relevant counterterrorism laws of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Turkey. Third, it shows the approaches of the European and United States highest courts to …

Covering A Killer: A Content Analysis Of Newspaper Coverage Of White Male Mass Murderers In The U.S, Rhys Hall

Master's Theses

White men represent a disproportionate number of mass murderers via guns/bombings in the U.S. Though, there may be disparities in how often white masculinity is probed as a conflictual site of socialization when compared with other social racial and gender identities. Holding concern for how masculine violence is criminalized across racial lines, I conduct a review of racial typificiations of Black crime in newspapers to juxtapose with contemporary discourse of white masculine crime.

Using content analysis, I examine hundreds of newspaper publications released from 2011-2016 covering mass killers. I look for tendencies from paper writers to minimize sociological similarities between …

From Ruby Ridge To Oklahoma City: The Radicalization Of Timothy Mcveigh, Allison Reese

Senior Theses

The Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995 was a watershed moment in American history and indelibly changed the way Americans viewed terrorism and public safety. While the effects of the bombing are well-documented, not as much attention has been paid to the motivations of the bomber, Timothy McVeigh. He was spurred to action by the events of the Waco siege, where the FBI engaged in a 51-day standoff with the Branch Davidians, a small religious group suspected of owning illegal weapons. However, this was not the first incident that inspired his later actions. In 1992, the Weaver family entered …

Gender And Terrorism: A Homeland Security Perspective, Diana Rosa Rodriguez-Spahia

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

While scholars have been studying the growing trend of female terrorists for several years, their research has not permeated politics or the media to help inform our Homeland Security policies. The findings from this body of research indicate that there is hesitance on behalf of the public (especially politicians and law enforcement) to acknowledge that women can be terrorists due to deeply engrained gender norms and expectations about gender roles. Terrorist groups are exploiting this unwillingness by recruiting more women to perpetrate terrorist acts (Lele, 2014; Bloom, 2011). Against the backdrop of the changes in gender norms and expectations that …

Insecure Hegemony: The Cultural Construction Of 'Righteous Retaliation' In The Hunt For Osama Bin Laden, Marisa Tramontano

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examines the American “authorized discourse” about the hunt for and killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to better understand it as an episode in American cultural hegemony maintenance. Through a structural hermeneutic analysis of presidential speeches and widely-circulated national strategy documents, high distribution news coverage, and entertainment media, alongside one-on-one interviews and focus groups, I illuminate the symbolic mechanics by which the death of Osama bin Laden was constructed as righteous and legitimate retaliatory violence in response to the unprompted, offensive violence of the 9/11 attacks.

Drawing on an array of theoretical approaches including classical sociologists Karl …

Essays On The Economics Of Unhealthy Behaviors, Raul Segura-Escano

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation aims to explore a variety of responses in the form of unhealthy behaviors as a consequence of different sudden events perceived by individuals. The first one is the doubtlessly pure exogenous shock caused by an unexpected terrorist attack, Boston Marathon Bombings. The second one is the turmoil caused by the Great Recession of 2008, which is the most serious economic downturn since the Great Depression during the 1930’s. This dissertation consists of the following two chapters:

Chapter 1: “The Impact of Terrorism on Mental Health and Substance Use: Evidence from the Boston Marathon Bombings” On April 15, 2013, …

Shifting Masculinities From North Africa: In Yasmina Khadra, Tahar Ben Jelloun, Mohamed Leftah And Abdellah Taïa’S Fictions, Melyssa Haffaf

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation concentrates on four texts by Maghrebian writers, published between the late 1990s to the 2000s, and explores the ways in which their fictional narratives portray, articulate and challenge the dominant discourse on masculinity in postcolonial North Africa. The four novels are the following: Wolf Dreams (1999) by Yasmina Khadra, Leaving Tangier (2006) by Tahar Ben Jelloun, An Arab Melancholia (2008) by Abdellah Taïa and Le dernier combat du Captain Ni’mat (2011) by Mohamed Leftah. I demonstrate that despite a strong influence of hegemonic models of masculinity promoted and cultivated during and after the decolonization processes, the masculinities presented …

A Comparative Analysis Of The Implicit Motives Of Violent Extremist Groups, Rebecca Wilson

Psychology Theses

Terrorism represents a national security threat to most countries. Recent research has demonstrated the ability to determine when groups are most prone to engage in violence through textual analysis. Using the Information, Motivation, Behavioral Skills (IMB) Framework and McClelland’s Three Needs Theory of human behavior, we compared implicit motivation as expressed through textual online propaganda of three jihadist groups. This model posits that all people are driven by three primary implicit motivations: affiliation, achievement, and power. This study analyzed 58 magazine issues (Inspire, Dabiq/Rumiyah, Gaidi Mtaani) from three extremist Arabic-speaking groups (Al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula, Islamic …

An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Of 2013 Boston Marathoners' Experience Of Running A Subsequent Boston Marathon, Allison Grace

Master's Theses

While trauma experiences have been explored in several sport-related research studies, there is a lack of research on athletes’ experiences of a terror attack in sport. The present study qualitatively explored the meanings that 2013 Boston Marathoners ascribed to their experience of returning to the Boston Marathon to compete. Eight participants took part in semi-structured interviews. Interviews were analyzed via interpretative phenomenological analysis. Eight themes emerged and were organized temporally around pre-2013 Boston Marathon experience, 2013 Boston Marathon experience, and post-2013 Boston Marathon experience. Results suggest participants initially had difficulty processing their 2013 experience, but ultimately, several participants had a …

"Terrorists” Imaginaries: Social Exclusion, Queerness, Repressive Apparatus And The Emergence Of Post-Religious Terrorism In Contemporary Maghrebian Francophone Literature And Film, Thouraya Ferid

Open Access Dissertations

I examine the narratives imaginaries of Terrorism among some authors and filmmakers between 2007 and 2012. I argue that these oeuvres give rise to a new understanding of terrorism that is rooted in a series of traumatic experiences endured by the subject. These humiliations lead to the urgent need of a radical revenge: The terrorist act. The new terrorism is rooted in the "radical multitude" of oppressed singularities. Literary and cinematic fiction from the Maghreb can be considered as what Saldivar in "Unsettling Race, Coloniality and Caste” (2007), calls a "locus of enunciation" on terrorism. This enables the emergence of …

Framing Of Terrorism And Ethiopian Dam On Online Egyptian Publications And Social Media, Noha El Tawil

Theses and Dissertations

This study aims at examining the framing of crises threatening the security and welfare of Egypt embodied in the ongoing terrorism and the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) that will drastically decrease the country's water share. The samples are derived from social media, specifically Facebook and Twitter, as well as online publications. The nine political Facebook pages selected are among the top 100 in Egypt in terms of followers. The three publications are chosen to reflect the type of ownership which varies from state-owned to privately-owned including partisan publications. The Tweets were picked according to hashtags of …

Islamic Terrorism In The United States – The Association Of Religious Fundamentalism With Social Isolation & Paths Leading To Extreme Violence Through Processes Of Radicalization., Shay Shiran

Student Theses

This exploratory study focuses on identifying motivations for religious terrorism and Islamic terrorism in the United States in particular. Terrorism is a crime of extreme violence with the end purpose of political influence. This crime is challenging to encounter for its multi-faced characteristics, the unusual motivations of its actors, and their semi-militant conduct. The hypothesis of this study asserts that religious terrorists are radicalized by passing from fundamental to extreme devout agendas, caused by isolation from the dominant society, and resulted in high potential to impose those agendas by extreme violence. Under the theoretical framework of subculture in criminology, this …

Equitable Sharing Aids Circumventing State Civil Asset Forfeiture, Ella Fisher

Economic Crime Forensics Capstones

Civil Asset Forfeiture (CIVIL ASSET FORFEITURE) is a disputable law enforcement asset utilized to combat the war on drugs and criticized as an abusive practice. Are law enforcement agencies really combatting the war on drugs using civil asset forfeiture law or just using the law for their own self interests? Civil Asset Forfeiture abuse relates to perverse incentives which are further aided by the federal equitable sharing program (ESP). Civil asset forfeiture law allows owners’ assets to be seized and forfeited, by law enforcement agencies without a warrant and/or a criminal conviction. When federal agencies adopt and prosecute, state and …

Nigerian Terror: The Rise Of Boko Haram, Kelly Moss

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

The Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria was the world’s deadliest terrorist group of 2014, second deadliest in 2015, and is one of the most perplexing terrorist groups to arise in the past 50 years. This study sought to identify how Boko Haram rose to power in Nigeria, and found the following factors to be explanatory: Nigeria’s weak state capacity stemming from colonialism and poor post-colonial governance, the politicization of religion, and Boko Haram’s relationship with other terrorist organizations such as Al-Shabab, Al-Qaeda, and Daesh. This study further analyzed domestic and international responses to Boko Haram, up to present day, and …

Our Holy Grail: States, Power, And Networks In The Stymied Global Quest To Define Terrorism, Erika Mae Lorenzana Del Villar

Doctoral Dissertations

The absence of a comprehensive, universal and legally binding definition of terrorism has characterized the international terrorism discourse for decades. Scholarship on the interplay between states, discourse, and power in shaping this dilemma has been largely absent. This project is an attempt to sociologically examine this theoretical relationship by primarily looking at the role of the state in producing, framing, and otherwise manipulating the definition of terrorism, and consequently, the global terrorism discourse within the United Nations. Applying the sociological concepts of states, discourse, and power, while drawing on the theoretical lens of Bob Jessop’s (1990) strategic-relational approach to examining …

Arab Americans’ Perceptions Of Their Experiences With Police Post 9/11 In Metropolitan Milwaukee, Ayman Khatib

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks had a serious impact on local police relations and their local minority groups. September 11, 2001, negatively shaped the treatment of Arab Americans at the hands of local police and many arms of the federal government. This was due to the increased role of local police in intelligence gathering and immigration law enforcement.

Many urban police departments shifted their policing strategies from community policing to traditional crime fighting and intelligence gathering after September 11, 2001. Arab Americans as a local minority community suffered the brunt of such strategies where police routinely disregarded many …

Factors Affecting The Longevity Of Individual Terrorists, Madeline Brice

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine factors that affect the longevity of individual terrorists. Previous studies on terrorist group longevity have focused on the decisions terrorist groups have made rather than focusing on factors that help individuals evade capture. Literature also suggests that terrorists that manage to stay active may be able to use this as a valuable recruiting tool. This project examines six different relationships with longevity, including Attorney General (AG) Guidelines, demographics, ideology, level of participation, number of activities, and sophistication of attack. To examine these relationships, data will be used from the American Terrorism Study …

The Interplay Of Intelligence, Education, And The Media In Western Counterterrorism Strategies, Lincoln Gimnich

International and Global Studies Undergraduate Honors Theses

Terrorist activity has increased and evolved in Western societies in the twenty-first century as terrorist organizations have sought new methods to further their ideologies and goals. Counterterrorism thus requires a similar evolution that undoubtedly reverses the historic trend wherein counterterrorism has been merely reactive. Through interviews with experts, qualitative analysis of governmental publications and documents, and review of existing literature, this project explores the institutions of intelligence, education, and the media and their work within the larger counterterrorism and anti-radicalization framework of Western states. The project focuses specifically on domestic intelligence operations, intelligence sharing agreements, the United Kingdom’s Prevent strategy, …

Becoming A Woman Of Isis, Zoe D. Fine

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this study, I examine how terrorism is produced and consumed in communication. Using discourse analysis, I investigate how terrorism is constituted in the accounts of four women described in online news reports as having joined, or almost joined the so-called Islamic State (IS): “Alex,” constructed as having been lonely and flirted with IS; “Khadija,” presented as a schoolteacher turned member of IS’s all-women’s brigade; Laura, described as a woman whose partner abandoned her, who met a man online, and who brought her son with her to join IS; and Tareena, referred to as a health worker who brought her …

Are U.S. Based 'Jihadi' Inspired Terrorists Transitioning Away From Physical Training Camps To Online Training Camps?, Ashleigh Nicole Clayton

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This thesis is an examination of the backgrounds of twenty-five individuals who conducted a ‘jihad’ inspired terrorist attack within the United States between the years of 2001 and 2016 to determine if terrorists use physical training camps or online training camps as the main method of training to prepare for their attacks.

The debate about the existence of online training camps is beneficial to the field of terrorism study. However, the question of what constitutes an online training camp must first be answered before it can be determined if terrorists are using online training camps. This thesis proposes a comprehensive …

An Analysis Of Successful And Unsuccessful Terrorist Assassinations: Informing Counterterrorism Through Situational Crime Prevention, Marissa Mandala

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study applies environmental criminology and situational crime prevention (SCP) to study successful and unsuccessful assassinations by terrorists. Using these perspectives, a series of hypotheses were devised to understand the situational factors that contribute to successful compared to unsuccessful assassinations. A random sample of roughly 1,000 successful and 1,000 unsuccessful assassination attacks taking place between 2005 and 2014 was acquired from the Global Terrorism Database (GTD). Open source materials were then consulted to supplement the GTD with the creation of new SCP variables. The hypotheses were tested in a binary logistic regression, and additional regression models were created for 4 …

The Terror Experts: Discourse, Discipline, And The Production Of Terrorist Subjects At A University Research Center, Liam Christopher Mclean

Honors Papers

This thesis examines the production and circulation of discourses related to (counter)terrorism at a university-affiliated terrorism and security studies research center in eastern Massachusetts. Drawing on participant observation, documentary analysis, and interviews with faculty and students at the research center, I suggest that expert discourses of (counter)terrorism at the center traffic in an archetypal construction of the terrorist that I call the “depoliticized radical.” This construction locates the root of terrorism in individual morality and psychology, tending to abstract the terrorist from the political conditions in which they enact violence. I further propose that the depoliticized radical functions as a …

An Analysis Of The Efficacy Of Post 9/11 Security Policy In Countering Violent Extremism And Reducing Acts Of International Terrorism, Omaima Khan

Dissertations and Theses

Terrorism is a phenomenon that baffles even the most experienced of researchers within academia. Understanding what constitutes terrorism is important to the field of international relations because combatting terrorist violence yields no straightforward method of prevention and protection. This paper examines four measures of counterterrorism taken by the U.S. government after the September 11^th attacks. The methods included in this study and the framework in which they are congruent with are: The War on Terror as a defense strategy, torture and “enhanced interrogation techniques” as a deterrence method, targeted drone attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan as a compellence force, …

Terrorist Celebrity: Online Personal Branding And Jihadist Recruitment And Planning, Ari Weil

Pomona Senior Theses

Shifts in culture and technology have changed the manifestation of celebrity in modern society, culminating in the practice of internet microcelebrity, where one views followers as fans, produces content consistent with a personal brand, and engages in strategic interaction with devotees. This thesis examines how those effects have also changed how terrorists present themselves and operationalize celebrity status. An original typology of terrorist celebrity is presented: traditional, martyr, and internet micro-celebrity. Two in-depth case studies of terrorist micro-celebrities are analyzed: Anwar al-Awlaki of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and Junaid Hussain of the Islamic State. The case studies are …

Living Through Terror And Terror Through Living: The Biopolitical Dimensions Of Religion, Security, And Terrorism, Donnie Featherston

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent emphasis and attention by thinkers, media pundits, and politicians on terrorism requires new, critical evaluation of the processes by which terrorism is understood. By investigating the concept of biopolitics, as developed specifically through Michel Foucault and Giorgio Agamben, new insights into the interactions between terrorism, politics, and religion can emerge. Most notably, the attempts to explain terror as simply an economic problem, an excessive form of violence, and/or as religious fervency gone awry rely on embedded biopolitical concepts. The continual attempts to solve terrorism through increased biopolitical strategies, thereby making terrorism a problem for biopolitics, only further substantiate the …

A Content Analysis Of Jihadist Magazines: Theoretical Perspectives, Catalina M. Udani

Honors Undergraduate Theses

During its violent spread across the Middle East, the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) amassed both a local and international following in large part due to its usage of emergent media distribution. Beginning in 2014, ISIS’s Ministry of Media published an English-language magazine, Dabiq, disseminating its issues through online platforms. Dabiq and its successor Rumiyah both serve as propagandistic recruitment material for ISIS’s international community as well as broadcasting the message of the jihadist movement to ISIS’s enemies. This study analyzed ISIS’s publications using a qualitative content analysis in order to identify jihadist recruitment strategies through the perspectives …

The Opportunity Cost Of Violence: An Analysis Of The Relationship Between Foreign Aid And Terrorism In Sub-Saharan Africa, Brendan T. Byrne

Senior Projects Spring 2018

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

Plus Ça Change, Plus C’Est La Même Chose: The Introduction Of ‘Soft’ De-Radicalisation Policy In France, Isobel Monique Coen

Senior Projects Spring 2018

This paper analyzes the 2015 introduction of ‘soft’ de-radicalisation policies in France, which were intended as a departure from traditional security-based ‘hard’ policies, and assesses the role of the French government as an actor in de-radicalisation efforts. The paper will look at key facets of French political culture, including laïcité and communitarianism, and the experience of Muslim communities in France. In evaluating the ‘soft’ measures introduced in France, particularly the Numéro Vert and de-radicalisation centers, the paper identifies that ‘soft’ measures rely on the same security and police-based measures as ‘hard’ policies, and, in turn, have the same effect on …