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A QUALITATIVE PATTERN ANALYSIS OF SUICIDE TERRORISM: FROM PAST TO FUTURE TRENDS THESIS Presented to the Graduate Council of Texas State University-San Marcos in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of SCIENCE by Lisbet B. Ejlersen Royston, A.A., B.S. San Marcos, Texas December, 2011 A QUALITATIVE PATTERN ANALYSIS OF SUICIDE TERRORISM: FROM PAST TO FUTURE TRENDS Committee Members Approved: __________________________________ Wayman C. Mullins, Chair __________________________________ Michael Supancic __________________________________ Tomas C. Mijares Approved: ________________________ J. Michael Willoughby Dean of the Graduate College COPYRIGHT by Lisbet B. Ejlersen Royston 2011 FAIR USE AND AUTHOR’S PERMISSION STATEMENT Fair Use This work is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-553, section 107). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief quotations from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgement. Use of this material for financial gain without the author‘s express written permission is not allowed. Duplication Permission As the copyright holder of this work I, Lisbet B. Ejlersen Royston, refuse permission to copy in excess of the ―Fair Use‖ exemption without my written permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I would like to express my appreciation for the Department of Criminal Justice which consists of a collection of great faculty and fine students. I am privileged to be part of such an excellent institution. I owe much thanks to many individuals; both those who directly assisted me in the process of writing this thesis and also those who have inspired me and are the reason I got this far. I owe my sincerest thank you to following important individuals: To Dr. Mullins, the Chair of my committee, who has guided me for the last four years of my studies and is the primary reason why I pursued a Master‘s Degree. To Dr. Mijares and Dr. Supancic, who assisted and guided me throughout the thesis- writing process when I needed it the most. To Dan, my husband and best friend, who has been my support and tolerated me throughout my studies and who was always willing to listen and give feed-back. To Poul, my brother, who stayed up a whole night to look over my thesis and provided comments on my progress. To my Dad who always emphasized the importance of education. I made it in the end. To my Mom, who passed away too soon and did not get to see me complete my graduate studies. I know you are proud. To John Branchizio who inspired me to get this far. John was murdered by Palestinian terrorists and is the reason for my passion for the subject of terrorism. He made a statement I will always remember. He told me: ―If I would have listened to all the people v who told me ‗you won‘t make it‘ or ‗you can‘t do that‘ I would never have gone for anything in life‖. He soars with the eagles. To Sean, my son, who I am extremely proud of and who I consider my greatest accomplishment. This manuscript was submitted on December 18, 2011. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. ix LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................x ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................1 Changes in the Study of Suicide Terrorism .................................................2 Purpose and Significance of the Study ........................................................4 Definition of Terms......................................................................................5 Terrorism...........................................................................................5 Suicide Terrorism..............................................................................7 Organization of the Thesis ..........................................................................9 II. LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................................10 Basic Categories of Suicide .......................................................................10 Background ................................................................................................11 History of Suicide Terrorism .....................................................................11 Beginning of Modern Suicide Terrorism ...................................................13 Modern Suicide Terrorism .........................................................................15 Modus Operandi.........................................................................................17 Benefits of Suicide Terrorism ....................................................................19 Demographic Factors .................................................................................21 Proposed Root Causes for Becoming a Suicide Terrorist ..........................22 Religion and Fanaticism ................................................................22 Strategic Choice and Rational Actors ............................................24 Psychological Factors ....................................................................24 Poverty ...........................................................................................25 Motivations for Becoming a Suicide Bomber ...........................................26 Political Objectives ........................................................................26 vii Vengeance ......................................................................................27 Humiliation ....................................................................................27 Personal Traumatization and Deprivation .....................................28 Foreign Occupation and Nationalistic Feelings .............................28 Alienation and the Search for Meaningfulness ..............................29 Violence .........................................................................................29 Altruism .....................................................................................................30 Female Suicide Bombers ...........................................................................31 Recruitment and the Organization .............................................................32 Dispatchers .....................................................................................35 Martyrdom, a Culture of Death and a Cult of Heroes ................................36 Hamas‘ Indoctrination of Children ............................................................37 Technology ................................................................................................39 Summary Remarks .....................................................................................40 III. METHODOLOGY ..........................................................................................41 Research Design.........................................................................................41 Qualitative Research ......................................................................41 Pattern Analysis .............................................................................42 Data Collection ..........................................................................................43 Criteria for Judging Credibility and Trustworthiness ................................44 Reliability and Validity ..............................................................................44 Data Analysis and Study Sample ...............................................................45 IV. FINDINGS .......................................................................................................48 Pattern Identification ..................................................................................48 Targets, Weapons, and Globalization ............................................48 Factors Involved in Becoming a Suicide Terrorist ........................52 Martyrdom and the Culture of Death .............................................57 Future Trends .............................................................................................61 V. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION ...............................................................65 Limitations ...................................................................................................69 Implications.................................................................................................70 Future Research .............................................................................70 Does Terrorism Work? ...............................................................................73 LITERATURE CITED ......................................................................................................75 viii LIST OF TABLES Tables Page 1. Suicide Attacks by Country, 1981-2006 ........................................................................15 2. Realized and Prevented Suicide Bombing Attacks in Israel, 2000-2006 ......................16 3. Groups Using Suicide Attacks .......................................................................................17
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