University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2013 Terrorism: The Effect Of Positive Social Sanctions Curtis Hibbert University of Central Florida Part of the International Relations Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Masters Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Hibbert, Curtis, "Terrorism: The Effect Of Positive Social Sanctions" (2013). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 2962. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/2962 TERRORISM: THE EFFECT OF POSITIVE SOCIAL SANCTIONS by CURTIS T. HIBBERT B.A. University of Central Florida, 2008 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Political Science in the College of Sciences at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Spring Term 2013 ABSTRACT Research shows that relative deprivation, mental illness, culture, ideology, and various forms of social learning are often identified as factors that can lead an individual to terrorism. However, understanding the value of influences in the form of positive social sanctions through social contact has not been fully explored throughout terrorist studies. In regards to influencing behavior, positive social sanctions elicit a desired behavior which is reinforced through praise or rewards. By utilizing a case study approach, this thesis looks to determine the significance of positive social sanctions through social contact on select individuals who have committed an act of terror in the United States, from the time period of 2002-2012. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................ v LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... vi CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1 Defining Terrorism ...................................................................................................................... 2 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................. 5 Frustration Aggression ................................................................................................................ 6 Relative Deprivation ................................................................................................................... 8 Why Men Rebel: Redux ........................................................................................................... 10 Mental Illness ............................................................................................................................ 12 Rational Choice Theory ............................................................................................................ 14 Culture ...................................................................................................................................... 15 Ideology .................................................................................................................................... 17 Social Learning ......................................................................................................................... 18 Positive Social Sanctions .......................................................................................................... 19 Groups, Status, and Sanctions ................................................................................................... 21 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................... 25 Hypothesis ................................................................................................................................ 25 What Types of Cases Did We Choose For Our Case Studies?.................................................. 28 How Did We Choose Our Case Studies? .................................................................................. 28 Data Collection: What Sources Did We Use? ........................................................................... 29 What Type of Information Did We Seek? ................................................................................. 30 Total Pool of Relevant Terrorist Cases from the Global Terrorism Database and Related Search, 2002-2012 .................................................................................................................... 32 Findings .................................................................................................................................... 35 Analysis .................................................................................................................................... 38 CHAPTER FOUR: TERRORISM CASE STUDIES/MUSLIM POPULATION ........................ 42 Hesham Mohamed Hadayet ...................................................................................................... 42 Sayyid Qutb .............................................................................................................................. 44 iii John Allen Muhammad ............................................................................................................. 48 Lee Boyd Malvo ....................................................................................................................... 51 Naveed Afzal Haq ..................................................................................................................... 53 Abdulhakim Muhammad .......................................................................................................... 57 Major Nidal Malik Hasan ......................................................................................................... 62 Anwar al-Awlaki ....................................................................................................................... 68 CHAPTER FIVE: TERRORISM CASE STUDIES/NON-MUSLIM POPULATION ................ 71 Jim David Adkisson .................................................................................................................. 71 James Wenneker von Brunn ...................................................................................................... 75 Andrew Joseph Stack III ........................................................................................................... 78 James Lee .................................................................................................................................. 81 Wade Michael Page ................................................................................................................... 82 Analysis .................................................................................................................................... 84 CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION ................................................................................................. 87 Domestic Terrorism vs. International Terrorism ....................................................................... 88 Propaganda ................................................................................................................................ 89 Right Wing Extremism ............................................................................................................. 90 Findings .................................................................................................................................... 91 LIST OF REFERENCES .............................................................................................................. 97 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Reported cases of positive social sanctions. .................................................................. 34 Figure 2. Reported cases of major events before the incident. ..................................................... 34 Figure 3. Frequency of criminal records. ...................................................................................... 35 Figure 4. Religious background. ................................................................................................... 35 v LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Age, Sex, Place of Birth, Education ................................................................................ 32 Table 2: Motive, Target Type 1, Fatalities .................................................................................... 32 Table 3: Religion, Marital Status, Means of Social Contact ......................................................... 33 Table 4: Positive Social Sanctions, Major Event Before Incident ................................................ 33 Table 5: Criminal Record, Primed in U.S., Influences ................................................................. 34 vi CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION On November 5, 2009, U.S. Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan shot and killed thirteen people and wounded thirty two others at a military institution in Fort Hood, Texas (Pike, 2011, para. 1). Unlike the September 11, 2001 attacks that included perpetrators who were citizens of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon and the UAE, Major