Sociology of terrorism is a field of sociology that seeks to understand terrorism as a social phenomenon. The field studies terrorism, why it happens, and looks at its impacts on society. The sociology of terrorism draws from the fields of political science, history, economics and psychology. The sociology of terrorism differs from critical terrorism studies, emphasizing the social conditions that enable terrorism. It also studies how individuals, as well as states, respond to such events.
Concept Sociology of terrorism views terrorism as a "social construction." Within this field, defining terrorism involves interpreting events and determining causes. This definition process and the resulting presentation to the public can manipulate public perceptions and promote certain interests. The field analyzes how people are motivated to engage in collective acts of violence for political change. The field states that this type of violence, as a social behavior, relies on communication, shared and competing norms and values, and levels of social and self-restraints. Terrorists are seen to have emerged from societies where radical norms and values proved more influential. The sociological inquiry into these issues is approached on the basis of disciplinary insights in theoretical, methodological, and thematic respects.
History Pre-September 11 attacks After the September 11 attacks, researchers became more interested in various sociological traditions related to terrorism, like moral panic, organizational response and media coverage, and counter-terrorism.
The most comprehensive study on the definition of terrorism comes from Weinberg, Pedahzur and Hirsch-Hoefler (2004) who examined 73 definitions of terrorism from 55 articles and concluded that terrorism is "a politically motivated tactic involving the threat or use of force or violence in which the pursuit of publicity plays a significant role." However, they point out that definitions of terrorism often ignore symbolic aspects of terrorism. Sociology has a unique vantage point to assess terror due to its focus on symbolism.
Post-September 11 attacks Since the September 11 attacks, Mathieu Deflem (University of South Carolina), S. E. Costanza (Central Connecticut State University) and John C. Kilburn Jr. (Texas A&M International University) are among the sociologists to call for the development of a sub-field in sociology related to terrorism. Common topics that are part of the discourse in the sociology of terrorism include: military spending, counter-terrorism, immigration, privacy issues, and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, where within these contexts questions of power, the definition of terrorism, propaganda, nationality, the media, etc. are being deliberated upon. Also, an imputed link between religion and terrorism became another hot topic among sociologists and social psychologists.
Methods of Study Researchers have proposed different focus areas to guide the sociological study of terrorism. Much terrorism research focuses on preventing and reacting to terrorism events. Turk and Tosini highlight the importance of defining terrorism. Turk explains that how parties define terrorism impacts a public's understanding of terrorism. It is an intentional choice when a government chooses to call a group a terrorist group. Who is defining terrorism and how they define it is a major focus area in the sociology of terrorism.
Researchers can also study terrorism as communication and socialization. Terrorism as communication focuses on terrorism as an indicator. A group or individual is communicating frustration with policy or an aspect of society. Other researchers focus on how terrorists are socialized. Researchers look to understand the conditions that lead people to opt for terrorist acts.
In the research, whether terrorism is the independent or dependent variable influences the study. Terrorism is often a dependent variable in hypotheses. Researchers look to see what causes terrorism. Young and Gurr argue that it is valuable to make terrorism the independent variable. Terrorism as an independent variable focuses on how the presence and acts of terrorism impact society.
Recent Research in the Field The Public and Terrorism How society reacts to and understands terrorism is a core research question in the sociology of terrorism. In their article How the Public Defines Terrorism, Huff and Kertzer conducted a conjoint experiment to understand what influences an individual to define an event as terrorism. They found that the type of act (i.e. shooting, bomb), casualties, and background information on the actor had significant influence. Background information included religion, nationality, or politics and the motivation for the act. Huff and Kertzer argue that the media and public figures control the type of background information provided to the public. This "media and elite framing effect" may influence public perceptions of terrorism.
Policing and Citizens Early peer-reviewed literature after the September 11 attacks examined policing and citizen responses to terror during the September 11 attacks. It also examined interactions between first responders (police, rescue teams, etc.) and communities. Ramirez, Hoopes and Quinlan (2003) rightly predicted that police organizations would change fundamental styles of profiling people, and police agencies would alter their mission statements after the September 11 attacks. There is strong reason to believe that even the smallest of local police agencies are apt to feel some kind of pressure to deal with the issue of terrorism.
Some sociologists and legal scholars have contemplated the potential consequences of aggressive (or militaristic) policing of terror threats that may have negative implications for human rights which are of great interest to sociologists as a matter of social justice. For instance, in a peer-reviewed article Crouching tiger or phantom dragon? Examining the discourse on global cyber-terror, Helms, Costanza and Johnson (2011) ask if it is possible that media hype at the national level could prompt an unnecessary and systemic over-pursuit of cyberterrorism. They warn that such overreaction might lead to a "killswitch" policy which could give the federal government ultimate power over the internet.
Moral Panic More recent work in the sociology of terrorism field is philosophical and reflective and has focused on issues such as moral panic and over-spending after the September 11 attacks. Costanza and Kilburn (2005), in an article entitled Symbolic Security, Moral Panic and Public Sentiment: Toward a sociology of Counterterrorism argued that the issue of symbolism is of much importance to understanding the war on terror. Using a classic symbolic interactionist perspective, they argue that strong public sentiment about the homeland security issue has driven policy more to superficial threats than real and concrete threats. Others argue that symbolism has led to agency a policy of "hypervigilance" in agency decision-making that is costly and untestable.
Assessing Homeland Security Measures Despite the quantitative lean of modern sociology; Kilburn, Costanza, Metchik and Borgeson (2011) point out that there are several methodological barbs to effectively and scientifically assessing the effect of homeland security measures. In traditional criminology, the most quantitatively amenable starting point for measuring the effectiveness of any policing strategy (i.e., neighborhood watch, gun control, foot patrols, etc.) is to assess total financial costs against clearance rates or arrest rates. Since terrorism is such a rare event phenomena, measuring arrests would be a naive way to test policy effectiveness.
Another methodological problem in the development of sociology of terrorism as a sub-field is one of finding operational measures for key concepts in the study of homeland security. Both terrorism and homeland security are relatively new concepts for social scientists, and academicians have yet to agree on the matter of how to properly conceptualize these ideas.
Three sociological perspectives Structural functionalism
Functionalism is "the theory that various social institutions and processes in society exists to serve some important (or necessary) function to keep society running." This sociological perspective draws on the work of sociologists like Émile Durkheim, and gets its name from the idea that the best way to study society is to identify the roles that different aspects of society play. Social deviance, loosely understood, can be taken to mean any "transgression of socially established norms." This can range from the minor–slamming a door in someone's face–to the major–a terrorist act. Thus terrorism is a deviant behavior. Functionalism sees terrorism–which is a form of crime–as a temporary deviation from the normal goings on of society, and is in a way functional to society.
A sociologist that utilizes structural functionalism would explain the existence of any social phenomena by the function they perform. Therefore, terrorism is functional because it joins individuals together in opposition, and brings a sense of belonging to the group opposing it. This feeling of group solidarity would help prevent anomie, which is the stage where people do not need to follow any norms of society in order to survive in society.
Theories by Talcott Parsons have also shaped thinking within structural functionalism. Such is the case of one of his students named N. Luhmanns. In Luhmanns' Social System theory, for example, modern society is a textbook example of a functionality differentiated society which has many distinctive sub-systems - which functionally evolved compared to previous historical less differentiated societies (Hunting and Gathering, Agricultural, Horticultural, Pastoral Societies etc.), that were often much smaller and more traditionally based or operated under mechanical forms of social solidarity according to Emile Durkheim. Luhmann carefully describes this evolution of system differentiation in one of his published articles that highlights these three different kinds of differentiation including (1) Segmentation (which is based on "equal-subsystems" and resembles a form of village or settlement in which the environmental conditions themselves are the sources of inequality, but not yet the whole structure of society. (2) Stratification, on the other hand, is clearly made up of "unequal sub-system" or inequality that is based on either rank or status in a stratified system of hierarchy. A good example of a stratified system is feudal society during the Middle Ages in Europe. (3) Functional differentiation, on the other hand, is the most differentiated and the most advanced. An example here is modern advanced industrial societies that have reached social complexity and numerous sub-systems which still multiple and expand compared to the capacities available to both stratified and segmented societies.