An Empirical Examination on the Severity of Lone-Actor Terrorist Attacks

2021 ◽  
pp. 001112872110226
Author(s):  
Noah D. Turner ◽  
Steven M. Chermak ◽  
Joshua D. Freilich
Keyword(s):  
Terrorist Attack ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Severe Attack ◽  
Empirical Examination ◽  
Counterterrorism Policy

Lone-actor terrorists have increasingly attracted the attention of researchers, policymakers, and practitioners alike. Despite this enhanced interest, few studies have compared the outcomes of lone-actor terrorist attacks with other terrorists, and those that have do not consider the terrorists’ intention to kill in an attack. This study utilizes a sample of 230 terrorist homicide incidents from the Extremist Crime Database to examine the extent to which lone-actors perpetrate more severe attacks than other terrorists. We find that lone-actors are significantly associated with more severe attack outcomes when controlling for the intention to kill. We conclude by commenting on the utility of these findings in U.S. counterterrorism policy and the importance for future research to account for actors’ intentions when assessing terrorist attack severity

scholarly journals The Congregational Character Questionnaire: An Initial Empirical Examination of the Significance of Collective Church Character Traits

2021 ◽  
pp. 009164712110219
Author(s):  
T. Ryan Byerly ◽  
Keith J. Edwards ◽  
Peter C. Hill
Keyword(s):  
Meaning In Life ◽  
Satisfaction With Life ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Character Traits ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Religious Congregations ◽  
Empirical Examination ◽  
Christian Churches

Researchers in several academic disciplines have begun to take an interest in group character traits, including the character traits of religious congregations. This article reports the first empirical studies of congregational virtues. The Congregational Character Questionnaire was developed for measuring 12 different virtues of Christian churches: clinging to apostolic teaching, honoring teachers, prayerfulness, hopefulness, discipleship, emotional supportiveness, material supportiveness, spiritual equality, unity, submission, peace with the world, and spreading the faith. The instrument was then used with an online sample ( N = 530) to study how congregants’ perceptions of their congregation’s virtuousness related to congregants’ evaluations of their congregation, participation in their congregation, as well as congregants’ satisfaction with life, presence of meaning in life, and religious well-being. Results indicated that congregants’ overall perceptions of congregational virtuousness were significantly positively related to all of these dependent variables. These results help to reveal the important role that congregational character may play in the experience of congregants. Directions for future research in this area are outlined.

An automatic decision algorithm and simulation performance analysis for public safety

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Xiangwei Qi ◽  
Weimin Pan ◽  
Bingcai Chen ◽  
Gulila Altenbek
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Response ◽  
Terrorist Attack ◽  
Scheduling Algorithm ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Mathematical Form ◽  
Decision Algorithm ◽  
Simulation Performance ◽  
Whole Process ◽  
Real Scene ◽  
Crowd Evacuation

As the current society is increasingly facing major challenges from extremism and terrorism, protecting key urban public facilities and important targets from destruction is an important challenge facing the security departments of all countries. Based on real scene, this paper conducts researches on anti-terrorism security game algorithms and emergency response models in response to the three key links of before, during and after terrorist attacks. First of all, this paper constructs a multi-round joint attack game and emergency response model based on cooperation, establishes the optimization problem of solving the defender’s optimal strategy in mathematical form, and then obtains the optimal defense strategy. Secondly, in response to the fact that terrorists are not completely rational, a new hybrid model is constructed to propose an efficient allocation and scheduling algorithm for safe resources in response to terrorist attacks. Thirdly, a model of crowd evacuation strategy after a terrorist attack is built based on the problem of crowd evacuation in multiple rounds of premeditated cooperative attacks. Finally, taking the area of the first ring of a certain city as a real scene, a complete game system of the whole process is constructed, and the game effectiveness evaluation of the existing security resource allocation scheme in the first ring area is carried out. Through the research of this thesis, the author puts forward some new technical ideas for the current society’s anti-terrorism governance, and hopes to provide some technical references for the decision-making of security agencies.

scholarly journals Effects of terrorist attacks on access to maternal healthcare services: a national longitudinal study in Burkina Faso

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (9) ◽  
pp. e002879
Author(s):  
Thomas Druetz ◽  
Lalique Browne ◽  
Frank Bicaba ◽  
Matthew Ian Mitchell ◽  
Abel Bicaba
Keyword(s):  
Antenatal Care ◽  
Burkina Faso ◽  
Negative Binomial ◽  
Terrorist Attack ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Cesarean Sections ◽  
Maternal Healthcare ◽  
District Hospitals ◽  
The Impact

IntroductionMost of the literature on terrorist attacks’ health impacts has focused on direct victims rather than on distal consequences in the overall population. There is limited knowledge on how terrorist attacks can be detrimental to access to healthcare services. The objective of this study is to assess the impact of terrorist attacks on the utilisation of maternal healthcare services by examining the case of Burkina Faso.MethodsThis longitudinal quasi-experimental study uses multiple interrupted time series analysis. Utilisation of healthcare services data was extracted from the National Health Information System in Burkina Faso. Data span the period of January 2013–December 2018 and include all public primary healthcare centres and district hospitals. Terrorist attack data were extracted from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project. Negative binomial regression models were fitted with fixed effects to isolate the immediate and long-term effects of terrorist attacks on three outcomes (antenatal care visits, of facility deliveries and of cesarean sections).ResultsDuring the next month of an attack, the incidence of assisted deliveries in healthcare facilities is significantly reduced by 3.8% (95% CI 1.3 to 6.3). Multiple attacks have immediate effects more pronounced than single attacks. Longitudinal analysis show that the incremental number of terrorist attacks is associated with a decrease of the three outcomes. For every additional attack in a commune, the incidence of cesarean sections is reduced by 7.7% (95% CI 4.7 to 10.7) while, for assisted deliveries, it is reduced by 2.5% (95% CI 1.9 to 3.1) and, for antenatal care visits, by 1.8% (95% CI 1.2 to 2.5).ConclusionTerrorist attacks constitute a new barrier to access of maternal healthcare in Burkina Faso. The exponential increase in terrorist activities in West Africa is expected to have negative effects on maternal health in the entire region.

OP or Not OP: The Medical Challenge at the Chemical Terrorism Scene

2005 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 155-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amir Krivoy ◽  
Ido Layish ◽  
Eran Rotman ◽  
Avi Goldberg ◽  
Yoav Yehezkelli
Keyword(s):  
Terrorist Attack ◽  
Clinical Findings ◽  
Weapons Of Mass Destruction ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Industrial Chemicals ◽  
Mass Destruction ◽  
Toxic Agent ◽  
Chemical Terrorism ◽  
Cognitive Framework ◽  
Medical Teams

AbstractSince the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack, terrorist attacks involving weapons of mass destruction or other industrial chemicals present worldwide security and health concerns. On-scene medical triage and treatment in such events is crucial to save as many lives as possible and minimize the deleterious effects of the toxic agent involved. Since there are many chemicals that can be used as potential terrorist weapons, the medical challenge for the emergency medical services (EMS) is a combination of: (1) recognizing that a chemical terrorist attack (non-conventional) has occurred; and (2) identifying the toxic agent followed by proper antidotal treatment. The latter must be done as quickly as possible, preferably on-scene. The most valuable decision at this stage should be whether the agent is organophosphate (OP) or not OP, based on clinical findings observed by pre-trained, first responders. This decision is crucial, since only OP intoxication has readily available, rapidly acting, onscene, specific agents such as atropine and one of the oximes, preferably administered using autoinjectors. Due to the lack of a specific antidote, exposure to other agents (such as industrial chemicals, e.g., chlorine, bromide, or ammonia) should be treated on-scene symptomatically with non-specific measures, such as decontamination and supportive treatment. This paper proposes an algorithm as a cognitive framework for the medical teams on-scene. This algorithm should be part of the medical team's training for preparedness for chemical terrorist attacks, and the team should be trained to use it in drills. Implementing this path of thinking should improve the medical outcome of such an event.

DETERMINANTS OF LOYALTY IN CULTURAL DESTINATIONS: EVIDENCE FROM PETRA, JORDAN

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Positive Impact ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Destination Image ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Empirical Examination ◽  
Destination Loyalty ◽  
Perceived Risks ◽  
Future Research Agenda ◽  
Five Factors ◽  
New Evidence

It is commonly understood within the tourism industry that the longer term success of a destination depends on visitor loyalty. While there have been extensive scholarly investigations of destination loyalty, there has been minimal empirical examination of the most critical determinants of loyalty within a single integrated model, particularly in the context of cultural destinations. To bridge this gap, this study investigates the direct influence of five factors on destination loyalty; destination image, destination awareness, perceived risks, perceived quality, and perceived value. The authors also provide new evidence about these relationships, with a focus on Petra one of the world’s most popular cultural-oriented destinations. Using a purposive sampling method, a total of 708 surveys were collected from international tourists who visited Petra between April and June 2019. It was found that all antecedents apart from perceived risks, had a positive impact on destination loyalty. Apart from extending knowledge about destination loyalty, this study provides key implications for practitioners and proposes a future research agenda.

scholarly journals Terrorism, Trust and Tourism

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Susanne Jensen ◽  
Gert Tinggaard Svendsen
Keyword(s):  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Comparative Studies ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Social Trust ◽  
Interesting Case ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Future Research ◽  
The World ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Methods ◽  
Country People

How does terrorism affect social trust and tourism? The rising number of terrorist attacks in Western Europe has caused safety problems not only for local citizens but also for tourists. In fact, terrorists challenge the formal violence monopoly of the state thus creating a sense of anarchy and distrust. Social trust is about trusting strangers, so when less predictable behaviour occurs in, a given country, people become more careful as they tend to trust most other people less. An interesting case for future research is Scandinavia as the level of terrorism is still low and, at the same time, Scandinavia can record most social trust in the world meaning a competitive advantage when attracting tourists. Arguably, a double dividend is created from fighting terrorism, namely more social trust accumulated and more tourists attracted. Future research should therefore try to further test our model by both quantitative and qualitative methods, for example by undertaking extensive comparative studies between Scandinavia and other countries with more terrorism and less trust.

scholarly journals FORMATION OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’SAFE BEHAVIOUR WHILE TERRORIST ATTACKS

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 732-741
Author(s):  
Tetiana Veretenko ◽  
Anton Trebe ◽  
Olena Bieloliptseva
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Terrorist Attack ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
School Students ◽  
Terrorist Threat ◽  
Experimental Implementation ◽  
Terrorist Acts

The attention is drawn to the possibility of terrorist attacks in Ukraine. The essence of safe behaviour during a terrorist attack is revealed in the article. The purpose of the article is to determine the rules of behaviour for high school students in the case of a terrorist attack, the action algorithm of high school students on receiving information about a terrorist threat; rules of safe behaviour in social networks, which are actively used by terrorists, who attack high school students to participate in their groups and terrorist acts; to present a formation program of high school students’safe behaviour while terrorist attacks and show its effectiveness.The results of the experimental implementation of the program for formation of high school students’safe behaviour during terrorist attacks and emergencies are analyzed after asurvey carried out. According to the results summarised a conclusion is made to activate social and pedagogical work in the field of forming students’safe behaviour while terrorist attacks and emergencies.

scholarly journals Investigation on the Screening Model of Chemical Hazards Based on the Risk of Domino Effect and Terrorist Attack

2020 ◽  
Vol 198 ◽  
pp. 03006
Author(s):  
Huang Wenduo ◽  
Shao Xuechun ◽  
Wang Jiajie ◽  
Xiao Yang ◽  
Sun Dongliang
Keyword(s):  
Terrorist Attack ◽  
Risk Index ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Chemical Plants ◽  
Domino Effect ◽  
Screening Model ◽  
Chemical Hazards ◽  
Modern Chemical ◽  
Screening And Identification ◽  
Accident Scenarios

The heavy losses are often caused in modern chemical plants at the time of the accident. In order to prevent accidents, the screening and identification of hazards is needed. In this paper, the screening model of hazards in chemical plants was studied under the domino effect and the risk of terrorist attack. According to the threshold and strength of the domino effect of the unit under the main accident scenarios, the index of domino effect was developed. The risk index of terrorist attacks was determined in line with the distance between the unit and the boundary under the assumption of terrorist attacks. The hazards screening model Z was designed based on two aspects of the study. The model was applied in screening the hazards. The results showed that closer units near the border were more dangerous under the risk of terrorist attack, and the devices surrounded by units with greater influence of accidents were more dangerous under the risk of domino effect. The indices of the tanks were ordered: Z105>Z101>Z103>Z106>Z104>Z102>Z201>Z202>Z203>Z204>Z205>Z206>Z303>Z304>Z301>Z302>Z306>Z305. The domino effect and the risk of terrorist attacks were combined into the present model for perfection and correction of the existing hazards screening model, as the new basis for major hazards identification.

scholarly journals The activity of German law enforcement authorities in resolving the problem of political stability: counterterrorism aspects (2013-2018)

2020 ◽  
pp. 29-42
Author(s):  
Ksenia Aleksandrovna Kornilova
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
German Law ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Prevention Measures ◽  
The Third ◽  
Angela Merkel ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Counterterrorism Policy ◽  
Successful Prevention

This article examines the counterterrorism policy of Germany during the third term of Angela Merkel, when the spread of terrorist threat in the territory of Germany has increased. The subject of this research is the activity of law enforcement authorities in development and implementation of German counterterrorism policy strategy, which include preemptive and prevention measures, forcible methods, and share of intelligence between the departments. The goal of this work consists in analysis and assessment of the achievements and failures of counterterrorism policy of Germany. Neorealism served as the key approach used in the course of this research. The conclusion is made that successfully consolidated activity of Merkel’s government and law enforcement authorities led to decrease in the number of terrorist attacks and strengthening of political stability in Germany. For indicating achievements and problematic aspects of German counterterrorism activity during the indicated period, the author translated from German the reports of law enforcement authorities on the instances of violence and prevented terrorist attacks, as well as mass media materials testifying to successful prevention of terrorist attacks. The acquired materials can be valuable in teaching corresponding disciplines and within the framework of scientific research.

The sharing economy and livestreaming of terror: Co-production of terrorism on social media

2021 ◽  
pp. 65-78
Author(s):  
Yasmin Ibrahim
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Terrorist Attack ◽  
Sharing Economy ◽  
Mass Murder ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Recording Device ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Mass Entertainment

In the xenophobic attack on a mosque in New Zealand, the perpetrator filmed the mass murder through a GoPro recording device attached to his head. The attack was streamed live on social networking sites, including a notorious extremist alt-right forum. This livestreaming of the terrorist attack on social media platforms received global condemnation, but it brought renewed scrutiny to the ‘sharing economy’ online and how terrorist attacks can be made for sharing, reposting, and editing of content by users, circumnavigating the removal of such content. This phenomenon widens the co-production of terror through mass audiences’ interaction in real time, positioning terror as mass entertainment. This chapter examines the architecture of the ‘sharing economy’ online and its significance in the production of terror, as well as the moral and ethical considerations it poses for humanity.

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