Trend Toward Terrorism, Essay Example

To better implement the power of the criminal justice system, it is incumbent upon law enforcement professionals to understand new trends as they emerge. Here, the trend of terrorism is described. Furthermore, the way in which this trend impacts theories about criminal behavior with respect to the reasons behind it, individual differences, and the psychology of stress is explored. The trend toward terrorism forces the expansion of prospective criminal behavior theories. As such, ideas related to both traditional and new theories are evaluated with respect to their similarities and differences as applied to the threat of terrorism.

Terrorism itself is not new. Human beings have forever used force or the threat of force as a method of coping with conflict whether internally, interpersonally, socially, or politically. Traditionally, we think of terrorism in terms of the political use of violence. As such, we think of terrorists as foreigners with a grievance toward our nation willing to carry out unspeakable acts of aggression against the common population. That is, perhaps, the most narrow understanding of terrorism. A broader description might include anyone who uses violence or force or the threat thereof as a method of coping with conflict as a terrorist. This definition would include the armed robber, the domestic abuser, and the street gang member. In fact, many industrialized nations face terror threats in the traditional sense of the word from within their own borders.

To broaden our understanding even further, it is necessary to understand how we (as law enforcement professionals) deal with conflict. Sometimes, we must act aggressively to ensure compliance of suspects. We sometimes must pursue and immobilize suspects as a means of exacting compliance. If we deem it sufficiently probable that the suspect has committed an offense, we force them into a confined cell until court. We take from them their possessions. We sometimes use non-lethal methods of controlling them such as stun guns and pepper spray, and we often must tackle them to subdue them. As we know, we have to go to such lengths to ensure the oath of our office to do what we feel we must to protect the public. Nevertheless, we must also accept that these are behaviors that cause fear and that we do them to ensure an outcome we see as favorable to the conflict. That is correct. We as law enforcement professionals often use violent aggression to cope with conflict. In the broadest sense of the word, that makes us terrorists too.

Obviously, we are not terrorists in the traditional sense of the word. We have little grievance toward our nation, and we are not deliberate and gregarious abusers. The point in the broadening the definition of terrorism ad absurdum was to illustrate a counter trend to terrorism – the trend of over-broadening the definition. Furthermore, it is our responsibility to understand that other people have different ideas of what terrorism means. There is the old adage that one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. With that understanding we must also accept its opposite. One man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist. As law enforcement professionals at every level may attest, the political actions of our own government can seem like terrorism to people in other countries.

Still, one fact remains. Despite the origin of a terrorist act, law enforcement professionals stand at the boundary between the aggressor and the population. That means we are on the front lines of a war many think is unwinnable. But it is winnable. It is winnable because people have choices. Today’s youth may be tomorrow’s terrorist, and the way we deal with that person today may impact the decisions they make in the future. One of the implicit duties of law enforcement is leadership. Our ability to influence the lives of others in daily interactions in an official context may be the most effective method of fighting any crime – even terrorism. The more that we are able to communicate to the population that we are here to make things better and then act accordingly, the more law enforcement professionals win the trust and esteem of the average person. Although our jobs are not as glamorous as television would have them think, the real impact can be deeper than any made for such dramas.