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Motivations and Ideologies

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Understanding Lone Wolf Terrorism

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Criminology ((BRIEFSCRIMINOL))

Abstract

In the previous chapter it was argued that although historically the lone wolf strategy has been particularly advocated within radicalized sections of America’s far right, it is not restricted to that milieu as lone wolf terrorists come from a variety of political, ideological and religious backgrounds. The database of lone wolf terrorism (see Appendix) provides further insight into the ideological sources of lone wolf terrorist attacks, and enables the identification of different categories of lone wolf terrorists based on their ideologies. Figure 5.1 indicates that among those identified, the main ideological sources of lone wolf terrorism in the 15 countries in the research sample are right-wing extremism/White supremacy (17%), Islamism (15%), anti-abortion (8%) and nationalism/separatism (7%), respectively.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Please note the use of the term “we” here. In his writings Kaczynski regularly referred to “we” or to a fictitious group called “FC” (Freedom Club), but he acted alone.

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  1. School of Social Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Dr. Ramón Spaaij

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  1. Dr. Ramón Spaaij
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Correspondence to Ramón Spaaij .

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Spaaij, R. (2012). Motivations and Ideologies. In: Understanding Lone Wolf Terrorism. SpringerBriefs in Criminology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2981-0_5

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