TY - JOUR
T1 - Terrorism and Small Groups
T2 - An Analytical Framework for Group Disruption
AU - Reedy, Justin
AU - Gastil, John
AU - Gabbay, Michael
N1 - Funding Information:
John Gastil , PhD, is a professor in the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences at the Pennsylvania State University, USA. With support from the National Science Foundation, his research has focused on political and group behavior, including studies of jury deliberation, cultural cognition, and the Oregon Citizens’ Initiative Review.
Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and the Office of Naval Research [grant number HDTRA1-10-1-0075-P00001].
PY - 2013/12
Y1 - 2013/12
N2 - Terrorism scholarship has revealed the importance of small groups-both cells and leadership groups-in the proliferation of violence, yet this field remains only loosely connected to small group theory and research. There exists no systematic consideration of the role that group dynamics play in the disruption of terrorist activities. This article proposes an analytical framework for terrorist group disruption that shows how the goals and methods of counterterrorist intervention intersect with small group behavior. We use this framework to theorize how three intervention types-repression, manipulation, and persuasion-interact with group variables and processes, such as communication networks, social identities, group cohesion, and intragroup conflict. Seven theoretical propositions demonstrate how the framework can show how the direct and indirect effects of group behavior can augment or undermine counterterrorist strategies.
AB - Terrorism scholarship has revealed the importance of small groups-both cells and leadership groups-in the proliferation of violence, yet this field remains only loosely connected to small group theory and research. There exists no systematic consideration of the role that group dynamics play in the disruption of terrorist activities. This article proposes an analytical framework for terrorist group disruption that shows how the goals and methods of counterterrorist intervention intersect with small group behavior. We use this framework to theorize how three intervention types-repression, manipulation, and persuasion-interact with group variables and processes, such as communication networks, social identities, group cohesion, and intragroup conflict. Seven theoretical propositions demonstrate how the framework can show how the direct and indirect effects of group behavior can augment or undermine counterterrorist strategies.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84887472361&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84887472361&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1046496413501892
DO - 10.1177/1046496413501892
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84887472361
SN - 1046-4964
VL - 44
SP - 599
EP - 626
JO - Small Group Research
JF - Small Group Research
IS - 6
ER -
