social pack 3 (key q) terrorism

Question 1

define terrorism

Answer 1

• the use or threat of action to influence a government or intimidate the public for a political or religious cause

Question 2

what are the 4 reasons that terrorism is important for todays society

Answer 2

• according to MI5, the threat of terrorism has increased significantly from the 60s and now all time high
• terrorism affect public safety
• it affects quality and enjoyment of life
• fighting terrorism is detrimental to a countries economy

Question 3

how were terrorists describes historically

Answer 3

• they had a disposition as a psychopath or had some psychological abnormality

Question 3

how is social identity theory a strength of explaining terrorism

Answer 3

• shows that people begin to identify with their group and eventually start seeing their in- group as better than the out-group in order to maintain self esteem
• tajfel demonstrated this in a lab experiment

Question 4

how is social identity theory a weakness of explaining terrorism

Answer 4

• tajfels results cannot be generalised beyond young boys in a lab setting
• cant necessarily be applied to the complex factors involved in terrorist activities

Question 5

how is milgrams agency theory a strength when explaining terrorism

Answer 5

• explains that people obey authority figures and can commit atrocious acts on other human beings
• suggests that a terrorist goes into the agentic state and dont feel moral strain
• milgram demonstrated that 65% of people administer fatal shocks under orders of an authority figure

Question 6

how is milgrams agency theory a weakness when explaining terrorism

Answer 6

• Milgrams study lacks ecological validity as its a lab experiment at yale uni
• results cannot be applied