RESEARCH ARTICLE


Domestic Consequences of US Counter-Terrorism Efforts: Making it Harder to Prevent Homegrown Terrorism



Alice LoCicero*
Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA


Article Metrics

CrossRef Citations:
1
Total Statistics:

Full-Text HTML Views: 1800
Abstract HTML Views: 2352
PDF Downloads: 871
Total Views/Downloads: 5023
Unique Statistics:

Full-Text HTML Views: 832
Abstract HTML Views: 1258
PDF Downloads: 602
Total Views/Downloads: 2692



Creative Commons License
© 2015 Alice LoCicero

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode). This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Center for Multicultural Training in Psychology, Boston Medical Center, Fuller Building, 9th Floor, 85 E. Newton St. Boston, MA 02118 USA; Tel: 617-686-6606 Fax: 617-812-582; E-mail: alice.locicero@bmc.org


Abstract

This paper begins by recounting concerns, raised by various American psychologists regarding psychological consequences of US counterterrorism policies following the attacks of September 11, 2001 (9/11.) Predictions made by a task force created by the American Psychological Association to consider the likely social effects of US counterterrorism policies have proved accurate. These include not only fear, but widespread crippling panic resulting from vague warnings and lack of suggested actions; discrimination, resulting from increased emphasis on in-group vs. out-group identities; hate crimes against those perceived as members of out-groups, and lack of tolerance for antiwar perspectives. Recent, increasingly radical, changes in policy, such as widespread surveillance of US citizens’ actions and communications by various US agencies, have led to more dire consequences, with many now concerned that the US is at risk of becoming a police state. The combined and interactive effects of earlier and more recent changes in US counterterrorism policies have caused serious, sometimes terrible, consequences. This paper explains how these consequences have become part of a vicious circle: frightened, passive, and unable to collaborate in rational attempts to manage the threat of terrorism, citizens have not begun to consider how to prevent future instances of homegrown terrorism.

Keywords: Terrorism, Counter-terrorism, United States, Social Psychology, Unintended Consequences.