Homegrown and Lone-Actor Terrorism

Abstract

Lone-actor and homegrown terrorism, where a person mounts an attack independent of an organization, poses a credible threat to the safety and security of the globe. There have been numerous examples of lone-actor and homegrown terrorism in recent years, such as the Norway attack carried out by Anders Breivik in 2011 which resulted in 77 deaths. Certain individuals are more vulnerable to radicalization due to factors such as mental health, sociological belonging, and upbringing. These individuals are targeted through the media operations branches of well-established terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State, al-Qaeda, and extreme right-wing organizations. The profile of a lone-actor terrorist is complex and one must consider numerous psychological and sociological factors including gender, mental health, social involvement, upbringing, and victimization. Quite often, they write and disseminate manifestos outlining their beliefs and rationales for the attacks. With the advent of social media, these are distributed very quickly worldwide. A recent phenomenon is the livestreaming of the attack of various internet platforms. This causes a significant challenge for the police and other government interests. When analyzing the threat level of a specific individual, an instrument called the Terrorist Radicalization Assessment Protocol (TRAP-18) has been developed and can assist in determining the risk of attack. Law enforcement must endeavor to analyze and understand the profiles of lone actors, in order to successfully intervene in potential pre-meditated attacks. In the end, as the ability to access online propaganda and communicate with various communities increases, so will the threat of homegrown terrorism.