Lone Actor Terrorists

A Residence-to-Crime Approach

Bibliographic Data

ID4086403
AuthorsZoe Marchment (0000-0003-3037-3353, Department of Security and Crime Science, University College London, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, corresponding author), Noeme Bouhana (0000-0001-9393-8812, Department of Security and Crime Science, University College London, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), Paul Gill (0000-0002-9606-9197, Department of Security and Crime Science, University College London, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland)
Year2020
Volume32
Issue7
Pages1413-1438
Publication date2020-10-02
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueTerrorism and Political Violence (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0954-6553 • E-ISSN: 1556-1836
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/09546553.2018.1481050
OpenAlexW2884323950
LanguageEN
Citations received13

Although there has recently been a considerable increase in research into lone actor terrorism, one of the main areas that remains understudied is that of target selection. The lack of empirically driven studies that can guide prevention measures is a notable oversight. This paper applies methods from environmental criminology to examine the residence-to-attack journeys of 122 lone terrorist acts in the U.S and Europe. The distance decay effect was evident, and significant differences were found between subgroups. Individuals were more likely to travel further if a) they were in the U.S, b) they had links to a wider network, c) they had a single-issue ideology, d) they attacked an iconic target, e) they attacked a symbolic building, or f) they used a bomb as their main weapon. A few case studies are discussed which highlight a need to conduct further research that considers the whole nodal network of an individual. The findings suggest that distance can be put forward as a constraining factor on lone actor target selection and provide support for the notion that the spatial decision making of terrorists is similar to traditional criminals

Computer security · Criminology · Ideology · Political science · Politics · Residence · Sociology · Terrorism · Computer Science · Crime Patterns and Interventions · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance · Demography · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology · Wildlife Conservation and Criminology Analyses

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