HOW TERRORISTS EXPERIENCE PRISON: AN ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE MEMOIRS/AUTOBIOGRAPHIES

1. HOW TERRORISTS EXPERIENCE PRISON: AN ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE MEMOIRS/AUTOBIOGRAPHIES By Jeffrey Ian Ross, Ph.D. Lauren Samuelsen, MA Tiara Caneff, MA University of Baltimore Revised: Wed. March 6, 2019

2. Abstract • Time in jail or in prison becomes a defining experience for many convicts. • A prison sentence is a period when some terrorists write memoirs/autobiographies. • Identified 29 English-language terrorist memoirs/autobiographies • Analyzed the content of these communications to determine the role of the prison experience on these political criminals.

3. Introduction • Numerous constituencies fear that • correctional facilities will be places where terrorists will recruit others to join them, • Correctional facilities will harden the resolve of terrorists and once released engage in more terrorism • the prison experience will motivate otherwise nonideological, nonpolitical or religious inmates to engage in terrorism. • (perception not just confined to Islamic Fundamentalist terrorism)

4. Introduction cont. • A person’s exposure to certain environments, experiences, and critical events can affect his or her motivations, rationalizations, and future behaviors. • These situations can be either positive or negative. • On the positive side, a person can experience a loving family, an enriching education, a loving partner, and/or the birth of a healthy child. • On the negative side, an individual can be exposed to unpleasant experiences like an impoverished upbringing, the loss of loved ones, or an incident of victimization.

5. Introduction cont. • Terrorists have unique life experiences that push and pull them toward terrorists groups. • Terrorists seek out like-minded individuals with whom to start, join, or sustain terrorist organizations and commit violent political actions. • In short, does “doing time” motivate or reinforce existing beliefs, or does it force the individual to cease and desist (also known as “burnout”) ?

6. LITERATURE REVIEW • Psychological Explanations of Terrorist Behavior: • Psychology has different schools, areas of research, and theories that offer some insight into the causes of terrorism. • At least sevenpsychological theories explain terrorists behavior: • psychoanalytical • learning • frustration‑aggression • narcissism‑aggression • trait • developmental • motivational/rational choice

7. LITERATURE REVIEW cont. Relevance of the Life Course Perspective: • This current research is framed by the life-course perspective. • Suggests that peoples’ lives are constantly changing and that these developments follow trajectories with developmental implications for the individual.

8. LITERATURE REVIEW cont. • An individual may acquire an identity as a terrorist by making a commitment to a group, ideology, or cause. • According to identity theory, a person’s identity is made up of a set of roles and expectations that accompany a particular status.

9. LITERATURE REVIEW cont. • What does the scholarly literature say about the prison experience? • Considerable amount of scholarly literature dedicated to the prison experience, ranging from studies that use surveys, analyses of memoirs to biographies, ethnographic and autoethnographic research.

10. LITERATURE REVIEW cont. • What does the scholarly literature say about the prison experience of terrorists? • Until recently, little scholarly research has been written about the role of prisons in terrorism development. • Five major pieces: Flynn (1978); Von Tangen Page (1998); McEvoy(2001); Waller (2006); & Hamm (2007). • According to Sagemen, a possible reason for this omission is that, compared to other methods of recruitment, prisons pale in comparison as a transmission belt.

11. METHOD • First, this task would be simple if there were a publicly accessible database on terrorists. Unfortunately, something like this does not exist. • Second, building on the principle that primary-source data tends to be more accurate than secondary-source information, one can interview terrorists who are incarcerated or who have been released from prison. • Third, investigators could review the jackets (i.e., case files) of terrorists that prison systems have held or currently hold.

12. METHOD cont. • Fourth, assuming researchers could track down a respectable sample of terrorists, whether incarcerated or in the free world, investigators might be able to mail them a questionnaire, hope that it gets into their hands, and then pray that it will be returned. • Fifth, researchers could evaluate biographies of terrorists to gain insights with respect to their experience and the effect of their incarceration. • Finally, and the method used in this study, investigators interested in the role of incarceration on terrorists might choose to review memoirs/autobiographies written by currently or previously imprisoned terrorists.

13. METHOD cont. • After an exhaustive search, 29 English language memoirs/autobiographies, written by convicted terrorists, and printed by a publisher were identified. (not self published) • This relatively small collection spanning the years 1960 to 2017 seems to indicate that few terrorists write autobiographies.

14. PRELIMINARY FINDINGS Data on ten variables was collected: A. When was memoir written? B. Gender C. Was the person a member of a terrorist organization? D. Which terrorist organization did the individual belong to? E. What position did the individual hold inside a terrorist organization? F. Was the person incarcerated? G. Length of time incarcerated H. Did the individual provide a description of their experiences while incarcerated? I. What percentage of the memoir was devoted to the prison experience? J. Content of description of prison experience

15. When was memoir written? • Most of the memoirs were written when the individual was incarcerated, fewer were written when the individual was released, or on the run. Still with most, it could NOT be determined when the memoir was published.

16. Gender • Two thirds of terrorists who wrote memoirs were men. One third of the authors were women. • This corresponds to what we know about the gender breakdown of most terrorist organizations.

17. Was the person a member of a terrorist organization? • All persons who wrote a memoir were members of terrorists organizations.

18. Terrorist group individual belonged to? • It was rare to find more than one memoir per terrorist organization. • Nevertheless, three autobiographies were written by members of the Irish Republican Army, and five by members of the Weather Underground. • Since English was the primary language of the terrorists, this may explain why the memoirs were written by members from these two groups.

19. Position of individual • An attempt was made to determine the position of the individual inside the group. • At least half of the memoirs were written by leaders/executive/command structure of the group • An an equal number were written either by cadre or the position was not known

20. Was the person incarcerated? From the memoirs alone, one cannot tell if all the persons were incarcerated By tracking down publically available information it was determined that least 80 percent had been incarcerated.

21. Length of time incarcerated • (based on memoirs alone) • Less than a year 21 percent • 1-5 years, 50 percent • 6-10 years 0 percent • 11-15 years 1 percent • Unknown 18 percent

22. Did the individual provide a description of their experiences while incarcerated? Fifty percent mention their time behind bars Fifty percent do NOT mention their time behind bars

23. Percentage of the memoir that described the incarceration experience. • Of the autobiographies that described the incarceration experience, only about 1-15 per of the total bio • 0 percent = 54 % • 1-10 percent = 34 % • 11-20 percent = 10 % • 21-30 percent = 1 • 91-100 percent = 1

24. Content of description of prison expericence • Description of prison conditions • Description of other inmates • Descriptions of correctional officers • Visits by family • Discussion of weapons used in attacks • Discussion of plans for escape

25. Conclusions • Further work to be done