The U.S. Homegrown Threat: Creating a Uniform Profile for Homegrown Terrorism After 9/11
Open Access
Author:
Fanelli, Matthew Dennis
Area of Honors:
Security and Risk Analysis
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Peter Kent Forster, Thesis Supervisor Dr. Edward J Glantz, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
Terrorism Homegrown Radicalization
Abstract:
This report analyzes the motivating factors that radicalized homegrown terrorists to commit their attacks and move from the radical stage to the violent stage and looked to determine if a profile could be created for homegrown terrorists. The data set consisted of 63 offenders who participated in acts of homegrown terrorism between 2001 and 2013, and the offenders were coded through the use of a codebook. The codebook was used to record the characteristics of each offender and helped to systematically analyze the offenders through qualitative analysis. Data was taken from open source records such as newspapers, judicial records, and LexisNexis searches. These findings were compared among the overall group, and across various subgroups to determine radicalization factors and to try to create a uniform profile for homegrown terrorism. By completing this research, valuable data can be added to the literature of homegrown terrorism and researchers will be able to get a better grasp of what drives homegrown terrorists to radicalize and commit attacks, which will be beneficial for counterterrorism efforts.