A deadlier post-9/11 terrorism landscape for the USA abroad: a quasi-experimental study of backlash effects of terrorism prevention

Journal of Experimental Criminology - The United States initiated sweeping counterterrorism efforts after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. This study tests a backlash hypothesis as it...     

11 September 2001, Counter-terrorism, and the Human Rights Act

The attacks of 11 September 2001 and the reaction to them has been the gravest challenge to date to the Human Rights Act 1998. The Antiterrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 has expanded the remit of the Terrorism Act 2000 and there has been a new concentration on antiterrorism by government. This article assesses the impact of human rights law on the debate about liberty and security following 11 September. It considers how the provisions of the Human Rights Act have influenced the formulation and interpretation of anti-terrorism laws, and examines the role of the judiciary in adjudicating on disputes between the individual and the state. It ends with some general discussion about the security-driven challenges to human rights that lie ahead.     

A Time-Series Analysis of Terrorism: Intervention,Displacement, and Diffusion of Benefits

This paper discusses the perception that displacement in terrorism is inevitable; that antiterrorism efforts merely relocate terrorism in some way. Using quarterly time-series data from the Global Terrorism Database (1994–2013) and the vector autoregression framework, we test the following hypothesis: the target-hardening efforts within the United States (US) after September, 11, 2001 reduce attacks on domestic US targets, but increase attacks on US targets abroad. To provide a more comprehensive test, we also provide dynamic impact factors and variance decompositions. The results of this intervention analysis show no support for displacement, and instead provide support for a diffusion-of benefits hypothesis. We also discuss how criminological and especially crime-prevention knowledge can guide and encompass the study of terrorism.     

Terrorism Preparation by Michigan Law Enforcement Agencies

The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, compelled most Americans to imagine the unimaginable. Increased interest was focused on lessons learned, specifically if local law enforcement agencies had made appropriate organizational changes to manage potential terrorism events. The purpose of this study was to assess perceptions of law enforcement officers in the state of Michigan regarding organizational changes post 9/11. A total of 247 law enforcement officers participated in the study by completing three instruments, the Police Unit Assessment of Terrorism (PAT) Scale, Domestic Unit Assessment of Terrorism (DAT) Scale, and a short demographic survey. The officers who perceived their work load had increased since 9/11 were more likely to have more positive perceptions on both the PAT and DAT.     

Technologies, Security, and Privacy in the Post-9/11 European Information Society

Since 11 September 2001, many 'hard' and 'soft' security strategies have been introduced to enable more intensive surveillance and control of the movement of `suspect populations'. Suicide bombings have since generated a step-change in asymmetric threat analysis and public perceptions of risk. This article reviews how post-9/11 'security' issues intersect with existing and emerging technologies, particularly those relating to identity, location, home, and work that will form the backbone of the European Information Society. The article explores the complexities generated by the way that these technologies work, sites of nationalist resistance, and formal bureaucratic roles. Many of the planned surveillance methods and technologies are convergence technologies aiming to bring together new and existing data sources, but are unable to do so because of poor data quality and the difficulty of using the integrated data to reduce serious crime risks. The delay may enable legal compliance models to be developed in order to protect the principles of privacy that are set out in the ECHR and the EC Data Protection Directive. Though (moral) panics produce changes in law, the article emphasizes the constraining effects of law.     

Islamophobia pre- and post-September 11th, 2001

Although much academic research has addressed racism, religious discrimination has been largely ignored. The current study investigates levels of self-reported racial and religious discrimination in a sample of 222 British Muslims. Respondents indicate that following September 11th, 2001, levels of implicit or indirect discrimination rose by 82.6% and experiences of overt discrimination by 76.3%. Thus, the current work demonstrates that major world events may affect not only stereotypes of minority groups but also prejudice toward minorities. Results suggest that religious affiliation may be a more meaningful predictor of prejudice than race or ethnicity. General Health Questionnaire scores indicate that 35.6% of participants likely suffered mental health problems, with significant associations between problem-indicative scores and reports of experiencing a specific abusive incident of September 11th-related abuse by respondents. The dearth of empirical work pertaining to religious discrimination and its effects is a cause for concern.     

The Impact of the Terrorist Attacks of 9/11 on Anti-Islamic Hate Crime

Abstract

Using existing data from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, time series analyses were conducted on hate crime data from 2001 around the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. A statistically significant increase in anti-Islamic hate crime occurred after 9/11, and anti-Islamic hate crime leveled off within 8 weeks of the occurrence. News stories reporting anti-Islamic hate crimes, stories reporting fear of such bias crime, and public calls for calm, tolerance, and/or reaction to anti-Islamic bias crime followed a similar pattern found within the official data. A city-by-city analysis found that UCR reported anti-Islamic hate crime was essentially non-existent in New York City and Washington, DC. It is suggested that public calls for calm and tolerance and in-group/out-group dynamics may have impacted anti-Islamic hate crime frequency, thus accounting for rises and reductions in this form of bias crime over time.     

Meanings of terrorism

Terrorism is a notoriously plastic word, depending on user, audience, and political context. This paper focuses on shifts in its meanings since the early 1970s. As federal statutes made terrorism a criminal offense, common usage changed from a broad meaning to one that specified terrorism as a political crime. The argument is that the state shapes meaning and public discourse through law. Peircean semiotics and the semiotic philosophy of Russian linguist Vološinov provide a framework to explore relationships among politics, law, and civil life. Applied to the events of September 11, 2001 such an analysis further allows better understanding of certain interpreters of the September 11 attacks, notably Jean Baudrillard, Jacques Derrida, and Jürgen Habermas.     

United We Stand?

Abstract

On September 11, 2001, almost 3000 people died due to terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. Almost all Americans were shocked and saddened by these attacks and agreed that those responsible must be brought to justice. However, not everyone had the same views. College students at two midwestern universities were surveyed. On 13 of 21 questions, there were significant bivariate differences between White and Nonwhite students. Generally, the differences between the two groups of students continued even in multivariate analysis after controlling for the effects of gender, age, and academic level.     

Subjective effect of September 11, 2001 among pregnant women: is cumulative history of interpersonal violence important?

Prior history of trauma may sensitize individuals to subsequent trauma, including terrorist attacks. Using a convenience sample of secondary, cross-sectional data, pregnant women were grouped based on lifetime interpersonal violence history. Cumulative risk theory was used to evaluate the association of lifetime interpersonal violence history and subjective impact of the September 11, 2001 (9/11) terrorists attacks. Using hierarchical linear regression, cumulative risk theory was partially supported. Women with a history of only one type of interpfersonal violence reported greater effect of 9/11 than did women without a history, but women with both types of violence did not report a greater effect of 9/11 compared to women endorsing history of one type. These data corroborate the literature in that level of exposure to terrorist-related trauma predicts subjective reaction to the attacks. Future research with a larger sample and standardized instruments is warranted.     

numbers Tell Part of the Story: a comparison of FOIA Implementation Under the Clinton and Bush Administrations

A month after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft issued a memorandum suggesting that federal officers withhold records unless they lack a sound legal basis for doing so. White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card Jr. also issued a FOIA memorandum in 2002 in which he advised agencies not to release information for national security reasons even when the FOIA exemption for national security did not apply. The FOIA policy expressed in these memoranda clearly contrasts with that of the Clinton administration. This article examines the effect of these changes in policy on FOIA implementation between the two administrations. Quantitative data from annual FOIA reports issued by twenty-five agencies for fiscal years 1998 through 2005 are analyzed. The findings support the prevailing perception that the Bush administration has sought to limit the scope of the FOIA and has impaired its effectiveness as an instrument of access.     

Students' Fear After Columbine: Findings from a Randomized Experiment

On April 20, 1999, the most deadly act of school violence in the United States occurred at Columbine High School. Public perceptions and media accounts suggested that fear of victimization at school greatly increased after Columbine. The actual response is unknown. The 1999 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey provides a unique opportunity to study Columbine's effect on students' fear. Experimental conditions were approximated by the NCVS sampling design that randomly allocated the 12- to 18-year-old student-respondents to pre- and post-April 20 groups. Contrary to expectations, students were only slightly more fearful after Columbine. An initial explanation for this finding is explored. As little is known about fear following highly publicized incidents of extreme violence such as Columbine and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, this research provides an essential foundation for further study and theoretical development in this largely-ignored area of fear.     

Foucault, Law, and Power: A Reassessment

After raising doubts about Foucault's approach to law-power, in the light of various acts of religion-inspired violence on and after 11 September 2001, a case is made against this approach, based on the charge that Foucault ties law far too tightly to what he calls negative power. He makes law part of juridico-sovereignty power, a form of power he regards as outmoded, with an outmoded commitment to sovereignty and the state. It is argued that in attempting to separate law from what he sees as the positive power of modern governmentality, Foucault never understands law's role as a part of a crucial balance - between political power, military power, the social, the cultural, the legal, and the economic - a balance that tries to achieve both individual freedom and the security to enjoy that freedom. An alternative way of understanding law, and of understanding sovereignty and the state - the state under the rule of law - is presented as a much better route to an appreciation of law's part in the balance.     

The experience of the Forensic Anthropology Service of the Medical Examiner's Office in Porto Alegre, Brazil

The Forensic Anthropology Service of the Medical Examiner's Office of Porto Alegre was created in September 1997 to examine human skeletons, establish identification and identify lesions that may explain death. From September 1997 to December 2006, 344 skeletons were examined (mean: 37 examinations/year), and 322 were human remains. Most skeletal remains belonged to men (61%) whose age was estimated at 21-50 years (61%). The most frequent bone lesions were caused by fractures (71%), firearm projectiles (11%) and the effects of weather (10%). Antemortem bone changes due to consolidated fractures, degenerative bone processes, congenital bone diseases, and medical procedures were found in 38 skeletal remains (14%). Identification was possible in 83 cases (26%); of these, 78% were identified by DNA analysis, 16% by dental examination, and 6% by anatomic changes associated with healed fractures.     

Caregivers program. Interim final rule

This document promulgates Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) interim final regulations concerning a new caregiver benefits program provided by VA. This rule implements title I of the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010, which was signed into law on May 5, 2010. The purpose of the new caregiver benefits program is to provide certain medical, travel, training, and financial benefits to caregivers of certain veterans and servicemembers who were seriously injured in the line of duty on or after September 11, 2001.     

15 years later: Post 9/11 support for increased security and criminalizing muslims

Islamophobia appears to be growing, becoming a mainstream ideology in the United States. Despite the current spike in anti-Islamic sentiment and fear of the Islamic “other,” these ideas are not new and can be traced back to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Using survey data collected only months after the attacks (N = 422), this study uses an integrated threat framework to examine predictors of public support for increased security in the United States. The results show that perceived personal threat and support for policies that criminalize Muslims predict support for security policies that compromise civil liberties. This is especially true among older individuals, conservatives, individuals less inclined towards individual freedom, and those living in the Northeast or in the South.     

Illusions and Realities of the "New Era"

"Last week the world suffered a shock that will inevitably make us divide the time into two parts—before the terrorist acts in the United States and after them. Because a new world and a new world order are being born in the ruins of the World Trade Center" (S. Strokan', "The Dawn of a New Era" [Zarevo novoi ery], Kommersant-Vlast', 2001, no. 37 [18 September], p. 35). Not only the Russian political weeklies thought this. The tragic events that the United States suffered on 11 September not only sent many countries into shock but also sparked the idea that humanity suddenly found itself in an incomprehensible world, a new space-time—that life would be different from then on, that we would think differently and structure international relations differently. Even some of the supporters of Francis Fukuyama, who proclaimed the "end of history" more than ten years ago, hurriedly declared that the "oracle" was wrong, since on 11 September events of historic scale and significance had taken place in the United States. One critic of the American "prophet" noted, not without sarcasm, that "Black Tuesday" signified "the end of the end of history." That did not, however, shake the convictions of Fukuyama himself. In an article eloquently titled "History Is Still Going Our Way," published in The Wall Street Journal Europe on 8 October, he continued to assert that "we remain in the final stage of history" (F. Fukuyama, "History Is Still Going Our Way," The Wall Street Journal Europe, 8 October 2001).     

The Media’s Coverage of Domestic Terrorism

Scholarly interest in terrorism has grown dramatically since September 11. One important line of inquiry within this body of research has been the media’s coverage of terrorism. Although there have been several important studies published on this topic, there has been little research examining media coverage of domestic terrorism. This study fills this gap by examining the media’s coverage of terrorism in the United States from 1980 until September 10, 2001. The analysis is based on a list of terrorist‐related incidents and New York Times articles pertaining to each incident. This study documents the amount and type of coverage received by domestic terrorism incidents, and identifies the variables influencing whether an incident is covered and how much space it receives. The results indicate that most terrorism incidents receive little or no coverage in the news, but a few cases are sensationalized in the press. There are several characteristics that consistently explain which incidents are covered and receive substantial news space. Incidents with casualties, linked to domestic terrorist groups, targeting airlines, or when hijacking is used as a tactic are significantly more likely to be covered and have more articles and words written about them. This study concludes with a discussion of the policy implications of these findings for the understanding of terrorism as a social problem.     

The changing landscape of policing: the Metro-LEC approach

Profound changes are being made in the way police organize and collaborate. Many of these changes are due to economic times, as well as changes that occurred after September 11th. Small- and medium-size agencies are finding new and innovative ways to mobilize for critical events and large-scale operations. The mechanisms for collaboration vary and few studies have examined the effectiveness of these different types of interagency cooperative ventures. The Metropolitan Law Enforcement Council is a non-profit organization and pools resources from 43 law enforcement agencies. This study found the approach to be successful in accomplishing its primary mission of providing needed services to the member agencies. Lastly, this type of collaborative approach is changing the landscape of policing through the use of multijurisdictional special operational units available to respond to a host of situations from public and private requests.     

The traumatic impact of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the potential protection of optimism

This study examined the impact of the September 11 terrorist attacks on graduate and undergraduate students and the role of optimism in posttraumatic distress. A sample of 457 students who attended courses at three schools of social work (Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Washington) participated in the study. A quarter of them had a known person as an immediate victim of the attacks. Multivariate analysis showed that posttraumatic stress disorder symptom scores were positively related to personal loss and two types of previous trauma reactivated by the attacks, and levels of initial negative emotional response. Optimism and its interaction with personal loss were inversely associated with posttraumatic stress disorder symptom scores.