Similar crimes, similar behaviors? Comparing lone‐actor terrorists and public mass murderers

Abstract

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Distinguishing lone from group actor terrorists: A comparison of attitudes, ideologies, motivations, and risks

“…Although other studies underscore the roles of ideology and personal grievance among lone-actor terrorists [8], our analysis did not uncover substantial differences in ideology between the groups.…”

“…The authors suggest that these social and virtual connections play an essential role in the process of radicalization. This view is also supported by Gill et al [8], who note that in comparison with other terrorist groups, lone actors are more likely to participate in group activities, to contact co-ideologues, and attempt to recruit others. Gill et al [7] had noted that 33% of lone actors engaged in legal activities with like-minded ideological groups to justify planning terrorist activities.…”

“…They are also limited by comparing offender groups who were convicted of crimes across different legal jurisdictions or under different laws within the same jurisdiction. Therefore, it is unsurprising that these studies have yielded conflicting results, with some authors [5] supporting the widely held observation that lone actors are distinct from other violent groups, with others [8] reporting that little separates the two offender types.…”

“…Reminiscent of Gill et al's [7] finding that 36% of terrorists had a family member or an associate involved in political violence, and these authors concluded that the presence of a stressful life event need not be considered a catalyst for radicalization and mobilization to violence. [8] comparison of lone actors with mass murderers indicated that lone actors were more likely to participate in group activities, including contact with co-ideologues, attempting to recruit others, or having recently joined a movement. Bright et al [9] too suggest that lone-actor terrorists are connected to a network of individuals who provide logistic and ideological support.…”

German mass murderers and their proximal warning behaviors.

“…Adult mass murder studies have also seen an evolution over the past 20 years, from relatively small sample and case studies (Hempel, Meloy, & Richards, 1999;Meloy, 1997;Mullen, 2004) to larger sample studies (Adler, 2000;Lankford, 2015;Stone, 2015;Peter & Bogerts, 2012), to studies comparing ideological and nonideological mass killers (Gill, Horgan, & Deckert, 2014;Gill, Silver, Horgan, Corner, & Bouhana, 2016;Lankford, 2013;). Some single case studies with a particular focus on threat assessment were also completed (Hoffmann & Allwinn, 2016;Meloy, Habermeyer, & Guldimann, 2015).…”