Lone Wolf Terrorism

by Jeffrey D. Simon

  By the second decade of the twenty-first century, the role of women in terrorist organizations has changed from the heyday of female terrorism of the 1960s and 1970s. Whereas women had ascended to leadership and other important positions in the leftist revolutionary groups of that time, the new female terrorists of the twenty-first century are different. In many groups, they have simply been used as cannon fodder, another body to throw at the enemy in a suicide mission. No modern-day group has featured women in leadership roles, and there have been no female terrorists in recent history espousing ideology or gaining the type of worldwide publicity that Leila Khaled and Ulrike Meinhof were able to accomplish during their years of violence.

  There have been many different opinions offered for why women join terrorist groups in general and become suicide bombers in particular. Some of these explanations point to a desire to achieve a level of status and respect in a society that is normally precluded for them. Others point to the exploitation and manipulation of these women by male leaders and recruiters of the terrorist organizations. Still others argue that women join for the same reasons men join—namely, to overthrow a government, establish a homeland, promote global revolution, and so forth. Meanwhile, studies have found that female suicide bombers tend to be mostly young, usually between the ages of seventeen and twenty-four, although there have been some who were as young as fifteen and others who were as old as sixty-four. These women come from various educational, religious, social, and personal backgrounds, with the more educated among them, including lawyers, paramedics, and students, accounting for the highest percentage of suicide attacks by women. It has also been found that most of the female suicide terrorists have average economic status and that they are rarely impoverished. Some, however, may have been “dishonored” through sexual activity or are unable to have children. Finally, some, as noted above, are motivated by revenge or grief from losing loved ones, including their husbands or children.35 One terrorism expert succinctly describes the motivations for women as the “four Rs”: revenge, redemption, relationship, and respect.36

  We therefore have many different reasons offered for why women become involved with various terrorist movements. The common thread, however, is that all of their activity is conducted with some form of control by a terrorist group or at least by their recruiters and handlers. The female terrorist, whether voluntarily joining a movement or being manipulated or coerced into participating, is part of a group setting. Even if the time between being recruited or manipulated and then embarking upon a violent mission is just a few days, as has been the case for some female suicide bombers, there is still a sense of “belonging” to a group or movement. There will be interaction with others, perhaps in some cases only with the handlers, but, nevertheless, there is some human interaction, a characteristic that appears to be valued more by women than by men. This may offer us a clue as to why we haven't seen many female lone wolf terrorists. Like many things in life, the explanation has a lot to do with the social, emotional, and psychological differences between men and women.

  WHY THERE ARE SO FEW FEMALE LONE WOLVES

  While there is no consensus on how many lone wolf attacks have occurred throughout history, most observers agree that the total is quite small. Part of the problem in gaining a consensus stems from that old nemesis, the definitional dilemma. Disagreements abound about whether a lone wolf has to be an individual acting entirely alone or whether he or she can have some help from others, whether there has to be a political or religious motive, and so forth.37 Furthermore, some terrorism databases do not even include lone wolf attacks, since their definitions of terrorism require that the violent act be committed by two or more people. However, in one chronology that has been published, it was found that, between 1940 and 2007, there were only thirty-two cases of lone wolf terrorism in the United States and only forty-two between 1968 and 2007 for a sample of other countries around the world. In comparison, there were 5,646 terrorist incidents for the same sample of countries (including the United States) between 1968 and 2007. In terms of the lone wolf attacks, a woman committed just one of them.38

  The lack of female lone wolf activity can be attributed to several factors. These include women being less likely than men to take risks, women placing higher value on social interactions and belonging to a group than men, the lower probability of women developing antisocial personality disorders than men, the lower likelihood that women will kill a stranger, and the tendency for women to kill more on impulse and emotion than on premeditation.

  Women Are More Risk-Averse Than Men

  Lone wolf activity is a risky endeavor. This is true for both the lone wolf animal and the lone wolf terrorist. For the animal, going it alone increases the chance of death. Since wolves travel in packs to ensure their survival in the wilderness, including the ability to bring down large prey and ward off predators, it is rare when one wolf breaks away to venture out on its own. This can occur when a subordinate wolf in the pecking order of the pack is not getting enough food to eat (because that wolf must wait until the higher-ranking wolves have eaten and may only get scraps or even nothing at all) or is facing increased aggression from the pack's dominant wolves. It can also occur when a wolf wants to find a mate and is prohibited from doing so within the pack. Once the subordinate wolf leaves the pack, however, more difficulties can ensue, including the dangers of trespassing into lands belonging to other packs, the need to search hundreds of miles to safely find food, and other hardships. Sometimes, lone wolves may find mates and form new packs, but more often, they are likely to die, since they do not have the support of the original pack. When a wolf decides to leave the pack, then, it is taking a lot of risks. Lone wolves are estimated to comprise less than 15 percent of the world's wolf population.39

  Similarly, lone wolf terrorists have to make choices about taking risks before venturing out on their own to commit a terrorist attack. An individual has to have enough confidence in his or her ability to hatch up a scheme, acquire the necessary weapons or explosives, reach the target, commit the attack, escape from the scene, and so on. There might at times be one or two other people to provide minimal assistance, but for the most part, the lone wolf terrorist is on his or her own. It is not an activity for those who are risk-averse. While joining a terrorist group and embarking on group missions is also filled with risks (i.e., death, capture, etc.), there is still the security of knowing that one is part of a group endeavor and that there will be others around to provide different levels of support, whether that be logistical, financial, or emotional. Decisions on taking risks are left to the leaders of the group or cell and not to the individual terrorist.

  Being part of a group also provides protection against the risk of self-doubt and guilt over the killing of innocent people. Alison Jamieson, an expert on the Italian Red Brigades, pointed out the difficulty some Red Brigade (RB) prisoners had once they lost faith in their group while in prison: “As long as he feels his actions are group actions, performed on the basis of collective decision, he can avoid the sensation of personal responsibility. But if the group identity falls away he is forced to assume his individuality, see himself as a murderer, and is left alone with his guilt. The immediate reaction of many of the RB prisoners was to see suicide as a realistic and even attractive way out.”40

  To be a lone wolf terrorist, therefore, involves many different types of risks. And here is where gender differences become relevant. Research has found that women are less likely than men to take risks.41 Among some of the explanations offered are that women view risky behavior as resulting in unfavorable outcomes more so than do men, and they believe that they will become emotionally upset or harmed by the negative outcomes, should these occur.42 Another explanation proposed is that women are not as overconfident as men (where that could be a negative trait for men) and therefore not as likely to take risks.43 Still another reason cited is that as primary caregivers (in the role of mother), women avoid risks that could harm that situation.44
And yet another explanation links risk aversion to lower levels of testosterone in women.45

  The relative lack of risk taking in women as compared to men appears, therefore, to be one reason for the scarcity of female lone wolf terrorists. We do not know whether, when contemplating a lone wolf mission, a man looks upon it as an adventure and throws caution to the wind while a woman is likely to be more cautious and calculate the numerous risks involved in going it alone. However, it would not be surprising if this were indeed the case.

  Women Desire Interactions and Human Connections More So Than Do Men

  Another important difference between the sexes that is relevant to understanding the dearth of female lone wolf terrorists is that women value human interactions and connections more so than do men. This is due to the different socialization processes that men and women experience throughout their lives. According to some experts, “Women are socialized to be interdependent and attuned to relationships, whereas men are socialized to be autonomous, independent, and self-reliant.”46 It has also been argued that “a women's primary motivation…is to build a sense of connection with others. Women develop a sense of self and self-worth when their actions arise out of, and lead back into, connections with others. Connection, not separation, is the guiding principle of growth for women.”47 Being and acting alone are not comfortable situations for women. As one observer noted, “Women perceive loneliness and social isolation as dangerous and threatening situations.”48

  Since lone wolf terrorism is an isolated activity, it is not surprising that we haven't seen many women engage in this type of violence. It is not an attractive option for those individuals who desire human interactions, even if those individuals have an interest in committing a violent act. Lone wolf terrorists choose to be separated and isolated from others when planning an attack. They may sometimes see this as an advantage, since it could increase their chances for a successful mission (no communications with others that the authorities could intercept, no fellow terrorists who might be arrested and thereby enable the authorities to discover the plot, and so forth). But for women, who are programmed more than men to seek human connections, joining a terrorist group or cell would be the better route to take.

  Paranoid Schizophrenia and Antisocial Personality Disorders Are Less Common in Women Than in Men

  We saw in chapter 2 that one type of lone wolf is the idiosyncratic terrorist. These individuals, such as Theodore Kaczynski (the Unabomber) and Muharem Kurbegovic (the Alphabet Bomber), may have political or other agendas, but they also suffer from severe personality disorders that affect their behavior. In those two cases, each terrorist suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. The same was true for Jared Loughner, the young man who killed several people in a failed attempt to assassinate Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. We find, therefore, among some lone wolves, severe personality and psychological problems.49

  With men displaying “higher rates of disorders linked to violence, such as paranoid schizophrenia and antisocial personality disorders,” than women, we have yet another reason for the scarcity of female lone wolves.50 Paranoid schizophrenia is just one of several different types of schizophrenia, which is a mental illness in which a person loses touch with reality.51 Furthermore, not only are men more likely than women to suffer from paranoid schizophrenia, but when they do, the symptoms tend to be more severe.52 These symptoms include delusions; auditory hallucinations, such as hearing voices; anxiety; anger; emotional distance; and violence.53

  The personality disorder most associated with violence, however, is antisocial personality disorder.54 This disorder, which, as noted above, is found more in men than in women, “is a type of chronic illness in which a person's ways of thinking, perceiving situations and relating to others are abnormal—and destructive.”55 Among the symptoms are a disregard for right and wrong, persistent lying or deceit, using charm or wit to manipulate others, aggressive or violent behavior, and lack of remorse about harming others.56 While there is no agreement among experts as to why men are more likely than women to have personality disorders that are linked to violence, some argue that the disorders are due to a combination of genetic and environmental factors.57

  WOMEN ARE LESS LIKELY THAN MEN TO KILL A STRANGER

  Another reason why women are virtually absent from the ranks of lone wolf terrorists is that they are less likely than men to kill a stranger when they engage in solo killings. The victims of female murders are usually people close to them, such as a child, parent, lover, or spouse.58 One of the characteristics of lone wolf terrorism (as well as terrorism perpetrated by groups or cells) is that it usually involves attacks on victims the perpetrator does not know. Whether it be a car bombing, a hijacking, or a mass shooting, it is unlikely that a perpetrator has had prior contact with the victim(s). There are exceptions, of course, such as Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's shooting of fellow soldiers and others at Fort Hood, Texas, but even in that case, it was a mass shooting, with Hasan firing indiscriminately into a processing center for soldiers at the base. John Gilbert Graham blew up a plane with his mother on board, but in that same attack, he killed scores of other people he did not know. To be a lone wolf terrorist, then, one has to be able to murder complete strangers and not have a group to fall back upon for emotional or moral support. Women seem to have a harder time than men in doing that.

  WHEN WOMEN DO KILL BY THEMSELVES, IT IS MORE EMOTIONAL AND IMPULSIVE THAN PREMEDITATED

  As compared to men, when women kill, it is more often based on emotion and impulse. As one expert writes, “The major portion of violent crimes committed by women are characterized by great impulsiveness. Most murders perpetrated by women have a strong emotional motive, are unpremeditated, and are carried out while the woman is in a depressed, desperate or anxious state of mind.”59 Another expert found “instrumentally motivated violence to be more characteristic of men's motivations, whereas women are more apt to use violence for expressive purposes or as a way of releasing accumulated tension.”60 While some lone wolves may also release pent-up emotions and tensions by committing a violent act, their terrorism is nevertheless always premeditated. The tendency for women to kill based more on emotion and impulse than on premeditation is yet another reason why we haven't seen many female lone wolves.

  There may be additional explanations for why men seem to dominate the world of lone wolf terrorism. Men, for example, are more likely than women to be familiar and comfortable with using explosives, assault rifles, and other weapons that are favored by many lone wolves. Boys are more likely than girls to grow up in environments in which they are taught how to use various weapons for hunting and other purposes. Shooting guns and playing with other weapons is considered more of a masculine activity, and it is something that many girls would not be interested in. We therefore have a larger pool of potential male lone wolf terrorists. Furthermore, around the world, there are more men than women who have had training in the use of different types of weapons in militaries. Lone wolves such as Timothy McVeigh, Eric Rudolph, and Nidal Malik Hasan all served at some point in the US Army, with Hasan still in the military when he committed his mass shooting attack at Fort Hood.

  Another reason for the relative absence of women as lone wolf terrorists is that committing a terrorist attack by oneself can sometimes fulfill a need for a sense of power, dominance, and control over others, traits more associated with men than with women. While lone wolves have many different motivations for their attacks, ranging from political and religious to criminal and idiosyncratic, there might still be at work on some psychological level, whether conscious or subconscious, the desire to strike a blow all by oneself against a larger and more formidable enemy. By perpetrating a terrorist attack that causes fear in a wide audience and elicits reactions from governments and societies, lone wolves can satisfy that need.

  BREAKING DOWN THE BARRIERS TO WOMEN BECOMING LONE WOLVES

  Although the factors contributing to the scarcity of female lone wolves are numerous an
d varied, there are indications that some of these may be changing. First, we have seen a plethora of conflicts erupt around the world during the first decade of the twenty-first century that will fuel the flames of anger, hatred, and retaliation among many individuals for years to come. Memories of what happened to relatives, friends, and others in the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere will linger long after the conflicts end. A parable about two Druze in Lebanon best captures the endless nature of terrorism. One Druze is walking down the road with grenades, machine guns, and daggers weighing him down from head to foot. He passes by a fellow Druze, who inquires why his friend is carrying so many weapons. The first Druze replies that he is going to the Abdullah house to kill all the people there because they killed his ancestors one hundred years ago. The second Druze looks at his friend in amazement and exclaims, “One hundred years ago! What's the rush?”61

  Time is indeed on the side of those who seek revenge, including women. The “black widows” of Chechnya and the female suicide bombers in Iraq demonstrated how women who have lost loved ones during a war can be recruited by militant groups to commit terrorist attacks. It will not be surprising to see more women from these and other war-torn countries turn to terrorism, even without the support and training of an extremist group. We have new generations of angry young men and women coming of age around the world, and they have been socialized by their experiences to accept violence and terrorism as the norm and to not be afraid to take action on their own.