CPA Section on
Extremism/Terrorism
Newsletter Date
Volume 1, Number 1
In This Issue
 Letter from the Chair
 Recent Publications
 From the Editor
 Call for papers
CPA Section
Extremism/Terrorism
News
EDITOR
Steven J. Stein, Ph.D.
Chair
W. Loza, Ph.D.
SECRETARY
David Nussbaum, Ph.D.
TREASURER
Lianne McLellan, Ph.D.
Graduate Student, Psychology
Ms. Gitte Jensen,
Ms. Stephanie Bass
Web Master
Ian E. McKenzie, M.A.
Contact Us
http://www.adatum.com
steven.stein@mhs.com
Letter from the Chair
News letter: Extremism/Terrorism, January, 2010-01-14
As this is the first news letter for 2010, I would like to wish you all a happy
and prosperous new year.
Unfortunately, Extremism/Terrorism (E/T) is well and alive around the
world. Examples from the last week of 2009 and first weeks of 2010
provide support to this point. We all are aware of the narrowly failed
attempt to blow up an airplane on Christmas Eve over Detroit. Had this
attempt succeeded the loss of lives would have been catastrophic.
Unfortunately, on Christmas Eve (2010/01/06), three terrorists did
succeed in killing a number of Copts in Egypt as part of a rampage in
which they burned the homes of a large number of indigenous Coptic
Christians. In same first weeks terrorists burned five churches in
Malaysian. Canada is not immune to the presence of extremism
/terrorism. Before the courts at this time is the case regarding a plot to
bomb the Toronto Stock Exchange and CSIS headquarters. These
examples are in addition to the several terrorism incidents reported in the
media from different parts of the world on a daily basis.
Every day I become more convinced of the importance of having a section
in CPA devoted to studying, understanding and responsibly responding to
E/T. Psychologists have a huge role to play in solving the problems of E/T.
It is encouraging to know that more psychologists are increasingly paying
careful attention to this important topic. However, I am concerned that the
eagerness of some to contribute without not being fully competent in the
issues related to the current E/T may cause more harm than good. I urge
all interested contributors to be well versed in the cultural and ideological
bases of any particular “brand” of E/T before attempting to help.
Borrowing a line from the field of cancer research, I believe that E/T can
be defeated. However, evidence indicates E/T will not be defeated
effectively by military means alone, or providing more money or arms to
poor countries, as countless instances around the world have repeatedly
shown that these tactics make no dent in the underlying ideology that
fuels the E/T process. E/T will be convincingly defeated when we are able
to objectively and realistically understand and deal with the ideologies,
feelings, beliefs, thinking, and behaviour of practitioners of E/T
Psychologists have a great role to play to achieve this goal.
I look forward to seeing you at the CPA Annual Convention in Winnipeg.
We have an excellent guest speaker with outstanding credentials in the
field of E/T. We also, have other excellent and diverse presentations and
are planning a nice reception.
Dr. Wagdy Loza, C. Psych.
Chair, Extremism/Terrorism Section of
The Canadian Psychological Association
Recent Publications
Don Dutton at UBC reports these recent
publications:
New Book: Don Dutton, Psychology of
Genocide, Massacres and Extreme Violence
published by Praeger.
Donald G. Dutton, Ehor O. Boyanowsky, Michael
Harris Bond. Extreme mass homicide: From
military massacre to genocide. Aggression and
Violent Behavior, 10 (2005) 437–473.
Donald G Dutton and Christie Tetreault. Who
will act badly in toxic situations? Journal of
Aggression, Conflict, and Peace Research, Vol. 1,
Issue 1, April 2009.
Also of note:
Wagdy Loza. The Prevalence of Middle Eastern
Extremist Ideologies Among Some Canadian
Offenders. Journal of Interpersonal Violence
Online published on July 7, 2009.
Wagdy Loza. The Prevalence of Extreme MiddleEastern Ideologies Around the World, Journal of
Interpersonal Violence, March 2011.
Also, I’m pleased to announce a new chapter:
Stein, Steven. Identifying Islamic terrorists: Why
risk assessment may succeed where profiling
misses the mark. Chapter in Antonius D., Brown,
A., Walters, T., Ramirez, J., and Sinclair, S.
(Eds.) 2010. Interdisciplinary Analysis of
Terrorism and Political Aggression, Cambridge
Scholars Publishing: Newcastle upon Tyre.
Understanding terrorism: Challenges,
perspectives, and issues (3rd ed.). By Martin,
GusThousand Oaks, CA, US: Sage Publications,
Inc. (2010). xxviii, 540 pp.
Reviews of Understanding terrorism and
political violence and The psychology of
genocide.By Dekmejian, R. Hrair Political
Psychology. Vol 30(6), Dec 2009, 976-979.
From The Editor
Welcome to our second newsletter from the CPA
Section on Extremism and Terrorism. Thank you
to those of you who have sent me news and
comments. Looking forward to hearing from
many more of you.
There will be sessions at this year’s CPA conference in Winnipeg from our Section
so I hope to see many of you there. Look out for further information on this in
future communications. Also, looking forward to seeing many of you there.
Terrorism continues to be in the news, from Canadians fighting and dying in
Somalia, Jihad Jane being arrested in Philadelphia, Osama’s latest videoclip
threatening everyone who doesn’t submit, the latest on the Toronto 18 (or 17) and
so on. Looks like they’ll be lots of work for psychologists interested in working in
this area.
Please send me your articles, info, and news.
Steven Stein
Steven.stein@mhs.com
_______________________
CALL FOR PAPERS
4th CICA-STR Annual Conference
Aggression, Political Violence and Terrorism - An Interdisciplinary Approach for
a Peaceful Society
November 18, 19 and 20, 2010
Cartagena, Colombia
http://www.4thconferenceinternational.com/home
We are pleased to announce that the 4th CICA-STR Annual Conference will be
held this year in Cartagena, Colombia, due south of Jamaica on the beautiful
Caribbean Ocean! The conference, entitled Aggression, Political Violence and
Terrorism - An Interdisciplinary Approach for a Peaceful Society, will take place
at the International Convention Center Julio Cesar Turbay in Cartagena de Indias
on November 18, 19 and 20, 2010. Please visit the following website for further
details on submissions, location and hotels, and other information about the
conference:
http://www.4thconferenceinternational.com/home