Lone Wolf Terrorism Case Study

Background of Case Studies Within Lone Wolf Terrorism:

The phenomenon of lone wolf terrorism has emerged to be one of the most unpredictable forms of terrorism currently plaguing United States national security. Unlike group-based terrorism, lone wolf terrorists have a critical advantage in avoiding identification and detection before their attacks as they often do not communicate or portray their intentions with others. For this reason, the lethality of lone wolf terror attacks tends to be greater when compared to group-based terrorists. Despite this emerging threat, no single standardized profile of lone wolf terrorists currently exists to predict or analyze offenders accurately. Research on this phenomenon has been severely lacking, primarily

Particularly, research conducted by Gartenstein-Ross examined the factors that led Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad to convert to Salafism and his subsequent lone wolf campaign. Utilizing an illustrative case study, Gartenstein-Ross details the three stages of radicalization (pre-radicalization, self-identification, and indoctrination) concerning key moments of Muhammad’s life. Although not conclusive, Gartenstein-Ross’ case study provides an empirical understanding of the radicalization process through descriptive and historical accounts of the subject in an attempt for future research to analyze patterns or behaviors of lone wolf terrorism. Similarly, Berntzen and Sandberg investigated Anders Behring Breivik from the perspective of framing theory and social movement studies by comparing his manifesto, “2083 – A European Declaration of Independence,” with the rising Anti-Islamic movement rhetoric found within Norway. From this research, it is suggested that lone wolf terrorists are a product of a larger social movement in which political narratives that reject terrorism may result in inspiring such

Indeed, case studies tend to investigate contemporary phenomenon through detailed contextual analysis of a limited number events or conditions and their relationships. Accordingly, there are numerous advantages in using case study methodology. Particularly, the data collected from case study methodology allows for a greater depth of the quality of data that may not have otherwise been identified. For example, in Bandel’s case study, he discovered a new factor regarding the commonality of military training within lone wolf terrorism. Also, case studies tend to be conducted on rare or unusual cases where larger samples of similar participants or occurrences are not available. Therefore, case study methodology can be ideal in understanding lone wolf terrorism to gain knowledge of the individual psychological processes of radicalization as the frequency of offenders is relatively small when compared to group-based terrorist activity. Lastly, case studies can help researchers adapt ideas and produce hypotheses that can be used for future testing. As the nature of a case study tends to isolate a singular phenomenon, the possibility for endogeneity is significantly reduced as the researcher can isolate or eliminate any variable that could influence the dependent