Lathes

* A lathe (pronounced /ˈleÉ ªÃƒ °/) is a machine tool which rotates the workpiece on its axis to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, ordeformation with tools that are applied to the workpiece to create an object which has symmetry about an axis of rotation. * Lathes are used in woodturning, metalworking, metal spinning, and glassworking. Lathes can be used to shape pottery, the best-known design being the potter's wheel. Most suitably equipped metalworking lathes can also be used to produce most solids of revolution, plane surfaces and screw threads or helices. Ornamental lathes can produce three-dimensional solids of incredible complexity. The material can be held in place by either one or two centers, at least one of which can be moved horizontally to accommodate varying material lengths. Other workholding methods include clamping the work about the axis of rotation using a chuck or collet, or to a faceplate, using clamps or dogs. Parts: A lathe may or may not have a stand (or legs), which sits on the floor and elevates the lathe bed to a working height. Some lathes are small and sit on aworkbench or table, and do not have a stand. Almost all lathes have a bed, which is (almost always) a horizontal beam (although some CNC lathes have a vertical beam for a bed to ensure that swarf, or chips, falls free of the bed). A notable exception is the Hegner VB36 Master Bowlturner, a woodturning lathe designed for turning large bowls, which in its basic configuration is little more than a very large floor-standing headstock. At one end of the bed (almost always the left, as the operator faces the lathe) is a headstock. The headstock contains high-precision spinning bearings. Rotating within the bearings is a horizontal axle, with an axis parallel to the bed, called the spindle. Spindles are often hollow, and have exterior threads and/or an interior Morse taper on the â€Å"inboard† (i.e., facing to the right / towards the bed) by which workholding accessories may be mounted to the spindle. Spindles may also have exterior threads and/or an interior taper at their â€Å"outboard† (i.e., facing away from the bed) end, and/or may have a handwheel or other accessory mechanism on their outboard end. Spindles are powered, and impart motion to the workpiece. The spindle is driven, either by foot power from a treadle and flywheel or by a belt or gear drive to a power source. In most modern lathes this power source is an integral electric motor, often either in the headstock, to the left of the headstock, or beneath the headstock, concealed in the stand. In addition to the spindle and its bearings, the headstock often contains parts to convert the motor speed into various spindle speeds. Various types of speed-changing mechanism achieve this, from a cone pulley or step pulley, to a cone pulley with back gear (which is essentially a low range, similar in net effect to the two-speed rear of a truck), to an entire gear train similar to that of a manual-shift auto transmission. Some motors have electronic rheostat-type speed controls, which obviates cone pulleys or gears. The counterpoint to the headstock is the tailstock, sometimes referred to as the loose head, as it can be positioned at any convenient point on the bed, by undoing a locking nut, sliding it to the required area, and then relocking it. The tailstock contains a barrel which does not rotate, but can slide in and out parallel to the axis of the bed, and directly in line with the headstock spindle. The barrel is hollow, and usually contains a taper to facilitate the gripping of various type of tooling. Its most common uses are to hold a hardened steel centre, which is used to support long thin shafts while turning, or to hold drill bits for drilling axial holes in the work piece. Many other uses are possible.[3] Metalworking lathes have a carriage (comprising a saddle and apron) topped with a cross-slide, which is a flat piece that sits crosswise on the bed, and can be cranked at right angles to the bed. Sitting atop the cross slide is usually another slide called a compound rest, which provides 2 additional axes of motion, rotary and linear. Atop that sits a toolpost, which holds a cutting tool which removes material from the workpiece. There may or may not be a leadscrew, which moves the cross-slide along the bed. Woodturning and metal spinning lathes do not have cross-slides, but rather have banjos, which are flat pieces that sit crosswise on the bed. The position of a banjo can be adjusted by hand; no gearing is involved. Ascending vertically from the banjo is a toolpost, at the top of which is a horizontal toolrest. In woodturning, hand tools are braced against the tool rest and levered into the workpiece. In metal spinning, the further pin ascends vertically from the tool rest, and serves as a fulcrum against which tools may be levered into the workpiece.

Compare Microsoft and VMWare for virtual computing Essay

There are two types of firewalls, there is the in-bound firewall that protects against all things that come into your computer. Then there is the two-way firewall. With this firewall it protects both inbound and outbound threats. This type is used quite often these days. Many computer only have a one-way firewall, but many of them like Zone alarm are two way firewalls. Firewalls are used to block or accept information into your computer that is not a threat. It will either send it to where it needs to be or it will block it if the potential of the file is threatening to your device. A type of firewall is your basic McAfee, which works with Microsoft Corporation on your basic computer it is a program that is already installed into your device. It is a virus protector that works with your computers already installed firewall to keep out and potential harmful viruses or threats to your computer. You can do basic setting for the firewall or you can put it to your liking to make sure of no type of threats can enter your computer. With the security of a computer it can get very complicating. You have to make sure you are aware of what you are using and how it operates in your system. In today’s society there are a million anti-virus software programs. Many of them have free versions and some just have trail versions you can test drive before buying the full version. McAfee and Norton have trail versions you can sample before getting the full version. With Panda, AVG, and other anti-virus programs they have a free version and full upgraded version you can use. When it comes to viruses and the types that get put onto your computer there are many of them. For example: the Trojan Horse, it is put into your computer by saying it is good for file converting or cleaning a system out, when it is really putting bad programs into your computer along with spyware and other potentially harmful programs. Just like when you go into your email and you see an email with a suspicious name, you click it and it automatically downloads something into your computer and you computers starts to malfunction. When it does this it is because the files that were put on your computer are basically eating up you memory. It is extremely important to keep your computers malware and anti-virus programs up to date to prevent any type of program getting into your system. When you back up a system you have different types of backups you can use. For instances you have your full back up which is where you can back up all your information onto a DVD-R or DVD-RW, so you can recover your system at a later time is it crashes or is lost. You should also look at your back up disks periodically to make sure they are in good form if needed to be used. You also have your deferential back up is where you can select certain things to back up and incremental back up is where your computer sets up a certain time after you have put so much into your system to back it up for later use if needed. Checking back up disks are extremely important to check as well to make sure that they are able to be used on the future. Also it is really important to burn your files to a disk not on your hard drive in case they are lost or damaged. Five passwords that are good to use in the way of remembering and using are, â€Å"Bab1eg1r!†, â€Å"Crazy8ight$†, â€Å"GoP!a1†, or â€Å"Playf00!† They can be used to help protect your passwords by replacing a letter by a number and capitalizing some of the other letters that you choose to use, along with using symbols of some sort. Another way of using passwords is using movie titles and shorting them to remember for instance, the day I left your mother to make our love stronger could be shortened by using the first letters of each word like this, â€Å"Tdilymtmols.† Also I can count the ways I love you, â€Å"Icctwily.† Many times the world went around, â€Å"mttwwa†. Honey I shrunk the kids,†Histk†. I love the way you love me, â€Å"iltwylm.† Many of my passwords were very strong in the aspect of how I wrote them. Passwords are very important and they have a good use to them. To keep people out of your system and protect you information as well as identity you really need to choose wisely and carefully on what ones you use.

Piaget and Vygotsky Essay

In this Essay I will compare and contrast the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky. They both were influential in forming a more scientific approach to analyzing the cognitive processes of the child active construction of knowledge. They both developed their own ideas of child development and they believed cognitive development in children took place in stages. However they were distinguished by different styles of thinking. Piaget thought that children actively construct their own cognitive worlds and they adapt their thinking to include new ideas because additional information furthers understanding. He stressed that to make sense of our world we organize our Schemata or experiences. We connect one idea to another. We also adopt new ideas. Adaptation is by assimilation, which occurs when individuals incorporate new information into their existing knowledge into an existing pattern of behavior of schemata (example). Piaget refers to Schemata or schemas to the way we organize our knowledge. We can think our knowledge as units and each of them related to aspects of the world including actions, objects etc. (referencing ) Accommodation occurs when individuals adjust to new information. Piaget thought that equilibrium occurs when is a balance between assimilation and accommodation. He believed equilibrium schema is both the category of knowledge as well as the process of acquiring that knowledge. As experiences happen and new information is presented, new schemas are developed and old schemas are changed or modified. An example is, say a child sees a crow and a pigeon in the sky, and is told that they are birds. The child then forms a bird schema defined as â€Å"something that flies†. The next day, he goes out and sees a seagull, which easily fits into his existing bird schema. This is called assimilation, when we take new experiences/knowledge and put them in our existing schemas (or categories). The next day, a child goes out and sees a plane in the sky. Whilst this fits the definition of â€Å"something that flies†, it seems to be quite different than the other birds he has seen, and he is told that this is not a bird. To explain this, the child forms one large category of ‘flying things’, with two sub-categories; birds and planes. This process is called accommodation, where we change our existing knowledge structures to account for new information that doesn’t fit. Piaget also believed that we go thought four stages in understanding the world. Each stage is aged related and consist of a distinct way of thinking, a different way of understanding the world. This theory is known as Piaget’s Stage Theory because it deals with four stages of development, which are sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational. ( referencing ) On the other hand, Vygotsky believed that children actively construct their knowledge. He gave social interaction and culture far more important roles in cognitive development than Piaget did. Vygotsky socio cultural cognitive theory emphasizes how cultural and social interactions guide cognitive development. He portrayed the child development as inseparable from social and cultural activities. Vygotsky argued, â€Å"learning is a necessary and universal aspect of the process of developing culturally organized, specifically human psychological function† (1978, p. 90). In other words, social learning tends to precede development. He believed that the development of memory, attention and reasoning involves learning to use the inventions of society, such as language, mathematical systems and memory strategies.( referencing) Piaget believed that development had to come before learning; Vygotsky believed that development and learning worked together though socialization and language. Vygotsky gave language a huge role in development. For vygotsky Language plays two critical roles in cognitive development. First language is the main means by which adults transmit information to children. Secondly, Language itself it is a very powerful tool of intellectual adaptation. Vygotsky believed that language develops from social interactions, for communication purposes. Later language ability becomes internalized as thought and â€Å"inner speech†. Thought is the result of language. Piaget thought that there was a connection between biological and cognitive development. Vygotsky believed that knowledge from social interactions spurred cognitive growth and development. Even they had really big differences; they both believed that social interactions played an irreplaceable role in cognitive development. Piaget thought that cognitive development is influenced by social transmission (learning from others). Vygotsky believed that social interactions were an instrument in development and that it heavily influenced thoughts and language. Piaget strongly considered that the developmental ages of students determined where they should be in the learning process. Vygotsky took that idea further by comparing the learner’s actual development to their potential development. He called this area of â€Å" zone of proximal development. ZPD is the range of tasks that one cannot yet perform independently, but can accomplish with the help of a more competent individual. For example, a child might not be able to walk across a balance beam on her own, but she can do so while holding her mother’s hand. Since children are always learning new things, the ZPD changes as new skills are acquired. Piaget stages are hierarchical. Each of Piaget’s stages must be complete before moving to the next one. Vygotsky’s theory does not depend on time. Piaget stages imply that children cognitively develop on their own, without the help of someone or something. Vygotsky concentrates more on social interactions and aide given to a child when develops. Vygotsky Scaffolding is the kind of help, assistance and support that enables a child to do a task which they cannot quite manage yet alone and which it will help them in the future to be able to make that task or similar on their own. For example: In a school laboratory science class, a teacher might provide scaffolding by first giving students detailed guides to carrying out experiments, then giving them brief outlines that they might use to structure experiments, and finally asking them to set up experiments entirely on their own. ‘What the child can do with assistance today she will be able to do by herself tomorrow’ (Vygotsky, 1978, p.87). Both these educators contributed to the present day ideas of constructivist learning. Both offer some incredible insight into possible ways children learn and byusing there theories it is possible to create a more conductive learning environment for the child.

Blade Runner Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Blade Runner - Essay Example Avoiding feelings and emotions disconnects individuals from their biological makeup. Emotions make us aware of health status, what actions are appropriate, what we believe in at a moment, surroundings, and what is happening within them. Failure to attend to these feelings makes someone to be disturbed, in this case, empathetic or nonempathetic. Adjustment to behavior depends on the person’s ability to respond to his or her feelings in the most appropriate way. Question 3 In the film, the androids are made like humans through the process of genetic engineering. They show that they can work, and perform tasks like natural humans. The androids have the ability to speak; they also experience emotions and have feelings. The only difference between humans and the android is that they have a shorter lifespan, of four years, are smarter, stronger, and faster than human beings. The androids were initially manufactured for labor but later moved to planet earth to seek a longer life span from their creator. The androids posse virtually all qualities related to humans. They have emotions and feelings that connect them to their loved ones and friends. Besides, apart from thinking, the androids can get close to feeling... In the film, the androids are made like humans through the process of genetic engineering. They show that they can work and perform tasks like natural humans. The androids have the ability to speak; they also experience emotions and have feelings. The only difference between humans and the android is that they have a shorter lifespan, of four years, are smarter, stronger, and faster than human beings. The androids were initially manufactured for labor but later moved to planet earth to seek a longer life span from their creator. The androids posse virtually all qualities related to humans. They have emotions and feelings that connect them to their loved ones and friends. Besides, apart from thinking, the androids can get close to feeling emotional. An example is when Rachael gets out of the room crying after Deckard informs her that she is a replicant. Humans acquire their soul from a deity being, and this forms part of the reason why we do not understand how we came to have souls.

Human Resource Management, Causes of a problem Case Study

Human Resource Management, Causes of a problem - Case Study Example These systems were very successful regarding the Chinese culture of management but since the company wants to increase its global installed base there is a question on how it is going to achieve it by following the same human resource management practices. These are the following: increase of employee internal competition by implementing an internal ranking of employees. Employees are judged by all performance dimensions and they have to complete their tasks the same day and have continuous self-assessments. Each employee is almost an independent profit center so entrepreneurship is developed. Managers are also continuously appraised like employees and both are given chances to improve their performance by providing abundant training. A talent pool inside the company is also created. Haier has followed a product diversification strategy i.e. it has expanded to 86 different product categories. It is doubtful if Haier can pursue the same following strategy since product expansion requires heavy investment. Then a second part of its strategy was product innovation to niche markets i.e. developing products for specific market segments. Under careful consideration this is a strategy that can be pursued at the current moment. Globalization which is the third component of the strategy is expanding to other countries in all aspects i.e. production, alliances etc. Globalization can also be limited for the time being since it requires heavy financial investment when it comes to building new factory sites that can be quite risky at this period of time. Globalization demands also understanding foreign cultures so it requires further research on this issue. The fourth component was marketing initiatives that emphasized product quality and market research. Sending a message of quality is a right strategy when an organization wants to establish a successful brand name but there is a question on how Haier in the current economic crisis can keep on holding high product prices. The last component of Haier's strategy is the innovative human resource management practices. This has been proved successful for Chinese standards but there is a question on how these strategies are going to be successful in other countries and cultures. 2) Possible Solutions. A solution cannot be suggested without taking into consideration the global macroeconomic environment. In this case there is a global economic crisis the duration of which cannot be predicted. The global crisis has affected investments, consumers' purchasing power, belief in the stock exchange and the banks, banks provide loans to businesses by following very strict lending criteria and as a result of the above businesses limit their expansion plans, their profit margins are reduced and in many occasions they fire people. The consumers on the other side are in a psychological "trap", they feel insecure about their future therefore they reduce and change their consumption habits. They have become more conservative. Taking all the above mentioned into consideration, Haier has to limit its product diversification since it requires heavy investment in production and marketing and sales. The product innovation to niche markets requires usually an investment in R&D. Haier has to study carefully all its R&D expenses and do a very

Writing Assignment One Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Writing Assignment One - Essay Example This is because numerous people then cited the result of that occurrence was due to the state’s laxity of not ensuring tight laws meant to limit manufacture, importation and selling of 150 military-style weapons (Bowman, 2013). Therefore, this incidence could not have occurred if the current tight laws were in place because some prohibit the access of firearms by a third party (Bowman, 2013). The number of people killed in Connecticut’s school incidence could not have totaled more than 20 people, if Lanza used lesser capacity magazine weapons. Since, the current gun Legislations would have limited both the type and magazines’ high capacities, which citizens ought to possess. For instance, the current Legislations upon their implementation, would have shunned possession of 150 military-style guns by the citizens, which Lanza used to unleash terror on the innocent people (Bowman, 2013). According to the incidence’s investigators, Lanza was capable of termina ting lives of twenty plus people within an extremely short period due to his powerful assault weapons. Besides, the current legislation could have helped shun Connecticut’s shooting due to the increase of constant security patrol in education institutions (The white House, 2013).

Significance of the Awareness of the Issue of Racism Essay

Significance of the Awareness of the Issue of Racism - Essay Example Considering the notion that had races been socially constructed, then racism would have guaranteed to be a derivative of race and the resultant from social experiences as well. Racism is defined as a belief whereby it is considered as being higher for one race as compared to the other ones. Racism is a subject that shakes the basis of the world population as it sparks off controversies left, right and center. People usually do not speak highly of this subject and would better like to be disassociated with it rather than the other way around. (Kolchin, 2003) There are two distinct schools of thought when one thinks of the racism subject. These align themselves with the question of racism in America as well as its rationales. (Weinberg, 1996) The social psychologists and the sociological theorists are the two broad categories. The scapegoat theory argues that in times gone by, members of the dominant group in the United States have protected a number of different frustrations in their desire to achieve social as well as financial success and also to find expression for these aggravations in the form of anger towards other racial groups. On the other hand, the authoritarian theory is more or less typified by a propensity to rigidly characterize people. The sociological theories focus more on the institutional role played by racism itself. Therefore it would not be wrong here to state that racism appears to be a mixture of the scapegoat, authoritarian as well as the sociological theories surrounding it. While a number of people without hum an intervention characterize the people into groups, they also have the capacity to turn these groups into a series of aggression activities. However, the reason from this may be the lack of involvement connected with the people hailed in a category or a class of their own that is known as the groups other than the one that can be classified in the true sense of the word.

History (Lindeberg, David C. 2007. The Beginnings of Western Science Essay

History (Lindeberg, David C. 2007. The Beginnings of Western Science. 2nd Ed. University of Chicago Press - Essay Example (Ancient Greek Medicine, 2002) Romans had a strong relationship with Greece and the Greek medicines, especially the Hippocratic, were popular among Romans as well Hippocrates, the ancient Greek physician is considered as the father of medicine and still all the medical students in the world take the Hippocratic Oath as a matter of respect to this greatest contributor to the medical field. Hippocrates is believed to be the first one who rejected the idea of the involvement of supernatural as the cause of diseases. He was the one who was able to separate the medicine from religion. As per the ancient beliefs, diseases were considered as the curses of God. Hippocrates has proved that diseases were happened due to reasons other than the one taught by the religion and he considered medicine as a science rather than religion. The Hippocratic writings introduced patient confidentiality, a practice which is still in use today. â€Å"Hippocrates recommended that physicians record their findings and their medicinal methods, so that these records may be passed down and employed by other physicians. Other Hippocratic writings associated personality traits with the relative abundance of the four humours in the body: phlegm, yellow bile, black bile, and blood, and was a major influence on Galen and later on medieval medicine†(Hippocrates) ANATOMY is the study, classification, and description of structures and organs of the body. PHYSIOLOGY is the study and process of the function of the human. It is the study of the physical and chemical processes involved in the functioning of the living organisms and their component parts. (Karin & David) In the Hellenistic era the foundation of the city of Alexandria implied from the very beginning an intensive and very productive interaction between the Egyptian cultural heritage and the Greek

Managing Market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Managing Market - Essay Example It has also become increasingly important that companies evaluate their management structure and culture to ensure that they don't hinder a company's objectives and goals. Studies show that organization performance is highly affected by its management. Philip (1988) stresses this point when he points out that an organization management and marketing strategies defines the overall success of a company in a competitive market.( Philip, 1988) This paper will examine the general overview of the fuller's company, take a critical look on projection of company and also include a market analysing using various tools market research such as SWOT, PESTEL, 5 Forces, and Consumer Behaviour. The paper will then make a recommendation on areas for improvement and make a conclusion based on the findings. Fuller Smith & Turner PLC is a company engaged in brewing and retailing. The company business activities include fuller's Inns which consists company managed pubs, leased and tenanted pubs, and company's managed hotels. Other business consists of fuller's Beer Company that consists brewing and also distribution of spirits, wine and beer. Fuller has been brewing beer wine and spirits for more than 350 years, over the past the company has grown to become much strong in terms of market and production. The company has a high reputation currently in managing good pubs and brewing excellent beers like , London pride and Chiswick bitter have remained outstanding over the years claming many awards. In 2005 fuller company acquired Gales company, which was the biggest achievement of the company. The acquisition meant that the company had a total of 362 pubs under its control and another great beer brand in the name of HSB. The company has continued to invest and develop to ensure its market p osition in the industry. The company posted a pre-tax profit of 137.6 million sterling pounds in the first quarter of the 2007 quarter. The success of the company according to Michael Turner the Chief Executive of the company is based in investing in quality. The company is becoming an impressive operation, which incorporates managed and tenanted hotels, pubs and brewery at in London. The share capital stands at 68.1 million sterling pounds. (Fuller's, 2007) The company logo source; www.fullers.co.uk/ir/home SWOT Analysis Most companies, organizations and institutions today are using SWOT analysis as a strategic method/tool for evaluating their strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats with reference to strategic planning. SWOT analysis identifies the internal and external factors that determine the achievements a company has specified in its goals and objectives. First, it specifies the internal factors i.e. strengths and weaknesses of Fuller's company. Secondly, it categorizes the external factors that have been identified to boost or hinder the achievements of the company especially in terms of growth and expansion. These external factors are the opportunities and threats. (Lee and Carter, 2005) Strengths Strength of Fuller's is the image it has, market leadership, financial resources good customer care. Fuller's is among the biggest company in brewing and retailing business having subsidiaries in other foreign countries. It has more than 360 branches located in different countries around the world. They driving

Punctuality and Time Essay Example for Free

Punctuality and Time Essay Advantages: If we be punctual, we can finish up our work at right time. Punctuality checks unnecessary wastage of time. Time is very valuable for us. We can save it only by punctuality. Time and tide wait for none. Seconds, minutes, hours and days pass by in right order. There is a maxim We should hold the time by the forelock. If we be punctual, a single second of us will never go waste. The English men are very punctual. They put on wrist-watches to exercise punctuality. But we, the Indian put on wrist-watches only as ornaments for show. We cannot progress. If we do not be punctual. Punctuality helps us in our progress. It also saves money in other ways. There is a saying. A stitch in time saves nine. So, if we take our food punctually, we will never be sick and so we will never have to spend money on medicines and doctors or to worry our near and dear ones in this connection. And this principle applies well in all other cases. Conclusion: Everybody should be punctual in his everyday life. Every students should make a habit of punctuality. The people who have become great in their lives are very punctual. Punctuality is the first condition for becoming great in life. So, punctuality should be the motto in our life. We should not only be punctual ourselves but also advise others to be punctual. Related Articles.

The Relationship Between Terrorism and Religion

The Relationship Between Terrorism and Religion RELIGIOUS TERRORISM IS THERE A LINK BETWEEN ISLAM AND TERRORISM Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.† George W. Bush Address to the US after hijack attacks on the US World Trade Centre and Pentagon, September 11, 2001 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1. When the terrorists attacked the United States on the morning of September 11, 2001, they set in motion a sequence of events that demonstrated unequivocally the power and influence ofterrorism. Less than two hours of unimaginable violence by nineteen terrorists led to repercussions felt around the world. â€Å"Beyond the death and destruction that the terrorists caused more than 3,000 people were killed in the suicide attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. They also inflicted a deep psychological wound upon United States and the rest of the world†.[1] 2. Although the United States had experienced major terrorist attacks on its soil in the past, including the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center and the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, the September 11 attacks were beyond most peoples worst nightmare. Hijacked planes crashing into U.S. landmarks and live television coverage of the twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsing images that will likely be etched in ones mind forever. 3. The tragedy of September 11, 2001, has revealed the roots of deep planetary contradictions that threaten the world community and indeed life itself on planet Earth. This act of unprecedented terror against thousands of innocent people ought, at last, to start humanity thinking about the stark incompatibility of modern achievements in the areas of scientific knowledge, human rights, and the establishment of human moral standards with ideological, nationalistic, or religiousfanaticism in any form. 4. Lately, most of the terrorismseems to be about Islam, and it all seems to be the same. By all accounts the specter of jihadism looms large. Even if we suspend the belief for a moment and simply cast aside all those terrorist groups that clearly have nothing at all to do with the Islamic religionthe Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, the FARC in Colombia and the IRA in Ireland (to name but a few)we are still left with a slew of seemingly similar groups all motivated by and distorting Islam to suit their own ends[2]. The anatomy of propaganda 5. The document found in a suitcase belonging to leading September 11, 2001, terrorist Muhammed Atta further strengthens this belief. The suitcase document is reproduced below and analysed in the ensuing paragraph: â€Å"Pray during the previous night. Remember God frequently and with complete serenity. Visualize how you will respond if you get into trouble. Read verses of the Quran into your hands and rub them over your luggage, knife, and all your papers. Check your weapons, perform ablution before you leave your apartment, and remember God constantly while riding to the airport. Take courage and remember the rewards which God has promised for the martyrs†. [3] 6. The suitcase document is remarkable for four reasons. First, it embodies a classic ascetical strategy for applying formulaic principles to intended actions. Second, it shares much in common with repetitive techniques for self-hypnosis. Third, it bears a striking resemblance to mainstream traditions such as Catholicism in ascetical manuals like The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola or The Rule of St. Benedict that says, keep death daily before ones eyes. Whether or not such manuals threaten human freedom depends, of course, on the various contexts in which they have been presented. If in the wrong hands they can function as formulas and meditations both for indoctrination and for fighting holy wars. Fourth, the document from the suitcase directly connectsreligiousformulas and meditations with intentions to perpetrate mass murder. Practical checklists of objectives, terrifying in magnitude, are interwoven withreligiousstatements and then repeated and applied as mantras o f self-indoctrination. Religion — The Terrorists Best Weapon 7. Whileterrorism even in the form of suicide attacks is not an Islamic phenomenon by definition, it cannot be ignored that the lions share of terrorist acts and the most devastating of them in recent years have been perpetrated in the name of Islam. This fact has sparked a fundamental debate both in the West and within the Muslim world regarding the link between these acts and the teachings of Islam. Most Western analysts are hesitant to identify such acts with the bona fide teachings of one of the worlds great religions and prefer to view them as a perversion of a religion that is essentially peace-loving and tolerant. Western leaders such as George W. Bush and Tony Blair have reiterated time and again that the war againstterrorismhas nothing to do with Islam. It is a war against evil[4]. 8. Modern International Islamistterrorismis a natural offshoot of twentieth-century Islamic fundamentalism. The Islamic Movement emerged in the Arab world and British-ruled India as a response to the dismal state of Muslim society in those countries: social injustice, rejection of traditional mores, acceptance of foreign domination and culture. It perceives the malaise of modern Muslim societies as having strayed from the straight path (as-sirat al-mustaqim) and the solution to all ills in a return to the original mores of Islam. The problems addressed may be social or political: inequality, corruption, and oppression. But in traditional Islamand certainly in the worldview of the Islamic fundamentalistthere is no separation between the political and thereligious. Islam is, in essence, both religion and regime (din wa-dawla) and no area of human activity is outside its remit. Be the nature of the problem as it may, Islam is the solution.[5] 9. The role of religion of Islam needs closer examination since the majority of terrorists of contemporary times are practising the religion of Islam. One of the enduring questions is what religion of Islam has to do with this. Put simply, does religion of Islam cause terrorism? Could these violent acts be the fault of religion—the result of a dark strain of religious thinking that leads to absolutism and violence? Is religion the problem or the victim? 10. When one looks outside ones faith it is easier to blame religion. In the current climate of Muslim political violence, a significant sector of the American and European public assumes that Islam is part of the problem. The implication of this point of view is the unfortunate notion that the whole of Islam has supported acts of terrorism. 11. Most Muslims refused to believe that fellow members of their faith could have been responsible for anything as atrocious as they September 11 attacks—and hence the popular conspiracy theory in the Muslim world that somehow Israeli secret police had plotted the terrible deed. 12. Recently, however, â€Å"Islam† and â€Å"fundamentalism† are tied together so frequently in public conversation that the term has become a way of condemning all of Islam as a deviant branch of religion. But even in this case the use of the term â€Å"fundamentalism† allows for the defenders of other religions to take comfort in the notion that their kind of non-fundamentalist religion is exempt from violence or other extreme forms of public behaviour.[6] CHAPTER II METHODOLOGY Statement of Problem 1. Terrorism has been a persistent feature of warfare and the international security environment for centuries. The magnitude and impact of terrorism has not remained consistent but rather has ebbed and flowed over the course of time. Today terrorism has emerged as one of the most significant international and regional security issues. 2. The terror attacks of Sep 11 have brought about a lasting change in the way contemporary society perceives the religion of Islam. The perception of the people all across the globe has been that Islam is source of violence. Scope 3. Islam is a vast religion and consists of various facets. The dissertation would aim to study the historical perspective of terrorism, conceptualise terrorism and then determine how religion is used as a motivator for terrorism before studying the Quranic interpretations associated with the violence and finally aim to answer the question â€Å"Is there a link between Terrorism and Islam†. 4. The scope does not cover the causes and motivators of terrorism like cultural conflict, globalisation, and economic disparity e.t.c. but is limited to investigate the general belief that Islam is associated with the terrorism. Methods of Data Collection 5. Data for this research has been collected from the following sources: (a) Books, journals, periodicals and studies on the subject. (b) Authenticated information from selected web sites. 6. A bibliography of the books, periodicals and web sites referred to is appended at the end of text. Organisation Of The Dissertation 7. Topic is intended to be dealt in the sequence enumerated below: (a) Introduction (b) Methodology (c) The Genesis of Terrorism A historical perspective. (d) Conceptualising terrorism Definitions. (e) How religion is used as a motivator for terrorism. (f) Interpretations of Quran and Terrorism. (g) Conclusion Is there a link between Islam and terrorism? CHAPTER III THE GENESIS OF TERRORISM A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE Introduction 1. Terrorism is as old as the human civilization and the use of violence has been integral to the human beings in the entire process of evolution. This chapter aims at tracing the genesis of terrorism to arrive at the roots of contemporary terrorism. 1st -14th Century AD[7] 2. Zealots of Judea. The earliest known organization that exhibited aspects of a modern terrorist organization was the Zealots of Judea. Known to the Romans as sicarii, or dagger-men, they carried on an underground campaign of assassination of Roman occupation forces, as well as any Jews they felt had collaborated with the Romans. Eventually, the Zealot revolt became open, and they were finally besieged and committed mass suicide at Masada fortress. 3. The Assassins. The Assassins were the next group to show recognisable characteristics of terrorism, as we know it today. A breakaway faction of Shia Islam called the Nizari Ismalis adopted the tactic of assassination of enemy leaders because the cults limited manpower prevented open combat. Their leader, Hassam-I Sabbah, based the cult in the mountains of Northern Iran. Their tactic of sending a lone assassin to successfully kill a key enemy leader at the certain sacrifice of his own life (the killers waited next to their victims to be killed or captured) inspired fearful awe in their enemies. 4. The Zealots of Judea and the Assassins were forerunners of modern terrorists in aspects of motivation, organisation, targeting, and goals. Although both were ultimate failures, the fact that they are remembered hundreds of years later, demonstrates the deep psychological impact they caused. 14th -18th Century 5. The period between 14th and 18th century was of relative calm. From the time of the Assassins (late 13th century) to the1700s, terror and barbarism were widely used in warfare and conflict, but key ingredients for terrorism were lacking. Until the rise of the modern nation state after the Treaty of Westphalia[8] in 1648, the sort of central authority and cohesive society that terrorism attempts to influence barely existed. 6. Communications were inadequate and controlled, and the causes that might inspire terrorism (religious schism, insurrection, ethnic strife) typically led to open warfare. By the time kingdoms and principalities became nations, they had sufficient means to enforce their authority and suppress activities such as terrorism. 7. The French Revolution. The French Revolution provided the first uses of the words Terrorist and Terrorism. Use of the word terrorism began in 1795 in reference to the Reign of Terror initiated by the Revolutionary government. The agents of the Committee of Public Safety and the National Convention that enforced the policies of The Terror were referred to as Terrorists. The French Revolution provided an example to future states in oppressing their populations. It also inspired a reaction by royalists and other opponents of the Revolution who employed terrorist tactics such as assassination and intimidation in resistance to the Revolutionary agents. The Parisian mobs played a critical role at key points before, during, and after the Revolution. Such extra-legal activities as killing prominent officials and aristocrats in gruesome spectacles started long before the guillotine was first used. The 19th Century 8. Narodnya Volya. The terrorist group from this period that serves as a model in many ways for what was to come was the Russian Narodnya Volya (Peoples Will). They differed in some ways from modern terrorists, especially in that they would sometimes call off attacks that might endanger individuals other than their intended target. Other than this, they showed many of the traits of terrorism for the first time. These traits included clandestine tactics, cellular organisation, impatience and inability for the task of organising the constituents they claim to represent and a tendency to increase the level of violence as pressures on the group mount. Internationalisation of Terrorism 9. Modern Terrorism. The age of modern terrorism might be said to have begun in 1968 when the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) hijacked an El Al airliner en route from Tel Aviv to Rome. While hijackings of airliners had occurred before, this was the first time that the nationality of the carrier (Israeli) and its symbolic value was a specific operational aim. Also a first was the deliberate use of the passengers as hostages for demands made publicly against the Israeli government. The combination of these unique events, added to the international scope of the operation, gained significant media attention. The founder of PFLP, Dr. George Habash observed that the level of coverage was tremendously greater than battles with Israeli soldiers in their previous area of operations. At least the world is talking about us now.[9] 10. Cooperation. Another aspect of this internationalisation is the cooperation between extremist organizations in conducting terrorist operations. Cooperative training between Palestinian groups and European radicals started as early as 1970, and joint operations between the PFLP and the Japanese Red Army (JRA) began in 1974. Since then international terrorist cooperation in training, operations, and support has continued to grow, and continues to this day. Motives range from the ideological, such as the 1980s alliance of the Western European Marxist-oriented groups, to financial, as when the IRA exported its expertise in bomb making as far afield as Colombia[10]. Current State of Terrorism 11. The roots of todays terrorism began to grow in 1990s. The largest act of international terrorism occurred on September 11, 2001 in set of coordinated attacks on the United States of America where Islamic terrorists hijacked civilian airliners and used them to attack the World Trade Center towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, DC. After September 11, it is very easy to be nostalgic about the 1990s. In fact, the post Cold War decade was a very chaotic period. Americans were absorbed by domestic issues and lulled by the fact that the Cold War was over[11]. Summary 12. There were two great forces at work through the 1990s. First, there were the forces of integration, including global economic growth, cross-border development, the communications revolution and the spreading of democracy. The power of these forces was captured in the popular phrase, â€Å"The End of History.† Thats what seemed to be happening after the fall of the Berlin Wall and all of the other great events that were affecting world history. But there was also a second set of equally powerful forces—the forces of disintegration—including religious and ethnic conflict, an ever-widening North-South gap, religious fundamentalism (Islamic and otherwise) and terrorism. The power of these forces was captured in the phrase, the â€Å"Clash of Civilizations.† While I disagree with the ultimate conclusion of Samuel Huntington, the author of that phrase, that the clash is inevitable, Huntingtons words nonetheless capture the import of the forces that were prod ucing post-Cold War conflicts CHAPTER IV CONCEPTUALISING TERRORISM 1. A few terms that are important to the study of violence in Islam are: terrorism, religious terrorism and Islamic terrorism. A discussion of these terms will permit a comprehensive analysis on the way in which the use of violence sanctioned by the Quran and its interpretations amounts to Islamic terrorism. Terrorism 2. Terrorism is a non-political act of aggression in which the extent of violence used is â€Å"outside the realm of normative behavior[12]†. Terrorists use or threaten to use this violence against combatants and non-combatants to achieve political, social, economical or religious change within a given community. These reforms appeal to the terrorists and do not represent popular opinion of the society from which terrorism arises and â€Å"terrorists are no respecters of borders[13]†. 3. Thus Omar Abdullah, the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir says that â€Å"there are no well defined or internationally accepted criteria to designate †¦an organization as ‘terrorist. However the UN Security Council has, on occasion, adopted resolutions putting in place specific sanctions and measures against individual countries or†¦certain terrorist organizations[14]†. 4. According to Kofi Annan the Ex Secretary General of the United Nations, the manifestations of terrorism are limitless. The â€Å"only common denominator among different variants of terrorism is the calculated use of deadly violence against civilians[15]†. 5. Terrorists are those who violate the â€Å"right to life, liberty and security[16]† vested in each civilian by the UNs Universal Declaration of Human Rights Resolution: 217 A (III). Thus the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) of the United Kingdom defines terrorism as a movement in which terrorists â€Å"directly challenge the authority of democratically elected governments to manage their countrys affairs peacefully, according to the rule of law and internationally accepted fundamentals of human rights[17]†, to satisfy their own liking. Religious Terrorism 6. Religious terrorism occurs when the use of terrorism is systematized by an ideological and fanatical interpretation of a religious text. Religious terrorist groups functioning in the absence of this pretext, create â€Å"junk terrorism[18]†. 7. According to Charles Kimball, religious terrorism functions on the basis of five essential principles. These are: means justify the end, holy war, blind obedience, absolute truth claims and the ideal times. Kimball explains that ‘truth claims are essential points in a religion â€Å"at which divergent interpretations arise[19]†. Extreme interpretations of ‘truth claims provoke the ideology upon which religious terrorism is based. However the â€Å"authentic religious truth claims are never as inflexible and exclusive as zealous adherents insist[20]†. The staunch ‘truth claims professed by religious terrorists, allow them to use â€Å"religious structures and doctrines†¦almost like weapons[21]† for their movement. 8. In the process, â€Å"religious convictions that become locked into absolute truths can easily lead people to see themselves as Gods agents. People so emboldened are capable of violent and destructive behaviour in the name of religion[22]†. This conviction creates fanatical interpretations and ideologies that give rise to religious terrorism. Nancy Connors Biggos[23], states that foreign observers are unfamiliar with the extreme interpretations of religious terrorists. Thus scholars often dismiss the rhetoric of religious terrorism as one that is devoid of any strategic motivation. This creates a dearth of quantifiable data that can be used to assess religious terrorism. However Biggo explains that the lack of understanding or data cannot dismiss the fact that religious terrorism is systematized by extreme interpretations of a religious text. Therefore Wener Ruf, states, â€Å"where God was pronounced dead all notions of morality have been turned into nihilism[24]†. Islamic Terrorism 9. Islamic terrorism is a movement in which the violence caused by terrorism is derived from and used to preserve extreme interpretations of the Quran, in an Islamic community. An in-depth discussion of the how Islamic terrorism is invoked from the Quran, will be discussed in a separate chapter. However, preliminarily speaking Islamic terrorism exists where there is â€Å"a controversy over sacred space[25]†or a Kuranic tenet has been violated. Participants of this movement call for â€Å"unquestioned devotion †¦ and blind obedience[26]† to the word of God in order to ameliorate un-Islamic conditions. 9. Islamic terrorism is itself a controversial phrase, although its usage is widespread throughout the English-speaking world. Ordinary Muslims who have nothing to do with terrorism find it reprehensible because it forces upon them a label simply because they, too, are believers of Islam. In fact, the common Muslim believes that you are making him a racial hate target by using the word Islam with terrorism. Bernard Lewisbelieves that the phrase Islamic terrorism is apt, because although Islam, as a religion is not particularly conducive to terrorism or even tolerant of terrorism. In his own words: â€Å"Islam has had an essentially political character from its very foundation to the present day. An intimate association between religion and politics, between power and cult, marks a principal distinction between Islam and other religions. In traditional Islam and therefore also in resurgent fundamentalist Islam, God is the sole source of sovereignty. God is the head of the state. The state is Gods state. The army is Gods army. The treasury is Gods treasury, and the enemy, of course, is Gods enemy.† CHAPTER V RELIGION AS A MOTIVATOR FOR TERRORISM One mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter.[27] 1. Introduction. The dynamics whereby religion becomes a motivator for terrorism is complex but highly understandable. What terrorists groups using this dynamic have begun to understand is that most ordinary citizens are not highly interested in politics nor dedicated to working for social change. Many ordinary citizens are however interested in religion as it relates to their personal lives and morals and because of this they can be emotionally manipulated when they learn of social injustices particularly if they view them through the lens of religious rhetoric. This is specifically true in todays world of instantaneous news coverage where it is possible to whip up political and religious outrage over events that are seen to be bordering on religious threshold. This is certainly true in the case of al Qaeda and its loosely affiliated groups within what is now commonly referred to as the global salafi jihadist movement[28]. 2. Religious Brainwash. Following the Afghan war in which Islamic peoples from many nations came together to successfully throw out the Russian â€Å"infidel†, Osama bin Laden and similar groups have successfully managed to continue to widen their global appeal by showcasing social injustices against Muslims. This helps to create within a wide group of otherwise less connected Muslim ethnic groups identification with the victims and with each other as a caring and responsive community for their â€Å"Muslim brothers.† Typically, these groups make use of the human rights abuses occurring within the Israeli/Palestinian and Russian/Chechen conflicts and now also include the occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan. 3. The making of a Terrorist. While instantaneous and repetitive satellite coverage of worldwide events is enough to show injustices and to even create identification with victims sharing similar ethnic or religious backgrounds it is not sufficiently enough to fuel terrorism. However, with the addition of religious rhetoric it is transformed into a potent mix. This transformation is achieved via the following means:- (a) Great Moral Wrong. First the event is presented as a great moral wrong, a threat to religious morality or purity and as one that must be corrected. The message, which is crafted for unhappy persons, social outcasts or those who are already suffering from religious guilt, is framed as one of good and evil and the listener is admonished to be on the side of good. (b) Mind of God. The second tactic in which religion is used to motivate terrorism is convincing the person that it is possible to know the mind of God. For this purpose scriptures are used, and misused, to clearly identify the social wrongs as evil, immoral or impure. Once identified as threats to morality, this tactic is used to take it a step further with additional scriptures that are used to justify violence in order to destroy the evil. In this way religion is co-opted as the means to morally justify violence in the pursuit of social change. While the world debated about the first strike in the Iraq War (to be carried out by the U.S., Great Britain and their coalition forces), moralists all over the world debated about the doctrine of â€Å"just wars†, thereby holding forth about the â€Å"mind of God† on these matters. (c) Overcoming Guilt. Thirdly, because nearly all religions hold human life as sacred and forbid murder the scriptures are used to break down these prohibitions against taking innocent human lives. Islamic rhetoric for example refers to the infidels, nonbelievers, defiled, impure, outsiders, and sinners. In this manner the intended terrorist act in ways that take innocent human lives without suffering guilt for having done so. (d) Common Cause Fourthly, by using religion as a motivator the terrorist group creates a sense of cohesion and belonging to a higher cause. They prey upon individuals who are alienated and disenfranchised. When these individuals find a cause to belong to, especially when it espouses religious rhetoric of brotherhood, love and hope for the future life they can become powerfully motivated to act in behalf of the group simply for the sense of identity.[29] (e) Heroic Martyrdom. The One of the ultimate uses of religion to motivate terrorism is to hold forth a view of the afterlife, promising rewards in the hereafter for sacrificing oneself in the here and now. This is a particularly potent tactic used with those who feel guilty about their actions in this life and uncertain of their standing with God, and with those marginal members of society who suddenly find themselves centered in a group with a purpose. The Muslim interpretation of afterlife while dying for jihad states that the â€Å"Prophet will be waiting to welcome the martyr with thousands of virgins lined up for his pleasure†. Referring to afterlife one martyr also states, â€Å"I will have God welcome me with open arms. I will be a true hero in the sky.†[30] 4. Between the two recent wars in Chechnya (1994-96 and 1999) similar means were used to convince vulnerable Chechen individuals to sign on the â€Å"new Chechen jihad† which began making use of suicide terrorism in 2000. During this time period terrorist sponsored schools used were opened in the capital Grozny which recruited young boys and girls who lost their fathers in the Russian/Chechen conflicts promising their widowed mothers a good education for their sons and daughters. Unknown to their families these vulnerable young students were indoctrinated into militant Islamic ideas foreign to Chechen experiences of Sufi Islam and some became convinced that the price of belonging to higher glory is to be willing to sacrifice oneself for the group. In the words of a hostage who conversed with one of the Chechen terrorists :- â€Å"He explained to me that while his greatest dream was to continue his education and go to university and that while he wished to live, even more important for him was to die a martyr. He had become totally convinced that martyrdom was his highest calling in life†.[31] 5. Conclusion. Religion has always been used as a means of constructing social justice, expiating wrongdoing or â€Å"sins†, and of modulating emotional states. These means however can also be used to manipulate vulnerable individuals into taking social actions that they might otherwise never have considered or consented to take part in. For instance a colleague in Chechnya reports that the children who attended terrorist based schools were taught to rock and chant repeating Koranic verses that invoke jihad, ideas that their masters consider important to instil. This practice can easily make use of inducing a suggestive hypnotic state; a light trance in which susceptible children who have already reason to want to avenge a murdered parent might be induced to do so. People interacting with such persons mentioned that â€Å"these young terrorists were â€Å"brainwashed†, rocking, singing and praying often, and readily embracing death†.[32] CHAPTER VI QURANIC INTERPRETATIONS AND TERRORISM 1. Approximately fourteen hundred years ago, Prophet Muhammad, the last in the line of the prophets of Islam, received revelation from God known as the Quran, which is the Final Testament. He came with a message of peace and reconciliation, mercy and compassion. Yet, ever since the beginning of the call of Islam, its image and that of Muslims has been subject to distortion, misconceptions, and misinterpretations. This chapter aims at establishing the link between Quran and the distortions in its interpretation which has manifested itself in the form of jihad or the holy-war. Quran and Sanction of Violence 2. The Quran permits violence as an act of defence waged to protect the Shariat in an Islamic community. The Shariat can be explained as a system of ordinances outlined in the Quran and Hadis[33] through which â€Å"God lays down for mankind the rules of conduct[34]†. The Shariat is the â€Å"guidance for all walks of life individual and social, material and moral, economic and political, legal and cultural, national and international[35]†. 3. Muslims are advised to closely follow the Shariat to acquire the well being that God has envisioned for the Islamic community. Preservation of the Shariat is an â€Å"obligation of every able-bodied individual[36]†. â€Å"Oppression, despotism, injustice and criminal abuse of power[37]† of the Shariat by Muslims or non-Muslims[38], must be punished. Quran and Jihad 4. The Quran identifies three main kinds of Jihad that can be used for the punishment of oppression and injustice. These are: internal[39], external[40] and inter-communal[41]. The Quran permits the use of violence as an optional method for all three forms of Jihad but it limits the use of violence in ‘internal[42] and ‘external Jihad. It expands on its doctrine of Jihad and violence, mainly in the context of ‘inter-communal conflicts. In these cases, Muslims can individually determine the nature and extent of Jihad based on the ‘freedom of interpretations, and the geopolitical conditions in which the conflict arises. However the most essential prerequisite in the Qurans discourse on violence is that, forc The Relationship Between Terrorism and Religion The Relationship Between Terrorism and Religion RELIGIOUS TERRORISM IS THERE A LINK BETWEEN ISLAM AND TERRORISM Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.† George W. Bush Address to the US after hijack attacks on the US World Trade Centre and Pentagon, September 11, 2001 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1. When the terrorists attacked the United States on the morning of September 11, 2001, they set in motion a sequence of events that demonstrated unequivocally the power and influence ofterrorism. Less than two hours of unimaginable violence by nineteen terrorists led to repercussions felt around the world. â€Å"Beyond the death and destruction that the terrorists caused more than 3,000 people were killed in the suicide attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. They also inflicted a deep psychological wound upon United States and the rest of the world†.[1] 2. Although the United States had experienced major terrorist attacks on its soil in the past, including the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center and the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, the September 11 attacks were beyond most peoples worst nightmare. Hijacked planes crashing into U.S. landmarks and live television coverage of the twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsing images that will likely be etched in ones mind forever. 3. The tragedy of September 11, 2001, has revealed the roots of deep planetary contradictions that threaten the world community and indeed life itself on planet Earth. This act of unprecedented terror against thousands of innocent people ought, at last, to start humanity thinking about the stark incompatibility of modern achievements in the areas of scientific knowledge, human rights, and the establishment of human moral standards with ideological, nationalistic, or religiousfanaticism in any form. 4. Lately, most of the terrorismseems to be about Islam, and it all seems to be the same. By all accounts the specter of jihadism looms large. Even if we suspend the belief for a moment and simply cast aside all those terrorist groups that clearly have nothing at all to do with the Islamic religionthe Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, the FARC in Colombia and the IRA in Ireland (to name but a few)we are still left with a slew of seemingly similar groups all motivated by and distorting Islam to suit their own ends[2]. The anatomy of propaganda 5. The document found in a suitcase belonging to leading September 11, 2001, terrorist Muhammed Atta further strengthens this belief. The suitcase document is reproduced below and analysed in the ensuing paragraph: â€Å"Pray during the previous night. Remember God frequently and with complete serenity. Visualize how you will respond if you get into trouble. Read verses of the Quran into your hands and rub them over your luggage, knife, and all your papers. Check your weapons, perform ablution before you leave your apartment, and remember God constantly while riding to the airport. Take courage and remember the rewards which God has promised for the martyrs†. [3] 6. The suitcase document is remarkable for four reasons. First, it embodies a classic ascetical strategy for applying formulaic principles to intended actions. Second, it shares much in common with repetitive techniques for self-hypnosis. Third, it bears a striking resemblance to mainstream traditions such as Catholicism in ascetical manuals like The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola or The Rule of St. Benedict that says, keep death daily before ones eyes. Whether or not such manuals threaten human freedom depends, of course, on the various contexts in which they have been presented. If in the wrong hands they can function as formulas and meditations both for indoctrination and for fighting holy wars. Fourth, the document from the suitcase directly connectsreligiousformulas and meditations with intentions to perpetrate mass murder. Practical checklists of objectives, terrifying in magnitude, are interwoven withreligiousstatements and then repeated and applied as mantras o f self-indoctrination. Religion — The Terrorists Best Weapon 7. Whileterrorism even in the form of suicide attacks is not an Islamic phenomenon by definition, it cannot be ignored that the lions share of terrorist acts and the most devastating of them in recent years have been perpetrated in the name of Islam. This fact has sparked a fundamental debate both in the West and within the Muslim world regarding the link between these acts and the teachings of Islam. Most Western analysts are hesitant to identify such acts with the bona fide teachings of one of the worlds great religions and prefer to view them as a perversion of a religion that is essentially peace-loving and tolerant. Western leaders such as George W. Bush and Tony Blair have reiterated time and again that the war againstterrorismhas nothing to do with Islam. It is a war against evil[4]. 8. Modern International Islamistterrorismis a natural offshoot of twentieth-century Islamic fundamentalism. The Islamic Movement emerged in the Arab world and British-ruled India as a response to the dismal state of Muslim society in those countries: social injustice, rejection of traditional mores, acceptance of foreign domination and culture. It perceives the malaise of modern Muslim societies as having strayed from the straight path (as-sirat al-mustaqim) and the solution to all ills in a return to the original mores of Islam. The problems addressed may be social or political: inequality, corruption, and oppression. But in traditional Islamand certainly in the worldview of the Islamic fundamentalistthere is no separation between the political and thereligious. Islam is, in essence, both religion and regime (din wa-dawla) and no area of human activity is outside its remit. Be the nature of the problem as it may, Islam is the solution.[5] 9. The role of religion of Islam needs closer examination since the majority of terrorists of contemporary times are practising the religion of Islam. One of the enduring questions is what religion of Islam has to do with this. Put simply, does religion of Islam cause terrorism? Could these violent acts be the fault of religion—the result of a dark strain of religious thinking that leads to absolutism and violence? Is religion the problem or the victim? 10. When one looks outside ones faith it is easier to blame religion. In the current climate of Muslim political violence, a significant sector of the American and European public assumes that Islam is part of the problem. The implication of this point of view is the unfortunate notion that the whole of Islam has supported acts of terrorism. 11. Most Muslims refused to believe that fellow members of their faith could have been responsible for anything as atrocious as they September 11 attacks—and hence the popular conspiracy theory in the Muslim world that somehow Israeli secret police had plotted the terrible deed. 12. Recently, however, â€Å"Islam† and â€Å"fundamentalism† are tied together so frequently in public conversation that the term has become a way of condemning all of Islam as a deviant branch of religion. But even in this case the use of the term â€Å"fundamentalism† allows for the defenders of other religions to take comfort in the notion that their kind of non-fundamentalist religion is exempt from violence or other extreme forms of public behaviour.[6] CHAPTER II METHODOLOGY Statement of Problem 1. Terrorism has been a persistent feature of warfare and the international security environment for centuries. The magnitude and impact of terrorism has not remained consistent but rather has ebbed and flowed over the course of time. Today terrorism has emerged as one of the most significant international and regional security issues. 2. The terror attacks of Sep 11 have brought about a lasting change in the way contemporary society perceives the religion of Islam. The perception of the people all across the globe has been that Islam is source of violence. Scope 3. Islam is a vast religion and consists of various facets. The dissertation would aim to study the historical perspective of terrorism, conceptualise terrorism and then determine how religion is used as a motivator for terrorism before studying the Quranic interpretations associated with the violence and finally aim to answer the question â€Å"Is there a link between Terrorism and Islam†. 4. The scope does not cover the causes and motivators of terrorism like cultural conflict, globalisation, and economic disparity e.t.c. but is limited to investigate the general belief that Islam is associated with the terrorism. Methods of Data Collection 5. Data for this research has been collected from the following sources: (a) Books, journals, periodicals and studies on the subject. (b) Authenticated information from selected web sites. 6. A bibliography of the books, periodicals and web sites referred to is appended at the end of text. Organisation Of The Dissertation 7. Topic is intended to be dealt in the sequence enumerated below: (a) Introduction (b) Methodology (c) The Genesis of Terrorism A historical perspective. (d) Conceptualising terrorism Definitions. (e) How religion is used as a motivator for terrorism. (f) Interpretations of Quran and Terrorism. (g) Conclusion Is there a link between Islam and terrorism? CHAPTER III THE GENESIS OF TERRORISM A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE Introduction 1. Terrorism is as old as the human civilization and the use of violence has been integral to the human beings in the entire process of evolution. This chapter aims at tracing the genesis of terrorism to arrive at the roots of contemporary terrorism. 1st -14th Century AD[7] 2. Zealots of Judea. The earliest known organization that exhibited aspects of a modern terrorist organization was the Zealots of Judea. Known to the Romans as sicarii, or dagger-men, they carried on an underground campaign of assassination of Roman occupation forces, as well as any Jews they felt had collaborated with the Romans. Eventually, the Zealot revolt became open, and they were finally besieged and committed mass suicide at Masada fortress. 3. The Assassins. The Assassins were the next group to show recognisable characteristics of terrorism, as we know it today. A breakaway faction of Shia Islam called the Nizari Ismalis adopted the tactic of assassination of enemy leaders because the cults limited manpower prevented open combat. Their leader, Hassam-I Sabbah, based the cult in the mountains of Northern Iran. Their tactic of sending a lone assassin to successfully kill a key enemy leader at the certain sacrifice of his own life (the killers waited next to their victims to be killed or captured) inspired fearful awe in their enemies. 4. The Zealots of Judea and the Assassins were forerunners of modern terrorists in aspects of motivation, organisation, targeting, and goals. Although both were ultimate failures, the fact that they are remembered hundreds of years later, demonstrates the deep psychological impact they caused. 14th -18th Century 5. The period between 14th and 18th century was of relative calm. From the time of the Assassins (late 13th century) to the1700s, terror and barbarism were widely used in warfare and conflict, but key ingredients for terrorism were lacking. Until the rise of the modern nation state after the Treaty of Westphalia[8] in 1648, the sort of central authority and cohesive society that terrorism attempts to influence barely existed. 6. Communications were inadequate and controlled, and the causes that might inspire terrorism (religious schism, insurrection, ethnic strife) typically led to open warfare. By the time kingdoms and principalities became nations, they had sufficient means to enforce their authority and suppress activities such as terrorism. 7. The French Revolution. The French Revolution provided the first uses of the words Terrorist and Terrorism. Use of the word terrorism began in 1795 in reference to the Reign of Terror initiated by the Revolutionary government. The agents of the Committee of Public Safety and the National Convention that enforced the policies of The Terror were referred to as Terrorists. The French Revolution provided an example to future states in oppressing their populations. It also inspired a reaction by royalists and other opponents of the Revolution who employed terrorist tactics such as assassination and intimidation in resistance to the Revolutionary agents. The Parisian mobs played a critical role at key points before, during, and after the Revolution. Such extra-legal activities as killing prominent officials and aristocrats in gruesome spectacles started long before the guillotine was first used. The 19th Century 8. Narodnya Volya. The terrorist group from this period that serves as a model in many ways for what was to come was the Russian Narodnya Volya (Peoples Will). They differed in some ways from modern terrorists, especially in that they would sometimes call off attacks that might endanger individuals other than their intended target. Other than this, they showed many of the traits of terrorism for the first time. These traits included clandestine tactics, cellular organisation, impatience and inability for the task of organising the constituents they claim to represent and a tendency to increase the level of violence as pressures on the group mount. Internationalisation of Terrorism 9. Modern Terrorism. The age of modern terrorism might be said to have begun in 1968 when the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) hijacked an El Al airliner en route from Tel Aviv to Rome. While hijackings of airliners had occurred before, this was the first time that the nationality of the carrier (Israeli) and its symbolic value was a specific operational aim. Also a first was the deliberate use of the passengers as hostages for demands made publicly against the Israeli government. The combination of these unique events, added to the international scope of the operation, gained significant media attention. The founder of PFLP, Dr. George Habash observed that the level of coverage was tremendously greater than battles with Israeli soldiers in their previous area of operations. At least the world is talking about us now.[9] 10. Cooperation. Another aspect of this internationalisation is the cooperation between extremist organizations in conducting terrorist operations. Cooperative training between Palestinian groups and European radicals started as early as 1970, and joint operations between the PFLP and the Japanese Red Army (JRA) began in 1974. Since then international terrorist cooperation in training, operations, and support has continued to grow, and continues to this day. Motives range from the ideological, such as the 1980s alliance of the Western European Marxist-oriented groups, to financial, as when the IRA exported its expertise in bomb making as far afield as Colombia[10]. Current State of Terrorism 11. The roots of todays terrorism began to grow in 1990s. The largest act of international terrorism occurred on September 11, 2001 in set of coordinated attacks on the United States of America where Islamic terrorists hijacked civilian airliners and used them to attack the World Trade Center towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, DC. After September 11, it is very easy to be nostalgic about the 1990s. In fact, the post Cold War decade was a very chaotic period. Americans were absorbed by domestic issues and lulled by the fact that the Cold War was over[11]. Summary 12. There were two great forces at work through the 1990s. First, there were the forces of integration, including global economic growth, cross-border development, the communications revolution and the spreading of democracy. The power of these forces was captured in the popular phrase, â€Å"The End of History.† Thats what seemed to be happening after the fall of the Berlin Wall and all of the other great events that were affecting world history. But there was also a second set of equally powerful forces—the forces of disintegration—including religious and ethnic conflict, an ever-widening North-South gap, religious fundamentalism (Islamic and otherwise) and terrorism. The power of these forces was captured in the phrase, the â€Å"Clash of Civilizations.† While I disagree with the ultimate conclusion of Samuel Huntington, the author of that phrase, that the clash is inevitable, Huntingtons words nonetheless capture the import of the forces that were prod ucing post-Cold War conflicts CHAPTER IV CONCEPTUALISING TERRORISM 1. A few terms that are important to the study of violence in Islam are: terrorism, religious terrorism and Islamic terrorism. A discussion of these terms will permit a comprehensive analysis on the way in which the use of violence sanctioned by the Quran and its interpretations amounts to Islamic terrorism. Terrorism 2. Terrorism is a non-political act of aggression in which the extent of violence used is â€Å"outside the realm of normative behavior[12]†. Terrorists use or threaten to use this violence against combatants and non-combatants to achieve political, social, economical or religious change within a given community. These reforms appeal to the terrorists and do not represent popular opinion of the society from which terrorism arises and â€Å"terrorists are no respecters of borders[13]†. 3. Thus Omar Abdullah, the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir says that â€Å"there are no well defined or internationally accepted criteria to designate †¦an organization as ‘terrorist. However the UN Security Council has, on occasion, adopted resolutions putting in place specific sanctions and measures against individual countries or†¦certain terrorist organizations[14]†. 4. According to Kofi Annan the Ex Secretary General of the United Nations, the manifestations of terrorism are limitless. The â€Å"only common denominator among different variants of terrorism is the calculated use of deadly violence against civilians[15]†. 5. Terrorists are those who violate the â€Å"right to life, liberty and security[16]† vested in each civilian by the UNs Universal Declaration of Human Rights Resolution: 217 A (III). Thus the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) of the United Kingdom defines terrorism as a movement in which terrorists â€Å"directly challenge the authority of democratically elected governments to manage their countrys affairs peacefully, according to the rule of law and internationally accepted fundamentals of human rights[17]†, to satisfy their own liking. Religious Terrorism 6. Religious terrorism occurs when the use of terrorism is systematized by an ideological and fanatical interpretation of a religious text. Religious terrorist groups functioning in the absence of this pretext, create â€Å"junk terrorism[18]†. 7. According to Charles Kimball, religious terrorism functions on the basis of five essential principles. These are: means justify the end, holy war, blind obedience, absolute truth claims and the ideal times. Kimball explains that ‘truth claims are essential points in a religion â€Å"at which divergent interpretations arise[19]†. Extreme interpretations of ‘truth claims provoke the ideology upon which religious terrorism is based. However the â€Å"authentic religious truth claims are never as inflexible and exclusive as zealous adherents insist[20]†. The staunch ‘truth claims professed by religious terrorists, allow them to use â€Å"religious structures and doctrines†¦almost like weapons[21]† for their movement. 8. In the process, â€Å"religious convictions that become locked into absolute truths can easily lead people to see themselves as Gods agents. People so emboldened are capable of violent and destructive behaviour in the name of religion[22]†. This conviction creates fanatical interpretations and ideologies that give rise to religious terrorism. Nancy Connors Biggos[23], states that foreign observers are unfamiliar with the extreme interpretations of religious terrorists. Thus scholars often dismiss the rhetoric of religious terrorism as one that is devoid of any strategic motivation. This creates a dearth of quantifiable data that can be used to assess religious terrorism. However Biggo explains that the lack of understanding or data cannot dismiss the fact that religious terrorism is systematized by extreme interpretations of a religious text. Therefore Wener Ruf, states, â€Å"where God was pronounced dead all notions of morality have been turned into nihilism[24]†. Islamic Terrorism 9. Islamic terrorism is a movement in which the violence caused by terrorism is derived from and used to preserve extreme interpretations of the Quran, in an Islamic community. An in-depth discussion of the how Islamic terrorism is invoked from the Quran, will be discussed in a separate chapter. However, preliminarily speaking Islamic terrorism exists where there is â€Å"a controversy over sacred space[25]†or a Kuranic tenet has been violated. Participants of this movement call for â€Å"unquestioned devotion †¦ and blind obedience[26]† to the word of God in order to ameliorate un-Islamic conditions. 9. Islamic terrorism is itself a controversial phrase, although its usage is widespread throughout the English-speaking world. Ordinary Muslims who have nothing to do with terrorism find it reprehensible because it forces upon them a label simply because they, too, are believers of Islam. In fact, the common Muslim believes that you are making him a racial hate target by using the word Islam with terrorism. Bernard Lewisbelieves that the phrase Islamic terrorism is apt, because although Islam, as a religion is not particularly conducive to terrorism or even tolerant of terrorism. In his own words: â€Å"Islam has had an essentially political character from its very foundation to the present day. An intimate association between religion and politics, between power and cult, marks a principal distinction between Islam and other religions. In traditional Islam and therefore also in resurgent fundamentalist Islam, God is the sole source of sovereignty. God is the head of the state. The state is Gods state. The army is Gods army. The treasury is Gods treasury, and the enemy, of course, is Gods enemy.† CHAPTER V RELIGION AS A MOTIVATOR FOR TERRORISM One mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter.[27] 1. Introduction. The dynamics whereby religion becomes a motivator for terrorism is complex but highly understandable. What terrorists groups using this dynamic have begun to understand is that most ordinary citizens are not highly interested in politics nor dedicated to working for social change. Many ordinary citizens are however interested in religion as it relates to their personal lives and morals and because of this they can be emotionally manipulated when they learn of social injustices particularly if they view them through the lens of religious rhetoric. This is specifically true in todays world of instantaneous news coverage where it is possible to whip up political and religious outrage over events that are seen to be bordering on religious threshold. This is certainly true in the case of al Qaeda and its loosely affiliated groups within what is now commonly referred to as the global salafi jihadist movement[28]. 2. Religious Brainwash. Following the Afghan war in which Islamic peoples from many nations came together to successfully throw out the Russian â€Å"infidel†, Osama bin Laden and similar groups have successfully managed to continue to widen their global appeal by showcasing social injustices against Muslims. This helps to create within a wide group of otherwise less connected Muslim ethnic groups identification with the victims and with each other as a caring and responsive community for their â€Å"Muslim brothers.† Typically, these groups make use of the human rights abuses occurring within the Israeli/Palestinian and Russian/Chechen conflicts and now also include the occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan. 3. The making of a Terrorist. While instantaneous and repetitive satellite coverage of worldwide events is enough to show injustices and to even create identification with victims sharing similar ethnic or religious backgrounds it is not sufficiently enough to fuel terrorism. However, with the addition of religious rhetoric it is transformed into a potent mix. This transformation is achieved via the following means:- (a) Great Moral Wrong. First the event is presented as a great moral wrong, a threat to religious morality or purity and as one that must be corrected. The message, which is crafted for unhappy persons, social outcasts or those who are already suffering from religious guilt, is framed as one of good and evil and the listener is admonished to be on the side of good. (b) Mind of God. The second tactic in which religion is used to motivate terrorism is convincing the person that it is possible to know the mind of God. For this purpose scriptures are used, and misused, to clearly identify the social wrongs as evil, immoral or impure. Once identified as threats to morality, this tactic is used to take it a step further with additional scriptures that are used to justify violence in order to destroy the evil. In this way religion is co-opted as the means to morally justify violence in the pursuit of social change. While the world debated about the first strike in the Iraq War (to be carried out by the U.S., Great Britain and their coalition forces), moralists all over the world debated about the doctrine of â€Å"just wars†, thereby holding forth about the â€Å"mind of God† on these matters. (c) Overcoming Guilt. Thirdly, because nearly all religions hold human life as sacred and forbid murder the scriptures are used to break down these prohibitions against taking innocent human lives. Islamic rhetoric for example refers to the infidels, nonbelievers, defiled, impure, outsiders, and sinners. In this manner the intended terrorist act in ways that take innocent human lives without suffering guilt for having done so. (d) Common Cause Fourthly, by using religion as a motivator the terrorist group creates a sense of cohesion and belonging to a higher cause. They prey upon individuals who are alienated and disenfranchised. When these individuals find a cause to belong to, especially when it espouses religious rhetoric of brotherhood, love and hope for the future life they can become powerfully motivated to act in behalf of the group simply for the sense of identity.[29] (e) Heroic Martyrdom. The One of the ultimate uses of religion to motivate terrorism is to hold forth a view of the afterlife, promising rewards in the hereafter for sacrificing oneself in the here and now. This is a particularly potent tactic used with those who feel guilty about their actions in this life and uncertain of their standing with God, and with those marginal members of society who suddenly find themselves centered in a group with a purpose. The Muslim interpretation of afterlife while dying for jihad states that the â€Å"Prophet will be waiting to welcome the martyr with thousands of virgins lined up for his pleasure†. Referring to afterlife one martyr also states, â€Å"I will have God welcome me with open arms. I will be a true hero in the sky.†[30] 4. Between the two recent wars in Chechnya (1994-96 and 1999) similar means were used to convince vulnerable Chechen individuals to sign on the â€Å"new Chechen jihad† which began making use of suicide terrorism in 2000. During this time period terrorist sponsored schools used were opened in the capital Grozny which recruited young boys and girls who lost their fathers in the Russian/Chechen conflicts promising their widowed mothers a good education for their sons and daughters. Unknown to their families these vulnerable young students were indoctrinated into militant Islamic ideas foreign to Chechen experiences of Sufi Islam and some became convinced that the price of belonging to higher glory is to be willing to sacrifice oneself for the group. In the words of a hostage who conversed with one of the Chechen terrorists :- â€Å"He explained to me that while his greatest dream was to continue his education and go to university and that while he wished to live, even more important for him was to die a martyr. He had become totally convinced that martyrdom was his highest calling in life†.[31] 5. Conclusion. Religion has always been used as a means of constructing social justice, expiating wrongdoing or â€Å"sins†, and of modulating emotional states. These means however can also be used to manipulate vulnerable individuals into taking social actions that they might otherwise never have considered or consented to take part in. For instance a colleague in Chechnya reports that the children who attended terrorist based schools were taught to rock and chant repeating Koranic verses that invoke jihad, ideas that their masters consider important to instil. This practice can easily make use of inducing a suggestive hypnotic state; a light trance in which susceptible children who have already reason to want to avenge a murdered parent might be induced to do so. People interacting with such persons mentioned that â€Å"these young terrorists were â€Å"brainwashed†, rocking, singing and praying often, and readily embracing death†.[32] CHAPTER VI QURANIC INTERPRETATIONS AND TERRORISM 1. Approximately fourteen hundred years ago, Prophet Muhammad, the last in the line of the prophets of Islam, received revelation from God known as the Quran, which is the Final Testament. He came with a message of peace and reconciliation, mercy and compassion. Yet, ever since the beginning of the call of Islam, its image and that of Muslims has been subject to distortion, misconceptions, and misinterpretations. This chapter aims at establishing the link between Quran and the distortions in its interpretation which has manifested itself in the form of jihad or the holy-war. Quran and Sanction of Violence 2. The Quran permits violence as an act of defence waged to protect the Shariat in an Islamic community. The Shariat can be explained as a system of ordinances outlined in the Quran and Hadis[33] through which â€Å"God lays down for mankind the rules of conduct[34]†. The Shariat is the â€Å"guidance for all walks of life individual and social, material and moral, economic and political, legal and cultural, national and international[35]†. 3. Muslims are advised to closely follow the Shariat to acquire the well being that God has envisioned for the Islamic community. Preservation of the Shariat is an â€Å"obligation of every able-bodied individual[36]†. â€Å"Oppression, despotism, injustice and criminal abuse of power[37]† of the Shariat by Muslims or non-Muslims[38], must be punished. Quran and Jihad 4. The Quran identifies three main kinds of Jihad that can be used for the punishment of oppression and injustice. These are: internal[39], external[40] and inter-communal[41]. The Quran permits the use of violence as an optional method for all three forms of Jihad but it limits the use of violence in ‘internal[42] and ‘external Jihad. It expands on its doctrine of Jihad and violence, mainly in the context of ‘inter-communal conflicts. In these cases, Muslims can individually determine the nature and extent of Jihad based on the ‘freedom of interpretations, and the geopolitical conditions in which the conflict arises. However the most essential prerequisite in the Qurans discourse on violence is that, forc

Effect of Hormones on Aggressive Behaviour

Effect of Hormones on Aggressive Behaviour The role of hormones in mediating aggressive behaviour How hormones can trigger and influence aggression in animals and humans has interested many researchers in the last six decades (Brooks-Gunn, Graber, Paikoff, 1994). Scientists realised soon that aggressive behaviours has to be always set in a larger context. The larger context can never be neglected while investigating complex human behaviours. This applies especially when considering the hormonal contributions to aggressive behaviour since far more than one link seems to exist between hormones and aggression. For instance, the hormonal control of parental, sexual and reproductive behaviour crucially determines aggression in both humans and animals. Parents of many animal species are increasingly aggressive while experiencing hormonal changes, for example, during lactation and parturition as they strive to defend their offspring from enemies (Beach, 1979). The aim of this paper is to evaluate the study on hormones and aggressive behaviour in the evolutionary context. Nonetheless it is not intended to conceptualise this evolutionary context without relation to other domains such as the social or cognitive one as these domains are inextricably linked. â€Å"A developmental perspective of aggression thus is based on the assumption that aggressive behavior is multidetermined and dynamic over the life span, and a product of a complex continuous interaction of the multiple psycho-bio-social changes.† (Ramirez, 2003; p.622). Aggression The fact that multiple modulators for aggression seem to exist makes it more difficult to reach conclusions. An additional problem is that the usage of the word aggression is too broad and there is yet not consensus over how it can be actually defined (Kavoussi, Armstead, Coccaro, 1997). Aggression has been predominantly related to an emotional state that individuals frequently describe as involving a strong drive to inflict harm and emotions of disregard and hate. However, overt aggression comes, in contrast to the described inner feeling of hate, in different forms. Predatory aggression, for instance, refers to the feeding behaviour of animals and is represented by attacks directed at natural prey. It has been demonstrated that the majority of vertebrates display aggression between two males of the same species while only some animals display maternal aggression. Fear-induced aggression, on the other hand, appears when an animal is anxious and/or incapable to escape from a perceiv ed dangerous situation. Irritable aggression, however, comes frequently close to uncontrollable rage and is triggered by immense pain or frustration (Rosenzweig, Breedlove, Reiman, 2002). Nelson (1995) reported how male sex hormones play a significant role in various forms of aggressive behaviour like for example in within-species social interactions and encounters. As a consequence, aggressive behaviour between males increases on the verge to sexual maturity. Experiments with male mice have demonstrated that their aggressiveness levels rise significantly during puberty while immature mice display more violent behaviours against each other when they are treated with androgens (McKinney Desjardins, 1973). Puberty and Hormonal Change Given the dramatic changes that occur in endocrine physiology at puberty, it is not surprising that increases in testosterone are hypothesized to be related to increases in aggression. This explains why testosterone has been the most investigated hormone in its research. The wealth of evidence supporting the ability of testosterone to facilitate aggressive behaviour in a broad number of mammal species has led to wonder about its potential role in human aggression. Wingfield and colleagues (1987) were among those researches who successfully demonstrated that the amount of displayed aggression in many species is related to the amount of seasonal testosterone change. Yet experiments with youths experiencing puberty yielded equivocal results. Book and collaborators (2001) for instance conducted a meta-analysis on 45 independent studies and came to the conclusion that the mean weighted correlation of these studies was only weakly positive (r = 0.14). This finding was congruent with Archer’s (1991) meta-analyses as he had also found rather marginally significant positive relationships between testosterone levels in humans and aggression. Experiments investigating the on the effects of castration on subjects illustrated more convincingly how inextricably aggressive behaviour is linked to hormones. Conclusively, castrated males displayed less aggressive behaviour due to the decreased androgen production. If, in turn, testosterone is injected into these castrated species one can again observe an increase in inter-male violent behaviour. Females are less often studies by researchers with regard to hormonal affects on aggression. This is due to the fact that males engage significantly more often in aggressive behaviour than females (e.g. number of male murderers is five times higher in the United States). Thus the predominant viewpoint among scientists is that males of most species are the more aggressive and violent sex. Consistently, recent research has found more support for a link between androgens and aggressive affect for boys entering puberty (Olweus et al., 1988) but less strong associations for girls (Paikoff Br ooks-Gunn, 1990). Nevertheless some studies found that in some species like Hamsters the female sex is more aggressive. However, this was not anymore the case when the female Hamsters entered the estrus stage. As a matter of fact, not all studies have supported the notion that the amount of hormones, especially androgens, is negatively associated to aggression levels. Ehrenkranz and colleagues (1974) for example demonstrated that testosterone levels of humans were positively related to aggressiveness while Kreuz and Rose (1972) could not find a significant correlation between levels of testosterone and aggressiveness in prisoners. Nonetheless Dabbs and Morris (1990) maintained with the help of their study on military veterans that testosterone levels can be linked at least to violent antisocial behaviour. More recently Dabbs and Hargrove (1997) revealed that high testosterone levels are a remarkable characteristic and predictor of female prisoners who are convicted of self-initiated violent crimes. At least two confounding variables exist Research has also demonstrated the existence of at least two confounding variable which have a significant influence on the relationship between hormones and aggressive behaviour. Bernstein and Gordon (1971) showed that both monkeys and mice who come out as winners of an aggressive interaction display increased testosterone levels whereas the losers experience a decrease in androgens. Consequently, the winners become more aggressive while the losers are less prone to exhibiting aggressive behaviour towards their own and other species. One could conclude that it was more a consequence rather than a cause that the more aggressive prisoners in Dabbs and Hargroves (1997) experiment had higher testosterone levels. Surprisingly not only the winners of aggressive encounters but also the triumphant of sport competitions experience observable increases in their testosterone levels. It goes further that this increase is not only experienced by those who actively participate and win in the spor ting event but is even experienced by those who support and cheer up the winning side or individual (Bernhardt, 1997). As even chess players display after having lost chess matches lower levels and after having won higher levels of testosterone it was concluded that another confounding variable mediates between aggression and testosterone because chess players are hardly aggressive in their normal behaviour. Regardless of these confounding variables sexual assaulters, aggressors and criminals have been often castrated in the past in order to decrease both their sex and aggression drives. The results of these studies reported that criminals were less susceptible to aggressive behaviour after having experienced a decrease in sex hormones induced by their castration (Brain, 1994). Nowadays, however, ethical issues and concerns have become increasingly important and thus it is debatable and questionable whether these kind of forced surgical interventions are ethically justifiable and tenable. Serotonin and Aggressive Behaviour The synaptic transmitter serotonin seems to have as well a profound impact on aggressive behaviour in both humans and animals. In contrast to testosterone, however, a negative association between aggression and brain serotonin activity has been reported in past studies. Higley and collaborators (1992), for instance, investigated the activity of the neurotransmitter serotonin in around 30 monkeys in an observational study. The researchers ranked the monkeys according to their aggressive activities on the island where they were freely living and compared their ranks with the amount of serotonin brain activity. Their results demonstrated that serotonin levels are negatively correlated with aggression. Virkkunen and Linnoila (1993) supported these findings with their own study. They showed that individuals who consume alcohol excessively have comparatively lower serotonin metabolites concentrations (e.g. HIAA concentrations) in their cerebrospinal fluid. These applied also to animal tort uring children (Kruesi, 1979) and due to aggressive behaviour expelled American Marines (Brown et al., 1979). As a matter of fact, serotonin levels are affected by environmental context and stimuli. Dominant and high ranking primates for example who stand on the top of the hierarchical social status ladder display greater serotonin levels than primates who rank lower in the pecking order. If however the higher ranked primates loses his social status he analogously experiences a decrease in serotonin levels. Testosterone and Aggressive Behaviour Schaal and colleagues (1996) investigated more recently the association between physical violence and social dominance of pubescent male youths and their respective testosterone levels. It was shown that less socially dominant youths had lower levels of testosterone in comparison to socially more dominant peers who possess concurrently bigger amounts of testosterone amounts. Nevertheless, this finding could not be repeated with aggression levels as those pubescent youths who were perceived as more aggressively behaving had significantly lower testosterone concentrations than those males who had a low history of being physically aggressive and violent. Thus it was concluded that testosterone was related not so much to antisocial characteristics than to experienced social status. In other words, those who successfully achieve higher social dominance statuses experience an increase in testosterone while those who fail to gain high social status face a reduction in their testosterone pro duction. Experiments with younger children (e.g. 5-year-olds) it was found that boys with higher testosterone concentrations were more playfully aggressive in social interactions. However, this relationship could neither be established with girls nor in play contexts (Ahedo et al., 2002). This again implies that testosterone levels are not solely a modulator of aggressive behaviour but rather a mediator of any kind of social behaviour. Additionally, Ahedo and collaborators study demonstrated that sex differences in behaviour establish themselves already very early on in life. In another study (van Goozen et al., 1998) the androstenedione, testosterone, dehdroepiandrostenedione (DHEA) levels in prepubescent boys exhibiting antisocial conduct disorders was examined. Van Goozen and colleagues results revealed that antisocial conduct disordered infants’ aggressiveness was not significantly relatable to testosterone. However, the more antisocially behaving boys had significantly higher than average androstenedione levels and modestly higher than average DHEAS levels. Researchers like Ramirez (2003) believed that studies such as these have the power to shadow doubt on the validity of testosterone as a biological control system for aggressive behaviour in postnatal life. Even later on in life testosterone levels seem only to represent the consequence rather than a cause of aggression as testosterone does not immediately lead people to be physically aggressive but their aggression is solely a response to cognitive and social stimuli and triggers (Brain Su sman, 1996). Studies on observed changes in concentration levels of testosterone and cortisol during aggressive behaviour and social stress serve as support for those researchers maintaining that both the evolutionary and social contexts and experiences have an essential impact on hormonal levels in humans. Thus â€Å"gonadal hormones, besides being only one of the multiple processes -biological, social, and cognitive, to influence aggression in children and adolescents, might also be a signal of aggression, or even more precisely perhaps, of social success.† (Ramirez, 2003; p. 630). These findings about serotonin and testosterone are according to Ramirez (2003) of utmost importance as they demonstrate that that experiences made in life can alter both brain chemistry and hormonal production in fundamental ways. Thus it can be noted that social context and hormonal activities in the body and brain are inextricably linked. Past researches on abnormal (van Goozen et al., 2000) and normal (Nottelmann et al., 1987; Inoff-Germain et al., 1988) male and female children have revealed univocal associations between high hormone levels of adrenal origin like androstenedione or dehydroepiandrostenedione sulphate and aggression together with diverse other negative attributes such as antisocial behaviour, rebelliousness and anger. Furthermore, the fact that androstenedione which is a prevalent producer of androgens is linked to anger in females suggests that adrenal and not gonadal originated androgens play a fundamental part in determining the aggressive behaviour of the female sex. In addition to that, it has been found that serotonin is not the sole mediator of aggression but also noradrenergic, neuropeptides and GABA systems have been demonstrated to have an impact on aggressive behaviour. Additionally, estrogens, gonadotrophins, and prolactine have been identified as minor modulators. Thus, genetic and pharma cological experts have essentially extended the number of relevant hormones and neurotransmitters in the last couple of years (Nelson Chiavegatto, 2001). In conclusion, all the above findings fortify and support the currently predominant notion that aggression is not mediated by only one factor but by a network of many interplaying variables. References Ahedo, L., Cardas, J., Aizpiroz, A., Brain, P. F., Sanchez-Martin, J. R. (2002). Social behavior in male and female 5-year olds and its relation to salivary testosterone levels. The developmental origins of aggressive behavior (p. 53). Montreal: ISRA. Archer, J. (1991). The influence of testosterone on human aggression. British Journal of Psychology, 82, 1–28. Beach, F.A. (1979). Aggressive Behavior. Hormones and Aggression, 5(3), 313-316. Bernhardt, P. C. (1997). Influences of serotonin and testosterone in aggression and dominance: convergence with social psychology. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2(6), 44-48. Bernstein, I. S., and Gordon, T. P. (1974). The function of aggression in primate societies. American Scientist, 62, 304-311. Book, A. S., Starzyk, K. B., Quinsey, V. L. (2001). The relationship between testosterone and aggression: A meta-analysis. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 6(6), 579–599. Brain, P. 1994. Hormonal aspects of aggression and violence. In A. Reiss, Jr., K. Miczek, and J. 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