09/02/2022
By Karen Mullins

The School of Criminology and Justice Studies is proud to announce a Dissertation Defense by John D. Colautti entitled "No Place Like Home - The Role of Organizational Structure in Extremist Spatial Decision-Making," on Wednesday, Sept. 14 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in HSS Conference Room. Also via Zoom. (Password: 378215)

Committee:

  • Neil D. Shortland, Chair
  • James J. F. Forest
  • April F. Pattavina
  • James M. Silver

ABSTRACT: Criminological theory has often focused on the relationship between offender and the space that they offend. Various criminological theories have argued there is a relationship between the offender(s) home and the location of the crime. Researchers have increasingly used geospatial analyses of specific offenses to understand the aspects of the environment that make it appealing to offenders. Those who study terrorism have increasingly used criminological perspectives to explore the relationship between offender and target. Studies have focused on spatial and temporal attack analysis; geographic and situational terrain determinants; analysis of dates and specific events; social-spatial network dependencies; situational and individual target selection factors; as well as the effect of ideology on target selection. One aspect missing from the geographical studies of behavior, and indeed that separates terrorism from other forms of violence, is the role of a wider group/network as a critical influence on the behavior and decision-making of the terrorist offender. Since terrorist networks are not a static and adapt to world events (e.g., wars) and counter-terrorism efforts, the degree of individual behavior “associated” and “influenced” by a wider network varies. This evolving nature of terrorist behavior has not been factored into contemporary research using geospatial analysis. This absence is concerning given that adaptation of terrorist organizations over time, arguably, is likely to manifest in quantitative shifts in behavior related to where terrorist attacks occur, and the relationship between the attack site and the individual. In this study, using data from American Terrorism Study (ATS) database, we found that spatial attacks exhibit signs of distance-decay between all extremist actor types. Furthermore, analysis showed perpetrators had varying operating ranges based on organizational connectedness. Theoretical and policy implications are also discussed.