The Spectacular Few : Prisoner Radicalization and the Evolving Terrorist Threat / Mark S. Hamm.
2013
HV6432 .H3654 2013
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Details
Title
The Spectacular Few : Prisoner Radicalization and the Evolving Terrorist Threat / Mark S. Hamm.
Author
Hamm, Mark S., author.
ISBN
9780814724071
Published
New York, NY : : New York University Press, [2013]
Copyright
©2013
Language
English
Language Note
In English.
Description
1 online resource : 9 black and white illustrations
Other Standard Identifiers
10.18574/nyu/9780814725443.001.0001 doi
Call Number
HV6432 .H3654 2013
Dewey Decimal Classification
363.325110973
Summary
The Madrid train bombers, shoe-bomber Richard Reid, al-Qaeda in Iraq, and the 9/11 attacks-all were led by men radicalized behind bars. By their very nature, prisons are intended to induce transformative experiences among inmates, but today's prisons are hotbeds for personal transformation toward terrorist beliefs and actions due to the increasingly chaotic nature of prison life caused by mass incarceration. In The Spectacular Few, Mark Hamm demonstrates how prisoners use criminal cunning, collective resistance and nihilism to incite terrorism against Western targets. A former prison guard himself, Hamm knows the realities of day-to-day prison life and understands how prisoners socialize, especially the inner-workings and power of prison gangs-be they the Aryan Brotherhood or radical Islam. He shows that while Islam is mainly a positive influence in prison, certain forces within the prison Muslim movement are aligned with the efforts of al-Qaeda and its associates to inspire convicts in the United States and Europe to conduct terrorist attacks on their own. Drawing from a wide range of sources-including historical case studies of prisoner radicalization reaching from Gandhi and Hitler to Malcolm X, Bobby Sands and the detainees of Guantanamo; a database of cases linking prisoner radicalization with evolving terrorist threats ranging from police shootouts to suicide bombings; interviews with intelligence officers, prisoners affiliated with terrorist groups and those disciplined for conducting radicalizing campaigns in prison-The Spectacular Few imagines the texture of prisoners' lives: their criminal thinking styles, the social networks that influenced them, and personal "turning points" that set them on the pathway to violent extremism. Hamm provides a broad understanding of how prisoners can be radicalized, arguing that in order to understand the contemporary landscape of terrorism, we must come to terms with how prisoners are treated behind bars.
Access Note
Access limited to authorized users.
System Details Note
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
Digital File Characteristics
text file PDF
Source of Description
Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 18. Sep 2023)
Series
Alternative Criminology ; ; 13
Available in Other Form
print 9780814725443
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Online Access
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Online Resources > Ebooks
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Table of Contents
Frontmatter
Contents
Preface
1 The Invisible History of Prisoner Radicalization
2 Islam in Prison
3 Prisoner Radicalization after 9/11
4 The Spectacular Few
5 Pathways to Terrorism
6 The Riddle of Radicalization
7 Al-Qaeda of California
8 The New Barbarians
9 Terrorist Kingpins and the De-Radicalization Movement
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Notes
Acknowledgments
Index
About the Author
Contents
Preface
1 The Invisible History of Prisoner Radicalization
2 Islam in Prison
3 Prisoner Radicalization after 9/11
4 The Spectacular Few
5 Pathways to Terrorism
6 The Riddle of Radicalization
7 Al-Qaeda of California
8 The New Barbarians
9 Terrorist Kingpins and the De-Radicalization Movement
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Notes
Acknowledgments
Index
About the Author