Are terrorists “insane”? A critical analysis of mental health categories in lone terrorists’ trials

Baele, Stéphane
(2014) Critical Studies on Terrorism — Vol. 7, n° 2, p. 257-276 (2014)

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Abstract
Lone terrorists’ trials very often include long discussions on the mental health of suspects. This article offers a critical analysis of the mental health categories that are used in lone terrorists’ trials. By examining how the judicial concept of “insanity” collided with the psychiatric classification of mental illnesses in Breivik’s and Kaczynski’s trials, I suggest that lone terrorists’ trials can be understood as ritualistic devices whose latent function for society is to reaffirm its progressive values. This is done through the consolidation of a cognitive prototype of the category of the “insane reactionary terrorist".
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Baele, S. (2014). Are terrorists “insane”? A critical analysis of mental health categories in lone terrorists’ trials. Critical Studies on Terrorism, 7(2), 257-276. https://doi.org/10.1080/17539153.2014.902695 (Original work published 2014)