Suchergebnisse

Statistics on bombing incidents & threats, bomb plots & caches, in US cities are given & analyzed. Despite frequent reference to the concept of an "Ur revolution," neither the number of bombings nor the police ambush casualty rate indicate a very high level of "guerilla warfare" in the US. Terrorism is often confused with revolution due to the radical left's justifying ideology & theoretical dependence upon theories of Ur guerrilla warfare. The symbolic functions of terrorism are explored. Terrorism is viewed as an act of COMM consisting of transmitter (terrorist), intended recipient (target), message (bombing, ambush) & feedback (reaction of target). Terrorism is found to be subject to many of the same pathologies & disruptions suffered by more conventional means of COMM, eg, lack of fidelity in the medium of transmission, target distortion, lack of responsiveness, etc. To hyp that terrorism can be a means of interest articulation within the system in no way lessens its soc signif nor mitigates the suffering of its victims. To suggest the need for empirical res is not a call for normative neutrality. A content analysis of symbolic violence must be devised. It should focus on general patterns as discerned from various pol'al events from local racial issues to foreign policy decisions. The development & refinement of consistent coding criteria, not only to facilitate the study of terrorism in varying Ur environments but also to permit cross-nat'l comparisons, is called for. 5 Tables, 1 Figure. M. Maxfield.