Assessing the Attractiveness of Human and Non-Human Targets in Domestic Extremist Incidents

• In Event: Predicting Terrorist Behavior

Abstract

This study applies Newman and Clark’s (2006) EVIL DONE model for ranking the attractiveness of terrorist targets to the targets of domestic terrorist incidents. The research will examine the role ideology plays in target selection, the differences in attractiveness for human and non-human targets as well as the differences in attractiveness based upon the type of incident. This project uses date from the Extremist Crime Database (ECDB) which contains illegal violent incidents in the United States from 1990 to present. Attractiveness of targets will be examined as a predictor of the lethality of attacks as well as the overall economic and property damage to targets. The research has several important implications for situational crime prevention and target hardening of human and non-human targets.

Author

• Sarah Fitzgerald, Michigan State University