‘Politics’ at Psychology, Philosophy and Real Life, Page 12

Original article removed 28 July 2006: At the request of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), the article originally appearing at this URL has been removed. The BACP request allows that the article may be republished at a later time provided that identifying features of people and professional bodies involved in the matter being reported have been removed. The URL for the appropriately edited article is available below.

As a video message from one of the London suicide bombers offers the first direct glimpse into terrorist motivations and psychology, public statements from politicians continue to suggest that they are unwilling or unable to engage in fact-based analysis of the terrorist threat.

Not content to focus on actual physical acts of terrorism, the UK government now plans to extend powers to deport or exclude foreigners on the basis of their beliefs. As the government prepares to make it illegal to ‘justify’ terrorism, and to exclude those whose views ‘pose a threat to UK security’, we ask about the psychology of terrorism and wonder why UK politicians are so reluctant to engage in reality-based analysis. Contrary to currently popular political demagoguery, ‘to explain’ and ‘to justify’ are not the same thing.

As London’s Metropolitan Police announce their intention to focus stop and search operations on young Asian men in an attempt to prevent suicide bombings, we take a look at some underlying assumptions about stop and search. Mathematics and reflections on the psychology of suicide bombing suggest that stop and search will make virtually no difference to the probability of a suicide bombing taking place.

The UK Government’s response to the Joint Scrutiny Committee on the draft Mental Health Bill offers some hope but there is a long way to go before Government plans can be made into a workable mental health bill, the Mental Health Alliance said today. The Government intends to press ahead with plans to broaden out powers of compulsion and deny professionals the flexibility they need to offer people the right care and support.