Path to Terrorist Violence: A Threat Assessment Model for Radical Groups at Risk of Escalation to Acts of Terrorism   [open pdf - 428KB]

From the thesis abstract: "A threat assessment model to identify domestic radical groups on a trajectory towards terrorist violence remains an elusive goal. The lack of a model constrains proactive counter-terrorism efforts resulting in largely reactive strategies that often are ineffectual in discovering and disrupting terrorist plots while in an inchoate stage. The Path to Terrorist Violence Model, based on a threat assessment model used in the emerging field of threat management for the judiciary and elected officials, is a valid and reliable assessment methodology to identify radical groups at risk of escalation to acts of terrorism. By focusing on attack-related behaviors that a group must take to mount a planned attack, the Path to Terrorist Violence avoids contentious issues related to psychosocial, religious, race or ethnicity-based profiling assumptions."