Similarities Between Criminals And Terrorist Groups

Many people believe that criminal activity and terrorist activity are vastly different, but the fact is that terrorist groups and criminals are very similar in their planning, except that criminals and terrorist groups are both working towards a different goal. Terrorist groups are often motivated by religious or political beliefs, but criminals are motivated by greed or the exhilaration of committing a crime without being apprehended. However, terrorists and criminals have many things in common, for instance, criminals commit crimes as a way of life and terrorists will need to commit the same types of crimes to sustain themselves until the planned attack occurs. Furthermore, the behaviors of terrorists are similar to the behaviors of criminals
because criminals and terrorists have to logically plan the crimes and develop a contingency plan if they are apprehended. When exploring the relationship between criminals and terrorists, one must examine the differences and similarities between the groups. While terrorists and criminals have some common behavioral characteristics, criminals and terrorists may also have some differences. First, many criminals are focused on committing a crime without being apprehended; whereas, terrorists are willing to risk their lives and freedom to perpetrate a terrorist attack. For instance, terrorists are generally more willing to risk their lives in the form of a suicide bombing because the attacks are to further a political, religious, or ideological agenda; however, when criminals commit a crime, the crime is more for personal or economic gain. Most criminals do not perpetrate crimes that involve suicide as a part of the criminal act as criminals are not willing to die for the crime. Another difference between criminals and terrorists is that criminals prefer to remain anonymous in an effort to evade capture, but terrorists want the credit and media attention as this facilitates further promotion of the terrorist’s cause.