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The recent influx of foreign fighters into Syria, particularly those aligning with the Islamic State, has brought renewed attention to the security threat posed by people who cross borders to participate in armed conflict. Although foreign fighters have rarely, if ever, constituted the majority of combatants in a war or insurgency, understanding their role is critical for conflict analysis and prevention. This review focuses on behavioral aspects of the foreign fighter phenomenon. Although other books and articles have focused wholly, or in part, on historical dimensions, the behavioral and social science literature on foreign fighters is much more limited. This review first explores the definitions of “foreign fighter” terminology, then analyzes what is known about their motivations and their pathways toward engaging in armed conflict on foreign soil. It examines recruitment strategies and the role of “radicalization” in feeding the transnational insurgent supply, and finally describes more specifically, the nature of foreign fighter involvement in more recent armed conflicts (e.g., Syria, Chechnya, Iraq, and Afghanistan), and speculates about the prospects for their future involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the role of operational research on counterterrorism. Analysis of threat from the new transnational terrorists; Principle for any behavioral research that seeks to inform questions of homeland or national security; Advantages of research-based approach.

Although the field of risk assessment has made tremendous advances in the past 20 years, assessments of targeted violence continue to pose a significant challenge to law enforcement, mental health, and other professionals. These specific and critical assessments require an innovative approach. The threat assessment model, developed and refined by the U.S. Secret Service, provides a useful framework for thinking about assessments of potential for targeted violence. In this paper, we attempt to define this approach as it has been developed by the Secret Service, and apply it within the existing professional/scientific literature on risk assessment. We begin with a brief review of existing models and approaches in risk assessment, and identification of some gaps in our existing knowledge as it relates to assessments of targeted violence. We then proceed with an outline of the threat assessment approach, including a review of principles and guiding operational questions, and discussion of its use in assessment of targeted violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three historical conceptualizations of fathering are described: the traditional perspective, marked by the model of the aloof and distant father; the modern perspective, concerned with child outcome variables of sex-role identity development, academic achievement, and moral development, all of which may be furthered by father-child contact; and the emergent perspective, exploring the premise that men have the capacity to be effective nurturers of their children. It is suggested that social science has lagged or run parallel to society's discussions about fathering. With increasing social attention on families and the relationship between family life and work life, social scientists have an opportunity to rethink understandings of fathering and to contribute to evolving social policies that affect families in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following a 1981 conference on Behavioral Science and the Secret Service, the author and his colleagues worked with the Service in a number of capacities. This paper summarizes their experience, with particular reference to the mentally ill threateners that come to the attention of the Secret Service. This experience offers one model for interaction between the Secret Service and a mental health agency, keeping clear the different roles of each. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the law/mental health field has expanded and matured in the last 20 years, the sophistication required by mental health professionals in order to respond appropriately to legal questions has grown significantly. Courts and legislatures define a growing number of legal competencies. Judges and attorneys are more familiar with mental health law than they were 10 or 20 years ago. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the continuing social debate about the insanity defense, little attention has been paid to the effects of the insanity acquittal on treatment. This article suggests that the insanity acquittal may retard treatment of mentally disordered and violent offenders. Failure to assign responsibility to a mentally disordered offender may lessen his/her initiative and emotional opportunity to make needed changes in perceptions and functioning. Three case studies illustrate the argument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]