Citation

Liem M, van Buuren J, de Roy van Zuijdewijn J, Schönberger H, Bakker E. Homicide Stud. 2018; 22(1): 45-69.

Affiliation

Leiden University, The Hague, The Netherlands.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1088767917736797

PMID

30443150

PMCID

PMC6196579

Abstract

The term "Lone Actor" has been applied to a variety of violent individuals who are thought to act out of ideological motivations using terrorist tactics. So far, much of the research is U.S.-based. There is an empirical vacuum of Lone Actor violence in Europe and a conceptual gap in how these acts may be understood as a variation of homicidal behavior. We examine and compare characteristics of European Lone Actors to European "common" homicide offenders. Lone Actor terrorists constitute a heterogeneous group that is similar to homicide offenders but differs in terms of substance use, weapon use, and target. These findings may be understood in the context of instrumental versus expressive aims.

Language: en

Keywords

Europe; Lone Actors; homicide; ideology; terrorism