7 Mental Health as a Risk Factor

The relationship between psychopathology and terrorism has received substantial attention from researchers, practitioners, and media alike. This chapter begins by critically engaging with the difficulties of measuring diagnoses of poor mental health among people who engage in terrorist offenses. It then moves to summarize significant empirical advancements that have shaped our sophistication of understanding the relevanceof factors for individuals at risk of offending. The chapter discusses psychopathology as a ‘thread’ that links several forms of offending (including terrorism), challenging our understanding that different types of violent acts are truly distinct. We conclude by discussing the future of terrorism research, acknowledging the many pathways to violence that may include psychopathology, and the need for continued use of novel data and dynamic analytical procedures to understand this relationship.