Editorial Comment

• DOI: 10.1177/1043986207301368
• Author: Brent L. Smith
• Date: 01 May 2007
• Published date: 01 May 2007
• Subject Matter: Articles

Journal of Contemporary
Criminal Justice
Volume 23 Number 2
May 2007 140-141
© 2007 Sage Publications
Editorial Comment
10.1177/1043986207301368
http://ccj.sagepub.com
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It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as the guest editor for this special issue
of the Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice devoted to the theory and prac-
tice of responding to terrorism. The United States has changed a great deal since the
attacks on September 11, 2001, particularly for those engaged in preventing and
responding to terrorism. Even among academics, the change has been phenomenal.
In the decade since the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, terrorism research has
evolved from a virtual cult status to become a central issue in criminology and crim-
inal justice programs around the country. The creation of new academic programs in
homeland security, intelligence analysis, and counterterrorism; the emergence of
new scholars studying the phenomenon of terrorism and social control; and the
unparalleled increase in federal funding for research in this area have contributed to
significant developments in the body of knowledge relating to terrorism.
Although terrorism research has been criticized for being atheoretical and nonem-
pirical, major strides have been made in overcoming these deficiencies in recent years.
We have also learned a great deal about terrorists, particularly those who have targeted
the United States. First, we have learned that terrorists and traditional offenders are
demographically different. Although there are variations by type of group, the average
American terrorist group tends to be composed of somewhat older persons, more
racially diverse, better educated, and composed of a larger proportion of females than
the general criminal population. All of these differences suggest that the etiology of
terrorism is fundamentally different from that of traditional criminality.
Second, we have learned that terrorists behave very differently than...