The human factor
Here, you can learn more about what security culture is, how to strengthen it, and how we during our emergency management planning, can view people as tools in our prevention work.
In order to mitigate the violent extremist threat, it is essential to be aware of how human nature affects the understanding of e.g. terrorism. How organisations understand and handle threats is largely governed by how risks are articulated in society. This is an important point to consider, not only when planning crisis and risk communication, but also in the preventive work to mitigate or reduce the consequences of a threat.
What are we talking about when we talk about terrorism
Terrorism is a broad term, and how it is defined has been largely open to interpretation through the years. Even today, terror is a concept, which most people have an opinion on. Against this background, we have chosen to set out a common and easily understood definition of the concept on which the content of this platform relates to.
The platform's tools deal with physical security and electronic surveillance of buildings and urban spaces in relation to terrorism and violent extremism.
In this context terrorism is understood in terms of Section 114 of the Danish Criminal Code and the EU definition as intentional, unlawful acts intended to inflict serious damage to a country or an organisation. These acts are committed with the aim of intimidating a population and/or destabilising or destroying the fundamental structures of the organisation.
Characteristics of terrorism
There are numerous forms and definitions of the concept of terrorism, but they all share three characteristics:
- Those who carry out acts of terrorism often see themselves as part of something bigger. The terrorists are likely to see themselves as, e.g. freedom fighters, martyrs or something else that, in their view, justifies the means.
- Terrorism is a complex concept that is difficult to get to the core of, as it is motivated by different beliefs and can be viewed from multiple angles.
- There are unclear rules about when we call something terrorism; this is true for terrorism, as for so many other complex concepts. The complexity of the concept complicates its use.
Because we are dealing with a complex concept, this platform has a conceptual framework to help understand the concept being addressed.