John G. Horgan | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1974 (age 50–51) |
| Known for | Expert on the psychology of terrorism |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | University College Cork |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Psychology |
| Sub-discipline |
|
| Institutions | |
| Main interests |
|
| Website | terroristbehavior |
John G. Horgan (born 1974) is a Distinguished University Professor of Psychology atGeorgia State University inAtlanta,Georgia. He studies involvement and engagement withterrorism, with a focus on disengagement andderadicalisation from terrorist movements. He has been described by the European Eye on Radicalization research group as the "world’s most distinguished expert in the psychology of terrorism".[2] Since 2019, Horgan has been leading a team of researchers funded by theU.S. Department of Homeland Security to research theincel subculture.[3][4]
Horgan is a native ofCastleisland,County Kerry, Ireland.[5] Horgan was awarded hisPh.D. inapplied psychology in 2000 byUniversity College Cork.[1] While in Ireland, he spent several years conducting detailed research onIrish Republican movements, and published several articles on the fundraising activities of theProvisional Irish Republican Army.[citation needed]
Horgan is a Distinguished University Professor of Psychology at Georgia State University, where he leads the Violent Extremism Research Group.[3] He has previously held positions at theUniversity of Massachusetts Lowell,[6]Pennsylvania State University,[7] and theUniversity of St Andrews.[8] While at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell he directed their Center for Terrorism & Security Studies;[9] while at Pennsylvania State University, he directed for their International Center for the Study of Terrorism.[7]
In 2006, Horgan became a recipient of an Airey Neave Trust Fellowship Award,[10] and he has since been awarded multiple grants for his research on terrorist behaviour. In 2010, following his consultancy work with theFBI'sBehavioral Analysis Unit (BAU), he was appointed to the Research Advisory Board of the FBI'sNational Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC) until its official disbandment in 2012.[7] In August 2012 he became a member of the new NCAVC Research Working Group.[1]
In 2019, Horgan and a group of researchers at Georgia State University were awarded $250,000 by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to research the growth and spread of theincel subculture, a group that Horgan described as "one of the purest hotbeds of Internet radicalisation I’ve ever seen".[3][4]
Horgan has extensively researched involvement and engagement in terrorism.[1] Some of his research on this subject was published in the journalsTerrorism and Political Violence,Studies in Conflict & Terrorism,The Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, andDynamics of Asymmetric Conflict.[11] Horgan has written several books on terrorism, includingThe Psychology of Terrorism (2005 and 2014),Divided We Stand: The Strategy and Psychology of Ireland's Dissident Terrorists (2012), andThe Future of Terrorism (1999, withMax Taylor).[11] Horgan is editor of the journalTerrorism and Political Violence.[1] He serves on the editorial boards of several journals includingStudies in Conflict & Terrorism,[12]Journal of Strategic Security,[13] andLegal and Criminological Psychology.[14]
