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Smoke and fire coming from a terror attack
Violence and trauma

Terrorism

Andrew Silke with his practical recommendations for preventing further atrocities.

18 November 2001

I compiled this article back in July, several weeks before the horrific events of 11 September. So it was somewhat surprising that even in the wake of the most destructive terrorist attacks in history I found that the fundamentals remained unchanged and the message and advice psychology offered, in my eyes at least, remained the same. What did emerge after the 11th was a powerful and urgent need for answers and understanding. In the days that followed, two questions were put to me time and time again: Why do people commit acts of terrorism? How can it be stopped?

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