Max Taylor (psychologist)

Last updated

Maxwell "Max" Taylor (born 19 April 1945) is a criminal and legal psychologist. His early work specialised in the study of terrorism but he also became involved in the study of sex offenders, and in the development of capacity building activities for disadvantaged children in conflict zones, returning later to the study of terrorism.

Contents

Life and career

After earlier appointments in Wales, Canada and Northern Ireland, he was appointed Professor and Head of the Department of Applied Psychology, at University College Cork a post he held from 1983 to 2005. In 2005, Taylor became Professor of International Relations and Director of E-Learning at the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence University of St Andrews, where he subsequently became Director in 2009. He retired from this post in 2012. He is currently Visiting Professor in the Department of Security and Crime Sciences, University College, London.

In the period 1993 to 2004, Taylor developed the Child Studies Unit. This Unit grew out of work in Khartoum, Sudan, and later had technical offices in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Kigali, Rwanda, and during the Balkans War in Sarajevo (subsequently moving to Zenica). From 1994 to 1996 he was a consultant to the UNICEF Special Representative to the Former Yugoslavia. The Child Studies Unit was primarily concerned with capacity building for disadvantaged children living in conflict zones. [1] [2]

In 1998 Taylor formed the COPINE Project ("Combating Paedophile Information Networks in Europe"): this was an EU funded research initiative which was originally developed in co-operation with the Paedophile Unit of the London Metropolitan Police. As part of the Project work, with colleagues he helped to develop the COPINE scale. [3] [4] The COPINE Scale is a typology to categorise child abuse images for use in both research and law enforcement. [5] The COPINE Scale formed the basis of the UK Sentencing Advisory Commission sentencing guidelines on conviction of offenders. The ten-level typology was based on analysis of images available on websites and internet newsgroups. Other researchers developed similar ten-level scales. [6]

In St. Andrews Taylor developed innovative elearning programmes in Terrorism Studies (Certificate in Terrorism Studies, and Diploma and M.Litt. in Terrorism Studies). [7] This built on and extended Taylor's work in developing the elearning undergraduate and graduate programmes in Information Technology offered by the National Distance Education Centre, Dublin where Taylor was Course Leader for the Social and Behavioural Sciences stream. A characteristic of the Terrorism Studies programmes was their focus on integration of theory with practise.

For most of his academic career, Taylor has been concerned with the problems of applying psychology to real life problems. In part this has involved the development and use of psychological insights in new untested situations, but there has also been a consistent thread of concern with integrating theory with practice in areas of existing practice. He was one of the first investigators exploring psychological factors in the development of terrorism, and in exploring links between situational crime analysis and terrorist behaviour. His work has been grounded in his background in behaviour analysis, but his recent work has engaged with ecological and environmental factors. Recent research relates to terrorism and the Internet. He is currently editor of the journal Terrorism and Political Violence and is also editor of the 'New Directions in Terrorism Studies Series' (with Currie, P.M. and Horgan, J.) published by Bloomsbury Press.

Selected publications

Podcast

Books

  • Taylor, M., Horgan J. (2021) "Ethics and Terrorism." Routledge, ISBN   978-1-032-12065-2
  • Taylor, M., Roach, J., Pease, K. (2015) "Evolutionary Psychology and Terrorism." Routledge, ISBN   978-1138774582
  • Taylor, M., Holbrook, D., Currie, PM (2013) Extreme Right Wing Political Violence and Terrorism. Continuum Press, ISBN   9781441151629
  • Taylor, M, Currie, PM (2012) Terrorism and Affordance Continuum Press, ISBN   9781441133816
  • Currie PM, Taylor M (2011). Dissident Irish Republicanism. Continuum Press, ISBN   978-1-4411-5467-5
  • Quayle E, Erooga M, Wright L, Taylor M, Harbinson D (2006). Only Pictures? Therapeutic work with Internet sex offenders. Russell House Publishing, ISBN   978-1-903855-68-3
  • Quayle E, Taylor M, eds. (2005). Viewing child pornography on the Internet. Understanding the offence, managing the offender, helping the victims. Russell House Publishing, ISBN   978-1-903855-69-0
  • Taylor M, Quayle E (2003). Child Pornography: An Internet Crime. Routledge, ISBN   978-1-58391-244-7
  • Taylor M, Horgan J (2000). The Future of Terrorism. Cass series on political violence, Routledge ISBN   978-0-7146-8090-3
  • Taylor M, Quayle E (1994). Terrorist Lives. Brassey's, Ltd., ISBN   978-0-08-041327-3
  • Taylor M (1991). The Fanatics. A Behavioural approach to political violence. Brassey's, ISBN   978-0-08-036274-8
  • Taylor M (1988). The Terrorist. Brassey's Defence Publishers, ISBN   978-0-08-033602-2

Papers

  • Some Preliminary Thoughts Prompted by President Trump's 6 January Speech: Words, Enemies, Affordances. In "6 January Forum", Terrorism and Political Violence, 2021, 33:5, 907–911, DOI: 10.1080/09546553.2021.1932337
  • Primum non Nocere: First do no harm. In "Special Issue on Terrorism and Ethics" Taylor, M. and Horgan, J. (Eds) Terrorism and Political Violence, 2021 https://doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2021.1880239
  • Psychological Dimensions of Terrorism. In "Jihadi Terrorism: New Threats New Responses" Richards, A. (Ed.) Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019.
  • Criminogenic qualities of the Internet. Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict, 2015, 8 (2), pp 97–106
  • Evolutionary Psychology, Terrorism and Terrorist Behaviour. In "Evolutionary Psychology and Terrorism." Taylor, M., Roach, J., Pease, K. (Eds) Taylor and Frances, 2015
  • National Interest and Strategy: an ecologically grounded analysis. In Edmunds, T., Gaskarth, J. and Porter, R. (Eds.) British Foreign Policy and National Interest: Identity, Strategy and Security. Palgrave Macmillan, 2014
  • If I Were You, I Wouldn't Start From Here: Response to Marc Sageman's “The Stagnation in Terrorism Research” Taylor, M. Terrorism and Political Violence, 2014, DOI: 10.1080/09546553.2014.895650
  • Developing grading processes for ideological content. Holbrook, D. and Taylor, M. Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism, 2014, 9, (1), 32–47
  • Terroristic Content: Towards a Grading Scale. Holbrook, D., Ramsay, G., Taylor, M. Terrorism and Political Violence, 2013, 25, issue 2, pp. 202–223.
  • Terrorism. in Graham Davies and Anthony Beech (Eds) Forensic Psychology. Crime, Justice, Law, Intervention. 2nd Edition. BPsS and John Wiley, 2012.
  • Radicalisation and Internet propaganda by Dissident Republican Groups in Northern Ireland since 2008. Nalton, J, Ramsey, G and Taylor, M. In Dissident Irish Republicanism. Currie, P.M. and Taylor, M. (Eds) New York: Continuum Press, 2011.
  • Disengagement, De-radicalization and the Arc of Terrorism: Future Directions for Research, Horgan, J. and Taylor, M. in Rik Coolsaet (Ed.) Jihadi Terrorism and the Radicalization Challenge. London: Ashgate. 2011
  • Social Networking as a nexus for engagement and exploitation of young people. Quayle, E., Taylor, M. Information Security Technical Report 2011, 16, 44–50
  • Introduction. In Dissident Irish Republicanism. Currie, P.M. and Taylor, M. (Eds) New York: Continuum Press, 2011.
  • New Labour, Defence and the ‘War on Terror’. In Gaskarth, J. and Daddow, O. In British Foreign Policy: The New Labour Years, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011
  • Is Terrorism a Group Phenomenon? Aggression and Violent Behavior, 15 (2010), 121–129
  • Financial Intelligence: A price worth paying? Parker, M. and Taylor, M. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 33, (2010), 949–959
  • Violent Radical Content and the Relationship between Ideology and Behaviour: Do Counter-Narratives Matter? Taylor, M. & Ramsay, G. In National Coordingator for Counter Terrorism, Countering Violent Extremist Narratives. The Hague, Netherlands, Jan 2010
  • Somalia and the Horn of Africa. In A.P. Schmid and G.F. Hindle After the War on Terror: Regional and Multilateral Perspectives on Counter-Terrorism Strategy. RUSI Books, London. 2009
  • Criminogenic qualities of the Internet in the collection and distribution of abuse images of children. Taylor, M. and Quayle, E. In J. McCarthy, E. Quayle, S. Aylwin and F. Lyddy. Applying Psychology: A feitschrift for Dr Elizabeth A. Dunne. Irish Journal of Psychology, 2008, 29, 119–130
  • Mad, Bad or Freedom Fighters: The new challenges of terrorism. In Sharpe, M. (Ed) Suicide Bombers: The Psychological, Religious and Other Imperatives. NATO Science for Peace Programme. IOS Press, Amsterdam. 2008
  • A Conceptual Framework for Addressing Psychological Process In The Development of The Terrorist. Taylor, M. and Horgan, J. Terrorism and Political Violence, 2006, 18:585–601
  • Taylor, M. and Elbushra, M.Hassan al-Turabi, Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda in Sudan. Terrorism and Political Violence, 2006, 18:3 pp449–64
  • Horgan, J. and Taylor, M. "Insurgency in Ireland: A preliminary analysis of the Provisional IRA ceasefire – 1994–1996", in Albrecht Schnabel and Rohan Gunaratna, Understanding and Managing Insurgent Movements, Singapore: Marshall Cavendish International, 2006, pp. 124–152.
  • The Internet and abuse images of children; search, precriminal situations and opportunity. Taylor, M. and Quayle, E. In Wortley, R. and Smallbone, S. (Eds) ‘Situational perspectives of Sexual Offences against Children’ Crime Prevention Studies Series (jointly published by Criminal Justice Press (US) and Willan Publishing (UK). 2006
  • Sex offenders, Internet child abuse images and emotional avoidance: The importance of values. Quayle, E., Vaughan, M. and Taylor, M. (2005) Aggression and Violent Behavior, 11, 1–11
  • A Cognitive Behavioural Model of Problematic Internet Use in People with a Sexual Interest in Children. E.Quayle and M. Taylor. CyberPsychology and Behaviour, 2003, 6, 93–106
  • Child pornography and the Internet: Perpetuating a cycle of abuse E. Quayle and M. Taylor. Deviant Behaviour, 2002, 23, 331–362
  • Paedophiles, Pornography and the Internet: Assessment Issues E.Quayle and M. Taylor. British Journal of Social Work, 2002, 32, 863–875
  • Typology of Paedophile Picture Collections. (with Holland G. and Quayle E.) Police Journal, 2001, 71, 97–107
  • Child seduction and self-representation on the Internet: A case study E.Quayle and M. Taylor. CyberPsychology and Behavior, 2001, 4 (5), 597–608
  • The Psychological and Behavioural bases of Islamic Fundamentalism. Taylor, M. and Horgan, J. Terrorism and Political Violence, 2001, 13, 37–71
  • Examining Burglar's Target Selection: Interview, Experiment or Enthnomethodology? Nee, C. and Taylor, M. Psychology, Crime and Law, 2000, 6, 45–59
  • Future developments of terrorism in Europe. (with Horgan, J.) Terrorism and Political Violence, 1999, 11, 83–93
  • Towards a psychology of surveillance. (with Horgan J. and Sarma, K.) The Police Journal April 1999, 161–167
  • Playing the green card: financing the Provisional IRA – Part 1. (with Horgan, J.) Terrorism and Political Violence, 1999, 11, 1–38
  • The Provisional Irish Republican Army: Command and Functional Structure. (with J. Horgan) Terrorism and Political Violence, 1997, 9, 1–32
  • Issues in Terrorism Research (with Hogan, J.) The Police Journal, Vol. LXX, July–September 1997, 3, 193–202
  • Proceedings of the Irish Republican Army general army convention December 1969'(with Hogan, J.) Terrorism and Political Violence, 1997, 9, 151–158
  • Resurgence of a Terrorist Organisation: Part 1: The UDA, a case study. Taylor, M. and Cusack, J. Terrorism and Political Violence 1993, 5, 1–27
  • Rational Choice, Behaviour Analysis and Political Violence. In Routine Activity and Rational Choice – Advances in Criminological Theory. Clarke, R.V. and Felson, M. (Eds) Transaction Press: Rutgers, New Jersey. 1992

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">State terrorism</span> Acts of terrorism conducted by a state

State terrorism refers to acts of terrorism which a state conducts against another state or against its own citizens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terrorism</span> Use of fear to further a political or ideological cause

Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of intentional violence and fear to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war against non-combatants. The terms "terrorist" and "terrorism" originated during the French Revolution of the late 18th century but became widely used internationally and gained worldwide attention in the 1970s during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the Basque conflict, and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The increased use of suicide attacks from the 1980s onwards was typified by the 2001 September 11 attacks in the United States.

Pornography addiction is the scientifically controversial application of an addiction model to the use of pornography. Pornography may be part of compulsive sexual behavior with negative consequences to one's physical, mental, social, or financial well-being. While the World Health Organization's ICD-11 (2022) has recognized compulsive sexual behaviour disorder (CSBD) as an "impulsive control disorder", CSBD is not an addiction, and the American Psychiatric Association's DSM-5 (2013) and the DSM-5-TR (2022) do not classify compulsive pornography consumption as a mental disorder or a behavioral addiction.

Victor B. Cline (1925–2013) was a University of California, Berkeley Ph D in Psychology, a research scientist with the George Washington University’s Human Resources Research Office, and an Emeritus Professor in Psychology at the University of Utah. His private clinical practice was in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Abuse is the improper usage or treatment of a thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, crimes, or other types of aggression. To these descriptions, one can also add the Kantian notion of the wrongness of using another human being as means to an end rather than as ends in themselves. Some sources describe abuse as "socially constructed", which means there may be more or less recognition of the suffering of a victim at different times and societies.

A lone wolf attack, or lone actor attack, is a particular kind of mass murder, committed in a public setting by an individual who plans and commits the act on their own. In the United States, such attacks are usually committed with firearms. In other countries, knives are sometimes used to commit mass stabbings. Although definitions vary, most databases require a minimum of four victims for the event to be considered a mass murder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cycle of abuse</span> Social cycle theory explaining patterns of behavior in an abusive relationship

The cycle of abuse is a social cycle theory developed in 1979 by Lenore E. Walker to explain patterns of behavior in an abusive relationship. The phrase is also used more generally to describe any set of conditions which perpetuate abusive and dysfunctional relationships, such as abusive child rearing practices which tend to get passed down. Walker used the term more narrowly, to describe the cycling patterns of calm, violence, and reconciliation within an abusive relationship. Critics suggest the theory was based on inadequate research criteria, and cannot therefore be generalized upon.

The term cycle of violence refers to repeated and dangerous acts of violence as a cyclical pattern, associated with high emotions and doctrines of retribution or revenge. The pattern, or cycle, repeats and can happen many times during a relationship. Each phase may last a different length of time, and over time the level of violence may increase. The phrase has been increasingly widespread since first popularized in the 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Horgan (psychologist)</span> Irish political psychologist and terrorism expert

John G. Horgan is a Distinguished University Professor of Psychology at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia. He studies involvement and engagement with terrorism, with a focus on disengagement and deradicalisation 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". Since 2019, Horgan has been leading a team of researchers funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to research the incel subculture.

Pedophilia is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puberty at age 10 or 11, and boys at age 11 or 12, psychiatric diagnostic criteria for pedophilia extend the cut-off point for prepubescence to age 13.

The COPINE scale is a rating system created in Ireland and used in the United Kingdom to categorise the severity of images of child sex abuse. The scale was developed by staff at the COPINE project. The COPINE Project was founded in 1997, and is based in the Department of Applied Psychology, University College Cork, Ireland.

Victimisation is the state or process of being victimised or becoming a victim. The field that studies the process, rates, incidence, effects, and prevalence of victimisation is called victimology.

Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in sexual activities with a child, indecent exposure, child grooming, and child sexual exploitation, such as using a child to produce child pornography.

A range of research has been conducted examining the link between viewing child pornography and perpetration of child sexual abuse, and much disagreement persists regarding whether a causal connection has been established. Perspectives fall into one of three positions:

Child pornography is unlawful pornography in most jurisdictions that exploits minors for sexual stimulation. It may be produced with the direct involvement or sexual assault of a child or it may be simulated child pornography. Abuse of the child occurs during the sexual acts or lascivious exhibitions of genitals or pubic areas which are recorded in the production of child pornography. Child pornography may use a variety of mediums, including writings, magazines, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, video, virtual reality and video games. Child pornography may be created for profit or other reasons.

Dennis Howitt is a British psychologist. He is a reader in Applied Psychology at Loughborough University and the author of numerous psychology textbooks. He is a chartered forensic psychologist and a Fellow of the British Psychological Society. His publications also include books on statistics, computing and methodology.

Fathali M. Moghaddam is an Iranian-born psychologist, author, professor of psychology at Georgetown University and director of the Interdisciplinary Program in Cognitive Science (ICOS), Department of Government, Georgetown University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paramilitary punishment attacks in Northern Ireland</span> Informal criminal justice system operated by loyalist and republican groups in Northern Ireland

Since the early 1970s, extrajudicial punishment attacks have been carried out by Ulster loyalist and Irish republican paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland. Attacks can range from a warning or expulsion from Northern Ireland, backed up by the threat of violence, to severe beatings that leave victims in hospital and shootings in the limbs. The cause of the attacks is disputed; proposed explanations include the breakdown of order as a result of the Northern Ireland conflict, ideological opposition to British law enforcement, and the ineffectiveness of police to prevent crime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cybersex trafficking</span> Online sexual exploitation

Cybersex trafficking, live streaming sexual abuse, webcam sex tourism/abuse or ICTs -facilitated sexual exploitation is a cybercrime involving sex trafficking and the live streaming of coerced sexual acts and/or rape on webcam.

Ethel Quayle is British clinical psychologist. She is Personal Chair of Forensic Clinical Psychology at the University of Edinburgh. She researches sexual crimes against children, particularly sexual offenses involving the internet.

References

  1. Veale, A., Taylor, M. (1996) 'The problem of street children: Parallel causes and intervention' In: Carr, s. Schumaker, J (eds). Psychology and the Developing world Greenwood Publishing. ( ISBN   0275952452).
  2. Veale, A., Taylor, M & Linehan, C. (2000) 'Psychological perspectives of 'abandoned' and 'abandoning' street children' In: Cambridge University Press (eds). Abandoned children. ( ISBN   0521775558)
  3. Nolan, Larissa, Sweeney, Conor (30 January 2005). Paedophile trackers wind down project The Independent
  4. Crown Prosecution Service (August 2010). Indecent photographs of children Archived 24 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Quayle, Ethel (September 2008). "The COPINE Project" (PDF). Irish Probation Journal. Probation Board for Northern Ireland. 5. ISSN   1649-6396. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 December 2013.
  6. Taylor, M.; Quayle, E.; Holland, G. (2001). "Child Pornography, the Internet and Offending". The Canadian Journal of Policy Research. ISUMA. 2 (2): 94–100.
  7. Online Certificate in Terrorism Studies training course via University of St Andrews