Jihadi Psychology Flummoxes Shrinks

Here's a niche demanding to be filled: shrinks who specialize in assessing the minds of jihadis. From the National Post:

BRAMPTON, ONT. — Shareef Abdelhaleem and the other Toronto 18 terrorists are presenting the Canadian court system with a new quandary: When judges depend on psychiatric experts to predict an offender’s likelihood of doing it again, what happens when the criminal mind is motivated by ideology?

“It’s ideology-driven rather than [typical] criminal-type behaviour. That’s why it’s difficult,” said Michael Chan, a forensic psychiatrist based in Kingston.

Monday marked the latest delay in one of the final Toronto 18 cases grinding through the system. Abdelhaleem’s sentencing has been stalled repeatedly because the forensic psychiatrist on the case hasn’t been able to figure him out yet.

“Abdelhaleem has been a challenging individual to interview in the same timeframe as I might have dedicated to other assessees, in part because of his communication style, and in part because of the complexity and novelty of the issues in a case of this kind,” forensic psychiatrist Hy Bloom wrote in a letter entered as evidence in court.

The delays have evidently riled Justice Fletcher Dawson, who upon rescheduling the sentencing to January, declared: “I’m just about out of accommodations, personally.”

But experts say the dearth of psychiatric information on Canadian terrorists makes analyzing these matters challenging at best. With Canadian terrorism prosecutions still a relatively new phenomenon — anti-terrorism legislation was only put in place a decade ago, in response to Sept. 11 — forensic psychiatrists are largely wading into uncharted territory...

Sorry, a "new phenomenon"? "Uncharted territory"? Really? Closing in on a decade since 9/11, the phenomenon can hardly be called "new". By now this area should be flooded with experts. That it isn't, and that professionals seem to be shunning it at all costs, speaks volumes about our mindset.

In any event, surely there are Israeli psychiatrists with this particular expertise whom the prosecution could call upon.

Or, in a pinch, Robert Spencer (because, really, to explain the psychology of a jihadi you don't need a shrink; you need someone who "gets" and can explain the jihad).