The Lone Terrorist: TRAP-18 as an Investigative Template
Training Description
Lone actor terrorism refers to violent acts carried out in support of some group, movement, or ideology by an individual in the absence of direction by an outside group. How do we ensure a comprehensive assessment of risk factors for such tragic acts before they happen? This exclusive training from the Global Institute of Forensic Research presents the development and utility of the Terrorist Radicalization Assessment Protocol-18 (TRAP-18). The instrument is designed to code for 8 proximal warning behaviors (such as pathway, fixation, identification, and last resort) and 10 longer term distal characteristics (such as personal grievance, ideological framing, failure of sexual pair bonding, and mental disorder). The TRAP-18 provides a means by which mental health, intelligence, law enforcement, and security professionals can organize accumulating operational data on a person of concern, and therefore plan for his or her risk management to reduce the threat of targeted violence. Research concerning the TRAP-18 is ongoing in both North America and Europe, and findings are demonstrating both interrater reliability and criterion validity.
This On Demand training is an introductory course that covers the development and utility of the Terrorist Radicalization Assessment Protocol-18 (TRAP-18). On February 8th, 2019, the Global Institute of Forensic Research will be facilitating an advanced training on the TRAP-18 with developer, Dr. J. Reid Meloy. The live and interactive workshop will train you in the use of the TRAP-18 and is recommended for all users. To learn more, visit https://gifrinc.com/trap-18-webinar/
Trainer Biography
J. Reid Meloy, PhD is a board-certified forensic psychologist and clinical professor of psychiatry, Univ. of California, San Diego. Dr. Meloy is also a fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and past president of the American Academy of Forensic Psychology. He consults on cases in both North America and Europe, and is the author, co-author, or editor of numerous papers and eleven books. Dr. Meloy is a consultant to the Behavioral Analysis Units of the FBI, Quantico. He can be reached at www.drreidmeloy.com.
Learning Objectives
This training is designed to help you:
- List and explain the 8 proximal warning behaviors for targeted violence that may be apparent in a subject at risk for an act of terrorism
- List and explain the 10 distal characteristics that may be apparent in a subject at risk for engaging in more proximal warning behaviors for an act of terrorism
- Clinically apply to cases the TRAP-18 to help organize thinking and operational planning
- Recognize and discuss that the TRAP-18 is an investigative template, and has not yet been shown to be a risk assessment instrument
- Apply the scholarship and science which provide the theory and rationale for the TRAP-18 to practical knowledge base and daily tasks
- Critically explain why the TRAP-18 is only one method that can enhance the skill set of the professional tasked with the assessment of persons of concern for ideologically-driven acts of targeted violence
