“Individuals who have committed targeted violence did not “just snap,” but engaged in a process of thought and behavior that escalated over days, weeks, months, and even years” (Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management for Educators and Administrators | Texas School Safety Center).

The research efforts and field application undertaken by USAID has led to the discoveries that unmet socioeconomic needs are significant not because of real material deprivation, but because of the “related perception of those marginalized populations that state and society have abandoned them and left a governance gap” (3).

high levels of social marginalization and fragmentation;

poorly governed or ungoverned areas;

government repression and human rights violations;

endemic corruption and elite impunity; and,

cultural threat perceptions (3).

access to material resources, social status and respect from peers;

a sense of belonging, adventure, and self-esteem or personal empowerment that individuals and groups that have long viewed themselves as victimized and marginalized can derive from the feeling that they are making history; and,

the prospect of achieving glory and fame (4).