Across the Universe? - A Comparative Analysis of Violent Behavior and Radicalization Across Three Offender Types - Implications for Criminal Justice Training and Education - Final Report

Oct 22, 2026

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Final report comparing violent behavior and radicalization across three offender types, focusing on distinctions and overlaps among lone actor terrorists and solo mass murderers. Using bivariate and multivariate statistical analyses, it contrasts demographic, psychological, and offense-related behavioral variables across 71 lone actor terrorists and 115 solo mass murderers. Findings indicate similar socio-demographic profiles but significant behavioral differences in interaction with co-conspirators, antecedent behaviors, and information leakage prior to attacks. Motivation is identified as the fundamental driver shaping different points of violence enactment.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages122

Reading Time5 h 7 min

AccessFree to download

Executive Summary

Method and Dataset

Key Findings and Distinctions

Motivation and Implications for Training

About the Report

Project Team

Data Collection Intern Team

The author(s) shown below used Federal funds provided by the U.S. Department of Justice and prepared the following final report: Document Title: Across the Universe? A Comparative Analysis of Violent Behavior and Radicalization Across Three Offender Types with Implications for Criminal Justice Training and Education Author(s): John G. Horgan, Ph.D., Paul Gill, Ph.D., Noemie Bouhana, Ph.D., James Silver, J.D., Ph.D., Emily Corner, MSc. Document No.: 249937 Date Received: June 2016 Award Number: 2013-ZA-BX-0002 This report has not been published by the U.S. Department of Justice. To provide better customer service, NCJRS has made this federally funded grant report available electronically. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. Across the Universe? A Comparative Analysis of Violent Behavior and Radicalization Across Three Offender Types with Implications for Criminal Justice Training and Education Final Report John G. Horgan, PhD Georgia State University Paul Gill, PhD University College, London Noemie Bouhana, PhD University College, London James Silver, JD, PhD Worcester State University Emily Corner, MSc University College, London This project was supported by Award No. 2013-ZA-BX-0002, awarded by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Justice ABOUT THE REPORT ABOUT THE PROJECT The content of this report was produced by John Horgan (Principal Investigator (PI)), Paul Gill (Co-PI), James Silver (Project Manager), Noemie Bouhana (CoInvestigator), and Emily Corner (Research Assistant) . This research is supported by Award No. 2013-ZA-BX-0002, awarded by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Justice. PROJECT TEAM Research Team John Horgan – Georgia State University Paul Gill – University College London James Silver – Worcester State University Emily Corner – University College London Noemie Bouhana – University College London Data Collection Intern Team University of Massachusetts Lowell Andrew Valcourt , Autumn Calbria, Cassaundra Pellerin, Christian Nambu, Christopher Park, Cristiana Federico, Dijana Djuric, Gregory Johnson, Hank Harrington, Jackson Kellog, James Russell, Jennifer Rogers, Jessica Botero-Rua, Katie Kacmarek, Kelsie Ferris, Kevin Kearney, LaDonya Buchanan, Lindsey Viera, Matthew Febles, Melissa Mejia, Oti Achamfour, Remilekun Ogunfowara, Sean Rogers, Stephen Lidell, Tom Arsenault, Wesley Boudreau, Zachary Miliano University College London Amy Lafferty, Jordana Clark, Linh Le, Matteo Pezella, Sarika Dewan, Sophie Preisendoerfer EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - Lone actor terrorists (sometimes referred to as ‘lone wolves’) and mass murderers are more often than not assumed to be distinct, with little validity for comparison. Yet, both engage (or attempt to engage) in largely public and highly publicized acts of violence and often use similar weapons. - Using a series ofbivariate and multivariate statistical analyses, we compared demographic, psychological and offense-related behavioral variables across and between 71 lone actor terrorists and 115 solo mass murderers. - Results indicate there is little to distinguish these offender types in terms of their socio-demographic profiles. However, their behaviors significantly differ with regards to (a) the degree to which they interact with co-conspirators (b) their antecedent event behaviors and (c) the degree to which they leak information prior to the attack.

FAQs

What types of offenders does the report compare?

The report compares lone actor terrorists and solo mass murderers across three offender types, assessing differences and similarities in violent behavior and radicalization patterns.

How was the analysis conducted?

It uses bivariate and multivariate statistical analyses to compare demographic, psychological, and offense-related behavioral variables across the two main offender groups.

What distinguishes these offender types most strongly?

The report finds little difference in socio-demographic profiles, but behaviors differ significantly regarding interaction with co-conspirators, antecedent event behaviors, and information leakage prior to the attack.

Oct 22, 2026

Uploaded by Muffet