American Terrorism Study, 1980-2002

This study was conducted in response to a lack of existing data collections relating specifically to acts of American terrorism. A primary goal of the study was to create an empirical database from which criminological theories and governmental policies could be effectively evaluated. The American Terrorism Study began in 1989 when the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Terrorist Research and Analytical Center released a list of persons indicted as a result of investigation under the FBI's Counterterrorism Program. Since that time, FBI has released additional lists to the principal investigators. After receiving a list of persons indicted in federal criminal court as a result of an official terrorism investigation, the researchers reviewed the cases at either the federal district court where the cases were tried or at the federal regional records center where the cases were archived. The researchers divided the dataset into five distinct datasets. Part 1, Counts Data, provides data on every count for each indictee in each indictment. This is the basic dataset. There were 7,306 counts from 1980 to 2002. Part 2, Indictees Data, provides data on each of the 574 indictees from 1980-2002. Part 3, Persons Data, provides data on the 510 individuals who were indicted by the federal government as a result of a terrorism investigation. Part 4, Cases Data, provides one line of data for each of the 172 criminal terrorism cases that resulted from a federal terrorism investigation. Part 5, Group Data, provides one line of case data for each of the 85 groups that were tried in federal court for terrorism-related activity. Each of the five datasets includes information on approximately 80 variables divided into four major categories: (1) demographic information, (2) information about the terrorist group to which the individual belongs, (3) prosecution and defense data, and (4) count/case outcome and sentencing data.

本研究旨在回应当前缺乏专门针对美国恐怖主义行为的数据集的现状。其主要目标在于构建一个实证数据库，以便能够有效地评估犯罪学理论与政府政策。美国恐怖主义研究始于1989年，当时美国联邦调查局（FBI）的恐怖主义研究与分析中心发布了根据FBI反恐项目进行调查而起诉的人员名单。自那时起，FBI陆续向主要研究人员发布了额外的名单。在收到联邦刑事法庭因官方恐怖主义调查而被起诉的人员名单后，研究人员对案件进行了审查，这些案件或是在审判联邦地区法院，或是在存档联邦地区记录中心的案件档案中。研究人员将数据集划分为五个独立的子集。第一部分，计数数据，提供了每个起诉书中每个被起诉人的每个计数的详细数据。这是基础数据集。从1980年至2002年，共有7,306个计数。第二部分，被起诉人数据，提供了1980年至2002年间574名被起诉人的相关信息。第三部分，个人数据，提供了因恐怖主义调查而被联邦政府起诉的510名个人的数据。第四部分，案件数据，为联邦恐怖主义调查导致的172起刑事恐怖主义案件中的每一案提供了一条数据记录。第五部分，集团数据，为在联邦法院因恐怖主义相关活动被审判的85个集团中的每一个提供了单独的案件数据记录。这五个数据子集各自包含了大约80个变量，这些变量被划分为四大类：（1）人口统计学信息，（2）个人所属恐怖组织的相关信息，（3）起诉与辩护数据，（4）计/案件结果及判决数据。