10.2190/4AGP-U5M1-KMYN-7NDM 4AGPU5M1KMYN7NDM 1 Terrorism by the Bomb: A National Perspective for the Year 1975 297 335 20020509 20020509 20020509 20020509 4AGPU5M1KMYN7NDM.pdf http://baywood.metapress.com/link.asp?target=contribution&id=4AGPU5M1KMYN7NDM 4 Daniel E. Georges M. M. Zandi The School of Criminal Justice, The State University of New York at Albany The Institute of Urban Studies, The University of Texas at Arlington This paper attempts a rudimentary analysis of bomb data collected by the F.B.I.'s National Bomb Data Center during the Year 1975. It concludes that crude non-military explosive devices with "little inherent" knockdown or killing power were commonly utilized. "Psychic Terror" rather than killings or maimings was the most common result of the bombings. The Pacific, East North Central and South Atlantic regions experienced considerably more bombings than their regional counterparts, while the New England, West North Central and East South Central regions experienced the fewest incidents. However, bomb rate data reveals that the Pacific and South Atlantic regions experienced below average bomb rates, while the Mountain, New England, Middle Atlantic, and East North Central regions experienced above average bomb rates. The most highly urbanized and industrialized states were also the states with the most bombing incidents. The motive was unknown in approximately 78 per cent of the bombing incidents. However, when the motive was determined, extremist motives accounted for almost 50 per cent of the known motives. No single motive was highly related to killings, but "extremist" activity appears to be more highly correlated than any other single motive category. Killings were highly related to the use of explosives. Explosives appeared to be more closely associated with killings, injuries, and property damage than were flammable liquids. The largest number of bombing incidents during the year 1975 (in the U.S.A.) took place in cities with populations of under 25,000. The National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, <i>Report on Arson, Vandalism and Violence: Law Enforcement Problems Affecting Fire Departments</i>, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1974. W. Laqueur, <i>Terrorism</i>, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1977. The Department of Justice, Monthly Bomb Summaries, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1975. D. E. Georges and M. M. Zandi, The Study of Bombings, Incendiaries, and Bomb Threats in the City of Dallas for the Year 1975, <i>The Journal of Environmental Systems, 8:1</i>, pp. 57-97, 1978-79. Taaffe, (ed.), <i>Geography</i>, Spectrum Book-Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1970. Bureau of the Census, Department of Commerce, <i>Population Statistics</i>