Cabinet-level Report Cites Importance of Behavioral Science for Combating Terrorism

Since 9/11 psychologists have searched for opportunities to contribute to the nation's counter terrorism and homeland security agenda, and from a science policy perspective, 2005 brings to fruition an effort worthy of special attention, a report from the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) entitled “Combating Terrorism: Research Priorities in the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences”. To be released in late January, the NSTC effort dates back to early 2002 when Dr. John Marburger, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) announced the formation of an NSTC Anti-Terrorism Task Force with four working groups, one of which was dedicated to mapping out a multi-year social science research and development agenda for homeland security. The Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBES) Subcommittee of the NSTC Committees on Science and Homeland and National Security subsumed the task of that Work Group in November of 2003.

Fortuitously, APA Fellow Susan Brandon, PhD, was appointed Assistant Director of Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences at OSTP early on in 2004 and shortly thereafter joined the SBES Subcommittee to help guide the interagency initiative on behalf of the President’s Science Advisor. As APA’s visiting Senior Scientist, Dr. Brandon helped guide much of the Science Directorate's post 9/11outreach with respect to identifying scientific resources relevant to counter terrorism, so she was ideally suited to coordinate input and nurture the effort through a lengthy editorial process. The report highlights a range of research priorities organized around the temporal phases of terrorist attacks: prediction, preparation, response and recovery. As the report has no parallel from this Cabinet-level committee representing other scientific disciplines, it will serve as a unique resource for those of us advocating for the value of psychology and other social sciences both within DHS and on Capitol Hill. A number of psychologists committed time, effort and intellectual capital to the report, including Dr. Norman Bradburn and Dr. Philip Rubin representing NSF, Dr. James Griffin representing OSTP, Dr. Kirk Hubbard representing CIA, and Dr. Mark Shepanek representing NASA.

Reflecting on her role and the ongoing work being conducted under the auspices of the NSTC, Dr. Brandon noted “the SBE Subcommittee is an opportunity for the social and behavioral sciences to have a voice and a presence at the table that is unique in recent Washington policy processes. The Subcommittee is very active and has more than enough to do, both in terms of projects of its own making and in terms of working with other NSTC groups who have need of their particular expertise."

Read the NSTC report: “Combating Terrorism: Research Priorities in the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences” [PDF 3MB]

Back to SPIN January 2005