| acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) | A life-threatening disease of the human immune system that diminishes the body's natural defenses against infection.
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| amplification effect | A process whereby the actions of terrorists are broadcast through the mass media to a larger audience than such acts would have in the location where they occur.
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| conversion of the warrior | The process by which the social conventions and norms regarding homicide in ordinary interpersonal circumstances is altered so that killing in warfare is deemed acceptable and even heroic.
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| emerging diseases | Infectious diseases that emerge suddenly as potential epidemic threats to health and well-being.
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| genocide | The deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, religious, political, cultural, or ethnic group.
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| haiku obit | A term used to describe the brief vignettes that highlighted the life stories and interests of individuals killed in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in September, 2001 and printed in a series entitled "Portraits of Grief" as a unique form of tribute, witness, and solace.
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| horrendous death | A term coined by Daniel Leviton and William Wendt to describe deaths that originate in human activity and affect large numbers of people; examples include terrorism, assassination, and genocide.
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| karoshi | Literally, "overwork-death"; a Japanese word meaning "sudden death from overwork" and referring to the buildup of biologically devastating fatigue resulting from job-related stress.
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| posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) | A psychological reaction to a highly stressful event (as in wartime combat or disaster); symptoms may include depression, anxiety, flashbacks, recurrent nightmares, and avoidance of reminders of the stressful event; also known as delayed grief syndrome and posttraumatic grief disorder.
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| psychic maneuvers | Personal, social, and cultural factors that tend to facilitate violence and homicidal acts.
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| psychic numbing | A self-protective psychological response to horrific death that causes individuals to become temporarily insensitive and unfeeling.
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| social thanatology | A term coined by Rodrick and Deborah Wallace to describe the physical and social disruption of inner-city urban areas that tends to intensify pathological behaviors and conditions, thereby promoting the rapid spread of infectious diseases.
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| technological alienation | A phenomenon associated with advances in the modern weaponry of warfare, which result in bureaucratic calculation and insensitivity to the indiscriminate slaughter of civilians.
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| terrorism | A synthesis of war and theater in which violence against innocent civilians is perpetrated before an audience with the aim of creating a mood of fear that assists in achieving the terrorists' strategic goals.
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| urban desertification | A term coined by Rodrick and Deborah Wallace to describe the physical and social disruption of inner-city urban areas that tends to intensify pathological behaviors and conditions, thereby promoting the rapid spread of infectious diseases.
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