Stochastic Terrorism: Clinical Interventions to Help Minority Stress for Gender and Sexual Minorities in an Era of Disinformation
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Authors
Giovane, Freddie
Issue Date
2026-02-19
Type
Capstone
Language
en
Keywords
stochastic terrorism , gender and sexual minorities , minority stress
Alternative Title
Abstract
This capstone examines the concept of stochastic terrorism. Stochastic terrorism is defined as an act of public demonization of gender and sexual minorities by a speaker who channels pre-existing societal stress towards the intended group, creating demonization, acts of violence, and minority stress of the targeted group. This capstone explores what stochastic terrorism is, how it operates, the psychological and social impact of it, what current scholarly research says about it, and which therapy interventions are suitable to treat victims of it. This capstone includes a literature review of peer-reviewed research articles published within 5 to 6 years that discuss and dissect the abovementioned concepts. The findings of the literature review yielded four major themes: current impact of stochastic terrorism, the mechanics of stochastic terrorism, social media as a double-edged sword, and relevant clinical applications. The literature review also acknowledges gaps in current research regarding a lack of research on therapy interventions that specifically target stochastic terrorism's negative effects. Several clinical interventions that target minority stress experienced by gender and sexual minorities were uncovered in the literature review.