Galveston psychologist Freddy Paniagua came to Lamar Institute of Technology in Beaumont to complete his jihad.

Although many Americans define the word as a Muslim holy war, there is another definition Paniagua said. His jihad fits another definition: an individual’s struggle for individual growth.

Paniagua’s 52-page resume is impressive. He is a tenured professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and earned his doctoral degree in child and developmental psychology from the University of Kansas. He earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology in the Dominican Republic and a master’s in human development at the University of Kansas. He also has a postdoctoral degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

After the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, he decided to study homeland security. Vast Internet research led him to LIT for formal training in homeland security. Paniagua took courses online and also commuted to Beaumont to study at LIT.

“I explored several homeland security programs in the nation, and I came to the conclusion that the homeland security program at LIT had the best on-line curriculum,” Paniagua said. “My experience at LIT was very, very rewarding. I was able to understand the complexity of homeland security issues in ways that led to my target goal, namely, to make scholarly contributions in this particular area.”

LIT’s program gave him the foundation he needed to understand homeland security, he said. “The program covers all basic courses needed for someone to have solid knowledge of the complexity of homeland security issues,” Paniagua said.

Now, he has published several articles in peer review journals and given numerous presentations on the psychology of terrorism. Paniagua, who has written several books, has published articles about homeland security in “American Psychologist,” “Contemporary Psychology” and other periodicals.
“My publications and presentation in this area are clearly the result of the excellent training I received from the Department of Homeland Security at LIT,” he said.

One article in the peer-review publication “The Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management” put a spotlight on terrorism from Latin America. The article, “Targeting the Poor: How al-Qaida Would Recruit from Latin America,” has received a lot of attention in the U.S., Central America, South America, and Caribbean islands. Paniagua has even worked as a visiting professor in his homeland, the Dominican Republic, where he has educated police officers in the area of terrorism and gave the Distinguished Speaker Opening Lecture on suicide terrorism at the 6th Dominican-Puerto Rican Congress of Psychology. In addition, he has given two talks at LIT on homeland security.

According to his article, “poverty can provide a key source for the development of terrorism.”

In his article, Paniagua identifies four groups of poor in Latin America: The passive poor, the political poor, the resisting poor and the surviving poor. The passive poor would typically adapt to the “culture of poverty” (being poor is out of their control and it is determined by a divine providence that governs the world). The political poor aim to get out of poverty by using political means. The resisting poor strive to terminate poverty through non-revolutionary or revolutionary actions. The fourth group, the surviving poor, engages in illicit or criminal activities to offset the impact of poverty. It is this fourth group, which is involved in theft, kidnapping for ransom, narcotic trafficking and other illegal acts, that would most likely be recruited by al-Qaida, according to the article.

If al-Qaida terrorist’s covertly recruited Latin America’s surviving poor, and keeps them unaware that they were working for Islamic terrorists, it is possible that this group might unknowingly become a perfect fit for terrorists, the article indicates. The article also states although the surviving poor would be the most likely targeted by terrorists that according to the U.S. State Department’s annual “Country Report on Terrorism,” no know cells of Islamic terrorists exist in Latin America. But, that same report identifies the poor in Latin America nations as potential recruits for Islamic terrorist groups.

Paniagua says it should be the goal of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to coordinate and encourage the education of experts in the area of homeland security. There is a need for doctoral- and master-degree programs in the field, he said.

Paniagua, a published author, plans to write a book that would serve as an introduction to homeland security. He has already talked with a publisher about printing the text, which he hopes to complete in 2008. Eventually, he will explore obtaining grants to continue his homeland security research.

“You never stop learning. I like to contribute anytime I can, and I think I can make some contributions in this area,” Paniagua said.