Sarcouncil Journal of Humanities and Cultural Studies

Abstract: Lone-actor terrorism poses a persistent threat to homeland security in the United States, challenging traditional counterterrorism approaches that rely on group-based detection and ideological profiling. This scoping review examines how behavioral analytics have been applied to understanding and preventing lone-actor terrorism in the U.S. context. Guided by PRISMA-ScR principles, nine peer-reviewed studies published between 2019 and 2025 were synthesized using a thematic approach. The findings indicate that lone-actor violence is best understood as a grievance-fueled and behaviorally structured process rather than an ideologically stand-alone phenomenon. Behavioral indicators such as grievance escalation, preparatory actions, behavioral leakage, and temporal windows for intervention were consistently identified, although significant data and observability constraints remain. The review highlights the need for grievance-centered, ethically governed, and human-centered behavioral analytics to strengthen U.S. lone-actor terrorism prevention efforts.