NCJ Number
70587
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 24 Issue: 1 Dated: (1980) Pages: 41-57
Date Published
1980
Length
17 pages
Annotation
For the nonpolitical assassin and sniper, self-destructive strivings are the underlying force behind such behavior and these persons often shoot at others in order to be killed.
Abstract
Studies of assassins have shown certain common characteristics: short or slight physical build, foreign born, from broken families, male, loners, usually unmarried, unemployed, and often suffering from sexual impotence. Arthur Bremmer, would-be assassin of George Wallace, wrote in his diary both of his sexual fears and impotence and of his use of assassination to bring about his own death. Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth, refused to surrender (behavior that is consistent with suicide), and historians speculate that Booth put the fatal bullet through his own head. Charles Guiteau, assassin of President Garfield, expressed anticipation of his own death in a poem written at his execution. Studies of Sirhan Sirhan show that his assassination of Robert Kennedy carried with it a goal of death to himself. Sirhan went so far as to plead for the gas chamber and to refuse appeals after receiving the death sentence. James Earl Ray persisted in placing himself in a position of running his own trial despite warnings that he could receive the electric chair as punishment if found guilty. Ray also left extensive tracks after the assassination. Snipers do not select a target to achieve political recognition. Although some choose particular targets as a result of unconscious determinants, they frequently shoot at any moving target. Their primary aim is to provoke the police into killing them. Psychiatrists treating depressed persons should be on guard for signs of interest in or purchase of firearms, as well as for expressions of interest in political figures, talk of the need for elimination of a leader, or presentation of fantasies which involve scenes such as shooting at groups of people. Psychiatrists should obtain accurate information about suicidal fantasies and methods of any persons they treat, and they should involve the family in any treatment approach. Case examples are provided, along with 12 references.