Case Study Of Timothy Mcveigh's Etiology Of Violence

Example 4. Etiology of Violence

Timothy McVeigh grew up in Pendleton, New York, a predominantly white neighborhood (Nichols, 2003). Although very bright, McVeigh was considered a loner and an underachiever in school. After high school, he developed an obsession with guns and began to stockpile weapons and supplies. In 1988, McVeigh enlisted in the U.S. Army. While in the Army, he became obsessed with the Turner Diaries, a book full of violent racist and anti-Semitic fantasies. Moreover, while in the U.S. Army, McVeigh had a race problem. For example, he had been known to assign undesirable work to African Americans and to use derogatory remarks against them. After McVeigh failed to make the Green Berets, he left the military. Without …show more content…
This may have resulted in frustration-aggression (Bartol & Bartol, 2008). Because he was awarded the Bronze Medal in the U.S. Army, and because he was a dedicated solider who was good at his job, he may have expected to make the Green Berets (Ottley, 2007). Not making the Green Berets may have caused him to question the integrity of the government and to become aggressive toward the government. McVeigh appeared to be suffering from a) paranoid personality disorder, which is “a pattern of distrust and suspiciousness such that others’ motives are interpreted as malevolent”, b) schizoid personality disorder, which is “a pattern of detachment from social relationships and a restricted range of emotional expression”, and c) antisocial personality disorder, which is “a pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others” (American Psychiatric Association, 2000, p. 685). First, McVeigh believed that the government exploits people and is untrustworthy; he associated with secretive organizations; he interpreted gun control laws as malicious attacks against citizens; and his frustrations against the government continued to build over the years as the government continually assaulted various organizations, such as the Branch Davidians (Nichols, 2003). Second, McVeigh did not seek close relationships; he had few friends; he did not seek sexual relations with other …show more content…
Commonalities identified in offenders include 1) person is usually white male, 35 to 45 years of age, 2) person has a keen interest in firearms, 3) person identifies with violence, 4) person is chronically disgruntled, 5) person has a migratory job history, 6) person rarely takes responsibility for his or her own actions, 7) person is loner with little social support, 8) person takes criticism poorly, and 9) person is more than a casual user of alcohol and drugs. Furthermore, there are pre-incident factors that individuals display, which can help predict violence at the workplace. Persons having these factors will display 1) an increase in the use of alcohol or drugs, 2) an excess amount of tardiness and absences, 3) a decrease in attention to personal hygiene, 4) depression or withdrawal, 5) outbursts of anger and rage, 6) threats or verbal abuses to colleagues, 7) continual comments about suicide, 8) unstable emotional responses, 9) frequent complaints about personal health, 10) feelings of paranoia, 11) obsession with prior acts of violence, 12) an increase in mood swings, 13) an increase in domestic problems, 14) large money withdrawals from bank accounts, 15) empathy with persons who commit violence, 16) resistance to change in procedures, 17) continual violations of company policies, 18) an