He Must be Crazy: Political Violence and Mental Illness
Shortly after news broke that Representative Gabby Giffords had been shot in Tucson, the cable news talking heads were on the telephone in search of explanations from psychologists and psychiatrists. Wolf Blitzer, for example, wanted to know what kind of person would commit such a crime, and the California based forensic psychologist he interviewed was glad to talk about schizophrenia and its symptoms and to venture a diagnosis on the basis of the suspect’s Myspace postings and You-tube videos. It didn’t take long for mental illness to emerge as a likely explanation of Jared Lee Loughner’s conduct. And observers were able to adduce plenty of evidence that the young man had some problems: incoherent ramblings about a new currency he would create, a list of favorite books that included Mein Kampf along with the Communist Manifesto , and a proclivity for bizarre outbursts in classes at Pima Community College in Tucson. The attribution of a crime of this kind to mental illness