Speculations on Running Amok

Published in Frankfurter Rundschau
(Germany) on 6 November 2009
by Christoph Albrecht-Heider (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Ron Argentati. Edited by Adair Fincher.
We amateur psychologists reach once again into our kits to cobble together an explanation for the shooting spree at Fort Hood. We point out that the perpetrator was (a) Muslim (who suffered religious taunting from his coworkers); (b) against the Iraq war (with guilt feelings because he was a member of the U.S. military); and (c) unmarried with no girlfriend (desperate and lonely). These are reasons for mass murder? Perhaps, but alone they don’t add up to a convincing analysis.

Two constants, however, are evident: first, it’s always men who run amok; second, easy access to guns ensures that those who embark on their own personal revenge campaigns will be assured a high body count. That may well explain why these bloodbaths happen predominantly in the United States.

But attempting to understand Army psychologist Major Nidal Malik Hasan and his motives will lead to neither a detailed explanation for the attack nor to any concrete preventive measures for the future. We just have to live with that helpless feeling.


Mutmaßungen über Amokläufer
Von Christoph Albrecht-Heider
6.11.2009

Wir Hobby-Psychologen greifen wieder in den Setzkasten und basteln uns ein Erklärungsmodell für den Amoklauf von Fort Hood, indem wir den Täter einordnen: Moslem (leidet wegen seines Glaubens am Arbeitsplatz unter Mobbing), Irakkriegs-Gegner (besondere Gewissensnot als Angehöriger der US-Armee), ohne Frau/Freundin (Verzweiflung, Einsamkeit). Alles Gründe für die mörderische Attacke? Schon, aber sie allein taugen nicht zu einer schlüssigen Analyse.

Zwei Konstanten fallen auf. Es sind immer Männer, die Amok laufen, und: Wer leichten Zugang zu Waffen hat, macht aus seinem persönlichen Rachefeldzug eine Attacke mit vielen Toten. Das mag immerhin erklären, warum die opferreichen Fälle überproportional häufig in den USA passieren.

Doch der Versuch, sich dem Militärpsychiater und Major Nidal Malik Hasan und seinen Motiven zu nähern, führt weder zu einer detaillierten Begründung der Tat noch zu einer Idee, wie denn mörderisch-selbstmörderische Anschläge künftig verhindert werden können. Diese Hilflosigkeit müssen wir aushalten.
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  1. As an Arab-American, he is expected to have close links to terrorist groups. Being a Muslim, lonely and umarried can not be convincing reasons for such atrocity. Anyway, such happenings are inevitable as long as logical approaches are found.