Mental health and political violence

[davidbfpo]

Mental health as a cause of terrorism and violence has appeared before on the Forum, but appears to be increasingly important after recent attacks in Europe and the USA.

Many issues, not just prediction and response, are involved and these two articles help.

Within the first article. Some may alight on Brian Jenkins thought: 'stray dogs' not 'lone wolves':

...looking for a cause that will give them meaning and make sense of their mental turmoil. Crucially, an extremist ideology offers them the possibility of transforming their identity: to re-imagine themselves not as failures, but as warriors, whose prior difficulties are not personal shortcomings, but evidence of the cultural decadence that they now disavow.

Link:https://www.opendemocracy.net/benjamin-ramm/we-need-to-rethink-relationship-between-mental-health-and-political-violence?

The second is an article from The Guardian, with a sub-title:

It is possible to be both a terrorist and mentally unstable

(A sample passage) As with any kind of sectarian indoctrination, religion can become a kind of healing or means of achieving redemption after a dissolute past, which corresponds perfectly with the apocalyptic vision of Isis. Many conversions to jihadism are preceded by a trail of violence and humiliation.

Link:https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...s-attacks-nice

Incidentally IIRC the Forum has looked at US mass killings, notably at schools, but those posts appear to be a wider US terrorism / lone wolves thread. Mental Health appears in too many threads. Maybe the thread on Congresswoman Gifford's shooting will help:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ad.php?t=12229