Lots of Contradictions over the Violent Political Rhethoric
You might be familiar with the shooting which took place recently, in which 20 people were wounded, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
There are many people who say that the reason for that shooting is the political rhetoric. Jared Lee Loughner was the man who did the shooting. He is 22 years old, and in his rampage, he wounded 14 people and killed 6 of them. He has posted numerous times on various online message boards, and the psychologists have stated that his online behavior indicates the fact that he has certain mental issues, but they can not be sure of that, until they examine him more thoroughly. Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik stated soon after the shooting that Arizona is full of discrimination, intolerance, and rage. Giffords blamed Sarah Palin during the last election that she is instigating the people to violence, as one of her campaigns showed a map in which Giffords’ district was under a cross-hair. Palin’s spokesperson later stated that the lines did not represent a cross-hair, and that Mrs. Palin did not instigate the people to violence. Everybody wonders if a mentally unstable person can be pushed to the edge by the violent rhetoric. Psychologists have stated that the answer is very complex, and that it can not be answered with yes or no.
People can become more used with the violence because of the violent rhetoric, but that does not mean that they will do violent deeds. It seems that the opinions of the two different parties regarding Loughner and his motives are split. The conservative politicians have stated that he is insane, and that he did what he did because he was not thinking straight. On the other hand, the liberal politicians have stated that he is not mad, and that he was influenced by the political campaigns of the conservative politicians. A similar shooting took place in 2009, when U.S. Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan killed 13 people and injured 30. Just like in this case, the opinions regarding the shooting and the motives behind it were split. In that case the conservative politicians stated that he did it because of his religious motivations, while the liberals stated that he was insane, and that he could not make a proper judgment. The psychologists have stated that things do not work in this manner, as there might be various reasons why one might do such things, not just because he is crazy or because he was convinced to do it. They have stated that the people who have various mental illnesses are more likely to commit violent crimes than the ones who are sane. However, Seena Fazel, a senior lecturer in psychiatry at the University of Oxford, stated that this does not mean that all the people who have mental illnesses will become violent. They have higher chances of being violent, but they are not violent in most of the cases.
She stated that in most of the cases the violent crimes are not committed by insane people, but by sane ones. She has stated that the ones who have the highest chances of committing violent crimes are the ones who suffer from schizophrenia or the ones who have bipolar disorder. However, she has also stated that the sane people can be just as violent especially if they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Fazel said that the sane people who are under the influence have the same odds of committing violent crimes just like the ones who suffer from schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. 1 percent of the people from this world suffer from schizophrenia, and it is unfair to say that they are the ones who commit the majority of the murders in this world, Fazel said. She also stated that the people who are most likely to become murderers are the ones who abuse alcohol and drugs.
The homicides done by the mentally unstable people are very rare, and this is one of the reasons why they draw so much attention in the media. It has been discovered that the chances of such a murder to occur are very rare and those chances drop even further if the disease is treated. Gordon Paul, who is a clinical psychologist at the University of Houston, stated that if one is schizophrenic, that does not mean that he is violent, as not all the people who suffer from this illness are violent. Paul said that the people who have certain mental illnesses have higher chances of being influenced by the things which they hear or see in the media. This is very common in the case of the withdrawn people who have poor social skills, and who are lonely. They are more likely to become influence by he messages which they receive from the media, and to react because of them. Paul has also stated that it has not been proven that such a person will take action in such cases. They have higher chances of taking action, but it has not been discovered that they actually do.
It has been discovered that the political messages do not have such a big importance as it was first believed. They do not make one go crazy and start shooting people all of a sudden. There are many political messages which use words such as “fight” instead of “do”, and so on, but that does not mean that they are telling one to pick up a bat or a gun and start fighting. Many psychologists from the United States of America have stated that the country is confronting with an unusual rise from this point of view; of the people who have become violent maybe because of the influence of the media. There were more cases in the more recent period of time when one took action against a politician, than in the past. However, there are many who say that there is a huge difference between reading an ad and shooting people, and that the connection between these two acts does not exist.
