Preventing the Murders at Fort Hood

Nidal Malik Hasan entered a processing center at Fort Hood and in a tragic act used a 5.7 millimeter pistol to kill fourteen people, 13 of whom were soldiers. These horrific murders of innocent people were committed by a medical doctor, a major, and a psychiatrist. In our opinion these murders were predictable and consequently preventable. Understanding the psychology of this event and overcoming the reasons people failed to act could save lives and insure that tragedies like this never happen again.

According to an Associated Press report "Doctors and staff overseeing Hasan's training viewed him at times as belligerent, defensive and argumentative in his frequent discussions of his Muslim faith". He was sent to Fort Hood because "this was the best assignment for Hasan  because doctors could handle the workload if he continued to perform poorly." At times, Hasan complained about harassment, once describing how someone had put a diaper in his car, saying, "That's your headdress." In another case reported in the New York Times, someone had drawn a camel on his car and written under it, "Camel jockey, get out!".

While neighbors described Major Hasan as gentle and kind, they reported that he virulently complained about the oppression of Muslims in the Army. His behavior was described as intense and combative. "Around 2004, Major Hasan started feeling disgruntled about the Army, relatives said. He sought legal advice, possibly from an Army lawyer, about getting a discharge...He wanted to leave the Army...But because the Army had paid for his education, and probably because the Army was in great need of mental health professionals and was in need of Arab-Americans he was advised that his chances of getting out were minuscule..." Not only would Hasan be unable to leave the military, his transfer to Fort Hood extended his military service by a year. He had few friends, was never fully accepted by the men at his Mosque, and lived frugally in a run-down apartment despite making a good salary. Immediately prior to his violent rampage, Major Hasan said goodbye to his friends and asked forgiveness from one man for any past offenses.  "I'm going traveling," he told a fellow worshiper, giving him a hug. "I won't be here tomorrow."

As clinical psychologists we believe that Hasan's delusional perceptions and aggressive actions sent clear warning signals that he was capable of violence. His voicing "I won't be here tomorrow" is a statement that would have alerted mental health professionals that Major Hasan was a potential danger to himself or others. (However, in the context of a military staging area it is possible that those around Hasan may have took this statement to mean he was about to be deployed.)

Many traumatized soldiers internalize their aggressive feelings and self-inflict wounds, sometimes resulting in their death. This usually occurs after the experience of being in a war. In this case, Major Hasan's trauma was second-hand, something internal, and not the result of being in a combat zone himself. His psychology is not the post traumatic stress of the soldier, but the narcissistic self-righteous delusion of the school shooter. Like a school shooter it was Hasan's feelings of isolation, hopelessness, despair, and delusional feelings of moral injustice that precipitated his aggression. Army health professionals at Ft. Hood, overworked, understaffed, and with their focus of post traumatic stress should be forgiven for not seeing the warning signs. After all, on the surface, who would expect a psychiatrist to follow in the footsteps of Klybold, Harris, or Cho?

In general, humans in groups tend to minimize the warning signs of violence. We recently have seen examples of this in the Jaycee Lee Dugan kidnapping, where parole officers failed to see the signs of her rape and imprisonment.  Likewise in the case of the Cleveland rapist-serial killer Anthony Sowell, police did not pick up the warning signs of his crimes despite being alerted to his violent behavior numerous times by people in the area. In a classic study Darley and Latane (1969) found that subjects remained in a dangerous situation when others in the room seemed unconcerned. Likewise subjects failed to come to the aid of a hurt "victim" when others failed to act. These results show the tendency of people to ignore an impending crisis because; there is no reward, they are unprepared, they don't know how to respond, and they are inhibited in highly stressful situation. In a stressful environment  it is all too easy for us to see the inaction of others and do nothing ourselves.

It is also known that people under pressure in organizations will 'normalize deviance'. In his book The Knowing Organization: How Organizations Use Information to Construct Meaning, Create Knowledge, and Make Decisions, Chun Wei Choo (1998) discusses what he calls the "production of culture". This is where a group repeatedly uses a decision-making sequence to develop norms, values and procedures that support their central beliefs even in the face of deviant information. This involves five steps: 1. Perceiving a potential danger; 2. acknowledging escalated risk; 3. reviewing evidence; 4. normalization of deviance and accepting the risk; and finally 5. a decision to act or not act that reinforces the core beliefs of the group. While there is no way to know for sure whether the production of culture allowed military and medical professional to overlook Hasan's aggressive, deviant, and delusional behavior over the years, we think this is likely given the relatively closed nature of both medical and military organizations. The production of culture is less likely to occur when there is regular unconstrained input from others outside the group.

Military health professionals are educated to identify the behaviors that represent psychological conflicts that would promote violent acts to self and others. In Hasan's case investigators are asking how did this man get through medical school and the military without any intervention by medical or mental health professionals. Another recent article stated that Hasan was offered psychotherapy as part of his psychiatric training but he turned it down. We have to ask why this was allowed when personal psychotherapy is a strict requirement in most mental health professions? Given his argumentativeness, stressful work with soldiers returning from battle, and his inability to connect with others, it is not surprising that he could become "self-radicalized' under the influence of an Islamic extremist. What is surprising is that Hasan could be allowed to train and work as a psychiatrist for a number of years without anyone realizing his serious emotional serious issues put him at risk for becoming unhinged. A professional evaluation of the well understood and identifiable precursors to violent behavior would have likely prevented Major Hasan from murdering thirteen sodiers at the Fort Hood processing center.

References:

Blackledge, B.J., & Lardner, R. (2009). Fort Hood suspect's superiors questioned behavior. Associated Press. November, 12th.

Choo, CW. (1998). The Knowing Organization: How Organizations Use Information to Construct Meaning, Create Knowledge, and Make Decisions. New York: Oxford University Press.

Latane, B., & Darley, J. Bystander "Apathy", American Scientist, 1969, 57, 244-268.

Rotella, S., & Meyer J. (2009). Fort Hood suspect's contact with cleric spelled trouble, experts say. Los Angeles Times. November 12, 2009

Shane, S. & Dao, J. (2009). Investigators Study Tangle of Clues on Fort Hood Suspect. New York Times, November 14th.

Shane, S. & Johnston, D. (2009). Questions, Not Alarms, Met Exchanges With Cleric. New York Times, November 11th.


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Stomp and Crush - Part 2

In our previous post on stomping and crushing fetishes we mentioned federal law  H.R. 1887, championed by Congressman Elton Gallegly, which makes the creation and selling of 'crush' videos involving cruelty to animals illegal. After the Ventura County California District Attorney's Office was frustrated in their attempts to prosecute a known producer of 'crush' videos from Thousand Oaks, CA, they joined together with the Doris Day Animal League to convince Gallegly to put forward a bill making the creation and sale of these videos illegal. As part of the bill's passage through Congress the House Subcommittee on Crime solicited testimony on 'crush' videos. I was able to dig up the extremely cogent and interesting testimony given by Susan Creede, a Ventura County police investigator, to the subcommittee on September 30, 1999.  It makes for interesting reading,  gives a great deal of insight into the 'crush' phenomenon, and shows how important a psychological perspective can be for investigative police work:

"My name is Susan Creede. I am an investigator with the Ventura County District Attorney's Office. I have been a police officer for nearly twenty years, but I only became familiar with animal crush videos in September 1998, when this case was first assigned to me. The investigation began after we received a video from the United States Humane Society in Washington D.C. They purchased the video on the Internet from an individual using the name "Steponit," a resident of Thousand Oaks, a city in Ventura County.

During my investigation, I ran searches for animal crushing on the INTERNET. I found different websites and chat rooms announcing crushing activities. I also located bulletin boards involving animal crushing activities. While in the different chat rooms involving foot fetishes, I communicated on line with people and told them that I was interested in animal crushing. I was eventually directed to a chat room called "Crushcentral," where people with foot fetishes and different sexual deviances meet to talk with people of similar interests. I spent the majority of my time in "Crushcentral," but I was able to locate two other chatrooms that were similar in nature, "Crush 101" and "Feet."
People from all over the world meet in these chatrooms. They use stage names such as "Under Her Feet", "Squished," etc. I met these people on a daily basis, using the name Minnie. I talked to and "made friends with" people from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Italy, Mexico, and the United States. Each day I chatted with these individuals during the day and evening, depending on where in the world they lived. We shared crush experiences as well as everyday life experiences. The fact that people do not use their real names makes investigating these crimes difficult. One never knows with who they are actually corresponding, which makes it very difficult to prove who is actually producing the videos.

Through my conversations, I learned that the common denominator was the "foot fetish." They spoke about their fetishes and how they developed. For many of them the fetish developed as a result of something they saw at a very early age, and it usually occurred before the age of five. Most of these men saw a woman step on something. She was usually someone who was significantly in their lives. They were excited by the experience and somehow attached their sexuality to it.
As these men grew older, the woman's foot became a part of their sexuality. The power and dominance of the woman using her foot was significant to them. They began to fantasize about the thought of being the subject under the woman's foot. They fantasized about the power of the woman, and how she would be able to crush the life out of them if she chose to do so. Many of these men love to be trampled by women. Some like to be trampled by a woman wearing shoes or high heels. Others like to be trampled by women who are barefoot. They prefer to be hurt and the more indifferent the woman is to their pain, the more exciting it is for them.

I have learned that the extreme fantasy for these men is to be trampled or crushed to death under the foot of a powerful woman. Because they would only be able to experience this one time, these men have found a way to transfer their fantasy and excitement. They have learned that if they watch a woman crush an animal or live creature to his death, they can fantasize that they are that animal experiencing death at the foot of this woman. 

Many videos are produced wherein defenseless animals are tortured and crushed to death, for the sole purpose of sexually exciting men. The animals are tortured in a slow, cruel and deliberate way. The women torturing the animals talk to them as if they are human. The women play the part of the dominitrix. 

These videos are usually sold for fifty to two hundred dollars a piece. Special orders are made at the request of the buyer. He merely E-mails his request in detail to the producer. The fantasy is then acted out by the actress while being filmed by the producer. 

During my chats, I have learned that many of these videos are being produced in the United States. Several of the producers live in California. However, I have learned that there are producers living in Texas and Ohio as well.

The animals being crushed include, but are not limited to, mice, pinkies (baby mice), guinea pigs, rats, squirrels, rabbits, birds, chickens, cats, dogs and monkeys. I have been personally asked to make a video of a dog being crushed. I was also approached on the INTERNET by an individual that asked how big an animal I was willing to crush. I was once instructed on how to torture a dog on video, step by step. I was told to purchase the dog at a place that would not check on the animal at a later date. I was told to make the video immediately after purchasing the animal to avoid the risk of becoming attached. I was told to make the crushing incident last ninety minutes before the animal actually died.
In May 1999, I was contacted through the INTERNET by Gary Thomason, known to the crush community as "Getsmart." Thomason sent me a clip of a mouse and rat crush video he filmed with "Diane." Thomason told me he would much rather produce a video with me, and he asked me to consider making a video with him. I agreed and we made arrangements to meet at his apartment on June 19, 1999. 

With the assistance of Long Beach Police and investigators from the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, I went under cover with a second police officer from Long Beach. After we arrived at Thomason's residence, he went to the local pet store and purchased five large rats. Thomason arranged for a second camerman to video tape the crushing event from a different angle. After Thomason taped one of the rats to a table and both camera men had the cameras running and ready to film, the arrests were made. At that point the Long Beach Police Department took over the investigation. Mr. Thomason awaits trial on Felony Animal Cruelty charges.

During my conversations in the different chat rooms, individuals have sent me samples or clips of these videos to add to my collection. Many photos of animal crush and trampling have also been sent to me over the INTERNET through the chat rooms similar to the ones you have seen today. Tom and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have."

References:

Testimony to the United States House of Representatives, Subcommittee on Crime, September 30, 1999

History of animal-cruelty law at issue in Stevens poses incongruity
By Adam Ezra Schulman, First Amendment Center legal intern

Suicide is Contagious

A bright teenager attending a prestigious high school commits suicide. A number of the student’s classmates end their lives in the same way. Gunn High School, May, 2009? No! Plano, Texas, February, 1983. This began a twelve month period during which seven teenagers, from one of the best school districts in one of the most affluent cities in the country, ended their lives.  In New York's Westchester and Putnam counties five boys died by their own hand in February 1984. In Omaha Nebraska at the beginning of 1986, three students from the same high school who vaguely knew one another ended their lives (Leo, Taylor, et. al, 1986). So the most recent deaths by four Gunn High School teens by willingly stepping in front of commuter trains are not at all bizarre but the most recent examples of the tragic but understood phenomena of cluster teen suicides (Fernandez & Samuels, 2009).

What makes teens so vulnerable? During puberty boys’ testosterone rises to almost twenty times its pre-puberty level and doubles in girls. The hypothalamus that monitors many bodily functions, including sex, becomes less sensitive to sex hormones and waits until those urges are very strong before it signals self control. The brain is beginning to become more efficient at fourteen by eliminating unused nerve pathways, but it takes about four years to complete the process. The pleasure centers develop more quickly than the impulse control system of the prefrontal cortex. Consequently early adolescents are more emotional than those older, young adults and extreme emotional states, both positive and negative, are more frequent. The body is rapidly changing with pressures for girls to be slimmer than is humanly possible but frequently represented by the media and emphasized by parents and peers. Puberty and life style also disrupt adolescent sleep cycles so that while teenagers need nine hours of sleep, they get seven hours or less. With sleep deprivation comes irritability and impaired decision making.

So what are the risk factors that when added to the dramatic biological and sociological influences of adolescence leads to an increased likelihood of suicide? According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), girls are twice as likely to seriously think about suicide with Hispanic females most often attempting suicide (CDC, 2007). However, boys are four times more likely to die from suicide as girls. Hispanic and white boys most often have a plan, and Hispanic boys most frequently require medical treatment after a suicide attempt. Suicide becomes a solution to problems connected to depression. A suicide plan is thought of as a solution to intolerable emotional pain. Family conflicts, economic stress, relocation, isolation from friends, a victim of bullying, gender identity confusion, history of a suicide attempt by a family member, friend or neighbor are all risk factors.When according to the CDC (2007) one in six high school students in the past twelve months think about suicide, and when 13% of those surveyed said they had a plan, and one in twelve students had attempted to kill themselves at least once, risk factors cannot be minimized or overlooked and action is required.  First, this information needs to be shared with high risk groups, like students who are members of a community in which a student suicided.  Students need to be told that depression is a mental illness that can be successfully treated with psychotherapy and/or antidepressants (use of anti-depressants needs to monitored carefully as this class of drugs may increase the risk of suicide among adolescents - c.f. Simon, 2006). Students should also be told that the way to get help is to talk to their doctors, parents, or teachers.

When made aware of friends who talk about being unhappy or alone, or who have sudden changes in behavior that may include either sleeping excessively or very little, eating very little or way too much, or have wide variations in mood and irritability, a professional consultation must be sought. Take all threats to hurt one self or others seriously and seek professional advice. Opportunities for students to talk in small groups and share concerns for classmates mitigate isolation and promotes accessing professional help. Professionals can offer consultation and advice when students gather to grieve the loss of a classmate.  Adults who are vigilant and supervise their children can prevent a tragedy such as when the mother of a Gunn teenager followed her son to the train tracks. The National Suicide Hotline is 1-800-suicide (784-2433). In Santa Barbara call 211 or 1-800-400-1572. In Ventura County call 805-652-6727. Remember that most health insurance plans have some mental health benefits. Become knowledgeable, informed and act to prevent suicide.



References:

Centers for Disease Control (2007). School health policies and programs study: Suicide prevention. Journal of School Health, 77(8).

Fernandez, L., & Samuels, D. (2009). A fourth Palo Alto high school student, 16, kills self on Caltrain tracks. San Jose Mercury News, Oct, 21.


Leo, J., Taylor, E., et. al. (1986). Behavior: Could suicide be contagious? Time Magazine. Feb., 24th.

Simon, G.E. (2006). The antidepressant quandary: Considering suicide risk when treating adolescent depression. The New England Journal of Medicine. 355(26), pp. 2722-2723.