The author studied 28 men convicted and confined for use of explosives
in assaults on superior officers during the Viet Nam war. There were
several predominant characteristics in this group, including deprivation
and/or brutality in family backgrounds, poor self-image, lack of critical
self-observation, the use of externalization, and feelings of insecurity or
vulnerability. Drug use joined with these and several other factors related
to the situation of these men in Viet Nam in a lethal combination that led
to the perpetration of an indirect assault with an explosive device on a
figure perceived as powerful and threatening.Abstract Teaser