Am J Psychiatry 1976; 133:1328-1331
Copyright © 1976 by American Psychiatric Association
The why of fragging
TC Bond
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.
