NCJ Number
62666
Date Published
1971
Length
317 pages
Annotation
BASED ON PSYCHIATRIC STUDIES OF OVER 50 SKYJACKERS, A PSYCHOLOGICAL PORTRAIT OF A TYPICAL SKYJACKER IS PRESENTED.
Abstract
TWO BASIC CAUSES FOR THE ACT OF SKYJACKING ARE POSTULATED: (1) INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE SERIOUSLY ILL IN A PSYCHIATRIC SENSE USE THIS ACTION EITHER AS A DIRECT EXPRESSION OF THEIR ILLNESS OR AS ACTED-OUT BEHAVIOR TO ESCAPE SOME LESS PERSONALLY ACCEPTABLE INTENT, AND (2) A MOOD OF NATIONAL HYSTERIA IS INVOLVED, WHICH SETS LOOSE A MOB DYNAMIC INTO WHICH SUSCEPTIBLE INDIVIDUALS ARE DRAWN. IN MANY INSTANCES, BOTH OF THESE FACTORS ARE SIMULTANEOUSLY INVOLVED. PORTRAYED, ALL BUT ONE OF THE SKYJACKERS STUDIED WERE MEN. THE SKYJACKERS SHARED CERTAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF FAMILY HISTORY AND PERSONALITY. THEIR MOTHERS WERE VERY RELIGIOUS AND OFTEN ABUSED BY DOMINATING FATHERS, WHO WERE ANGRY, POSSESSIVE, UNLOVING, AND OFTEN UNRELIABLE AS FINANCIAL PROVIDERS. THE TYPICAL SKYJACKER ALSO RESENTED A SISTER'S CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE MOTHER WHO DERIVED EMOTIONAL SUPPORT FROM THE SON BUT DOMINATED HIM. THE SKYJACKER EXHIBITED LOW SELF-ESTEEM AND WAS UNABLE TO SOCIALIZE WELL WITH WOMEN. A CHART DEPICTS THE SITUATION OF EACH OF THE 16 SKYJACKERS AT THE TIME OF THE CRIME. DURING THE 3-MONTH PERIOD PRECEDING HIS CRIME, EACH SKYJACKER TOUCHED THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF ACCOMPLISHMENT HE HAD EVER ATTAINED. THE PRECIPITATING EVENT FOR EACH SKYJACKER WAS THAT FOR THE FIRST AND ONLY TIME HE WAS CONFRONTED WITH HIS PARTICULAR SITUATION AND COULD NOT ESCAPE BY MANIPULATIONS, RATIONALIZATIONS, OR SYMBOL FORMATION. THE 'FLIGHT' (THE SKYJACKING ACT) WAS A REENACTMENT OF HIS PREVIOUS RESOLUTION OF THE OEDIPAL CONFLICT, IN WHICH HE CROSSED THE HOSTILE BARRIER BETWEEN MOTHER AND FATHER, DISOWNING, IN THE PROCESS, IDENTIFICATION WITH AND MURDEROUS IMPULSES TOWARD THE FATHER. THUS, HIS FEAR OF FAILURE CONSISTED OF HIS INABILITY EITHER TO IDENTIFY SUCCESSFULLY WITH THE VIOLENT FATHER OR TO DEFEAT HIM PHYSICALLY. CONTROL GROUP STUDIES WERE CONDUCTED WHICH ADDED FURTHER SUPPORT TO THESE FINDINGS. CONCLUDING TOPICS FOCUS ON SKYJACKING AS A FUNCTION OF SOCIETY, SKYJACKING AND THE SPACE PROGRAM, AND NEW MATERIAL STUDIED SINCE 1971. APPENDIXES INCLUDE CRYPTO-VESTIBULAR DATA AND A MASTER LIST OF ALL HIJACKING ATTEMPTS UPDATED TO JANUARY 1, 1973. (PRG)