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TIMOTHY MCVEIGH.
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Sociological analysis of Oklahoma City Federal Building bomber. Examines his life & behavior from the perspective of sociological theory, incl anomie & alienation.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Sociological analysis of Oklahoma City Federal Building bomber. Examines his life & behavior from the perspective of sociological theory, incl anomie & alienation.
Paper Introduction:
A Sociological Analysis of Oklahoma City:
Anomie and Alienation and Timothy McVeigh
The Oklahoma City terrorist bombing on April 19, 1995, represents a seminal event in recent American history; together with the earlier bombing of New York's World Trace center, Oklahoma City demonstrated to Americans that as a people, we are not exempt from terrorist attacks. The purpose of this essay is to examine the activities and attitudes of Timothy McVeigh, the man found guilty of planning and executing the Oklahoma City attack, from the perspective of sociological theory. McVeigh's life and his behavior lend themselves to such an analysis, particularly with regard to the theory of anomie as described by, among others, Robert Merton (1957). McVeigh has been
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This reporthas identified certain of the behaviors and attributes of Timothy McVeighwhich lend themselves to this particular sociological explanation. Often, individualsexperiencing anomie with respect to mainstream society will seek suchaffiliations with an established subgroup (Merton, 1957). Sociology. McFadden (1995) claimsthat it was McVeigh's failure to receive an assignment for the SpecialForces that led McVeigh to voluntarily resign from the military and beginto search for meaningful work in his home town of Pendleton, New York. A Sociological Analysis of Oklahoma City: Anomie and Alienation and Timothy McVeigh The Oklahoma City terrorist bombing on April 19, 1995, represents aseminal event in recent American history; together with the earlier bombingof New York's World Trace center, Oklahoma City demonstrated to Americansthat as a people, we are not exempt from terrorist attacks. (1989). Lord, L. The question of whether or not this analysis and thefinding of the jury are valid can ultimately only be answered by TimothyMcVeigh, who has yet to address this issue. Anomie, according to Merton (1957), holds that groups lackinglegitimate means to success or perceiving institutional and social barriersto their success, will have higher rates of deviance than other groups.Deviance is constructed as an adaptation to strain. In anomie theory, groups with fewer opportunities to achieve successgoals will have greater motivation to violate norms and higher rates ofdeviance (Perrucci & Knudsen, 1989). Others Unknown: The Oklahoma CityBombing Case and Conspiracy. A juryof McVeigh's peers have found him guilty of the Oklahoma City bombing andhe awaits execution. Serrano, R.A. He may well have been seekingmembership in a group that would provide him with an acceptable set ofnorms that would be self-affirming. Stickney (1996) contends that even as an adolescent,McVeigh was a tense, confused, and an emotionally distraught youth. In addition, it was during the final months of his military servicethat McVeigh began to express public dislike of the United Statesgovernment (Stickney, 1996). Anomie theory states, according toMerton (1957), that retreatist and rebellious individuals seek out means ofidentifying with new values and new institutional systems to replaceexisting ones that have been found wanting. McVeighspent time in Michigan with Nichols and others who not only agreed with hisviews on government, but were if anything more extreme in their distrust ofgovernment. St. Serrano (1998) draws upon interviews of others who served withMcVeigh in the United States and during duty in the Persian Gulf War toassert that McVeigh's conversations tended to focus on the failure ofgovernment to support the rights of mainstream Americans. Also found in McVeigh'shome were movies that depicted terrorist acts and conspiracy theories.Again, McVeigh's choice of reading material suggests that he was seekingout information to support his anti-government beliefs and to bolster hissense of victimization at the hands of the establishment. Again, from the sociological perspective, anomietheory suggests that McVeigh was reaching out to make connections withothers who would validate his own views. Lord and Roebuck (1997) reported that McVeigh never offered an alibiin his trial while prosecutors were able to show potent evidence of amotive for the bombing. It is his view that McVeigh was the victim of federalgovernment determination to find a patsy on whom the Oklahoma City bombingcould be blamed. Serrano (1998,p. Rebellion,says Merton (1957), is the rejection of existing goals and means withendorsement of them in principle. He appears to have retreated fromcontact with others and focused his efforts on maintaining a spit-and-polish personae who gave dirty assignments to Black subordinates andpresented a racist animosity toward minorities. In addition, Serrano (1998)says that McVeigh's attraction to these paramilitary organizations wasbased upon his need for structure and order as a means of controlling thechaos which he perceived in his own life. The mind of the accused. For McVeigh, the military appears to have been asolution to the problems of finding both meaningful work and a social orcultural affiliation that would be validating. (1998). McVeigh limitedhis comments to an excerpt from a 1928 opinion by Justice Louis Brandeiswhich spoke of government "as the potent, the omnipresent teacher whichteaches the people by its example (Schorr, 1997, p. (1995). and Roebuck, K. Stickney (1996) has pointed out that McVeigh may have been avictim of the Persian Gulf War Syndrome, a psychological and physiologicalsyndrome in which tension, dissonance, and emotional distress are linkedcausally to participation in the Persian Gulf War. One of Ours. Further, as both Stickney (1996) andSerrano (1998) have noted, McVeigh's efforts to become reintegrated intomainstream American society following his voluntary resignation from themilitary were also frustrated. Sociology.New York: Macmillan. McVeigh is said to have turned to the militaryservice because of family difficulties and his own desire to escapenegative community views of the behavior of his mother and father. (1996). 49) quotes Carl Lebron, a soldier with whom McVeigh served in thePersian Gulf, who stated McVeigh's conversations dealt mostly with"politics, secret societies, religion and conspiracy theories." Further,this peer told Serrano (1998) that McVeigh felt that the federal governmenthad too much power and that federal law enforcement officers had become tooinvolved in illegal police activities directed against "real Americans." What emerges from the biographies of McVeigh is a portrait of a youngman increasingly alienated and isolated. 18)." McVeigh may havebeen suggesting that the government may have deligitimized itself (possiblythrough the F.B.I. (1957). Perrucci, R., and Knudsen, D.D. (1998). News & World Report, 122(22): 3 -32. Merton's (1957) construction of anomie identifies different modes ofadaptation to the stresses and demands of organized society. Paul,MN: West Publishing. Jones (1998) cites Army records demonstrating thatMcVeigh was an excellent soldier whose efficiency reports were highlycomplimentary. Be that as it may, theimage and affect of Timothy McVeigh throughout his trial strongly supportsan analysis from the perspective of anomie theory. (1997). Kinney (1997) examined thereading materials found in McVeigh's living quarters after his arrest forthe Oklahoma City bombing and noted that among these materials wereparamilitary tracts and treatises, underground and alternative publicationscirculating in the survivalist milieu, and populist newspapers catering tothe extreme right wing of the political spectrum. In addition, McVeigh was said to haveregarded the people inside the building in Oklahoma City as storm troopersin the evil empire supported by the government. In the case of Timothy McVeigh, McFadden (1995) has suggested thatMcVeigh's tendency to characterize himself as "a prisoner of war" and hisquasi-military presentation during the period following his arrest andduring his trial is evidence of his application of a set of a values (i.e.,militaristic traits and behaviors and accompanying norms) to his ownrejection of cultural and socially approved behaviors and institutions. (1997). McVeigh appears to have done relatively well in the Army, receivingthe Presidential Citation, a Unit Citation, the Meritorious Unit Citation,and rising to the rank of sergeant. Subculturesconsequently arise for such disparate groups as the extremely religious,drug users, political radicals, a variety of criminals, and others. Of the three types ofadaptation, deviance occurs when innovation or the use of illegitimatemeans to achieve cultural goals is selected or when an individual retreatsby rejecting institutionalized goals and the means to them. Daniel Schorr (1997) cites McVeigh's final court statement afterbeing sentenced to death for the Oklahoma City bombing. Stephen Jones (1998), Chief Defense Counsel for Timothy McVeighbelieves that the view of this man as an introverted, paranoid, aloof loneris inaccurate. One witness told the court that McVeigh had explicitly stated thathe intended to bomb the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City and by this act,start a second American revolution. Those who feel that they are denied access to or who rejectthe legitimate means and goals of their society also tend to turn away fromformer peer and reference groups and seek out new ones. Whole Earth,9 : 43-49. (1989). Based on thistheory, it can be argued that McVeigh retreated from mainstream society,attempted to identify himself within an accepted and legitimate subcultureof that society (i.e., the Army), and only later became an overt rebel whenfrustrated in all his efforts to find acceptance in society. A series of menial, dead-end jobs appearsto have further convinced McVeigh that he was poorly valued by mainstreamsociety. Brandon M. raid on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas) andthereby legitimized his actions in Oklahoma City. The New York Times, May 4: A1+. Merton (1957) positedthe existence of five modes of individual adaptation: conformity,ritualism, innovation, retreatism, and rebellion. Biographers of McVeigh, including Serrano (1998), have characterizedthe young man as having been a "loner" during high school and while servingin the United States Army. In May1988, McVeigh enlisted and was assigned ultimately to the 2nd Battalion,16th Infantry (Serrano, 1998). Stickney (1996) and Serrano (1998) both describe McVeigh's attemptsto join the Michigan Militia, a survivalist, anti-government organizationthat considered the United States government to be threatening the rightsof ordinary Americans. New York: PublicAffairs. McVeigh's life and hisbehavior lend themselves to such an analysis, particularly with regard tothe theory of anomie as described by, among others, Robert Merton (1957).McVeigh has been characterized by reporters, criminologists, and others ashaving live a life of solitude, obsession, and anger (Jones, 1998;McFadden, 1995; Serrano, 1998; Stickney, 1996) -- conditions and attitudesclosely associated with Merton's (1957) attribution of traits associatedwith alienated individuals and groups. McFadden, R.D. Social Theory and Social Structure.Glencoe, IL: The Free Press. Asa soldier, Stickney (1996) maintains that McVeigh demonstrated a rigidindependence which prevented him from being accepted as a team player. Was he the mad bomber?U.S. Life of solitude, obsession, andanger. Stickney, B.M. Stickney (1996) presents biographicalinformation supporting the characterization of McVeigh as a member of agroup with fewer opportunities to achieve success with regard to mainstreamsocial expectations. New York: W.W. McVeigh's sister, Jennifer, told the jury of herbrother's outrage over the government's 1993 siege near Waco, Texas againstthe Branch Davidian religious cult and his vow that "something big" wouldhappen. The purpose ofthis essay is to examine the activities and attitudes of Timothy McVeigh,the man found guilty of planning and executing the Oklahoma City attack,from the perspective of sociological theory. He rejects the psychological profiles presented by theprosecution at McVeigh's trial and contends that McVeigh may have beencritical of the government (as was Terry Nichols) but mere criticism of agovernment is not evidence of deviance, criminality, or anomie. Merton, R.K. Hisfrustration over the Special Forces rejection is regarded by thisbiographer as a major impetus for his later acts of anti-governmentterrorism. Stickney (1996) comments that McVeigh's animosity toward governmentgrew when he was rejected for a position with the border patrol in NiagaraFalls, New York. Kinney, J. It was at this time in 1992 that McVeigh joined a groupknown as the Circus of Losers, a group to which Terry Nichols (the otherperson convicted of the Oklahoma City bombing) also belonged. Norton. In addition, he wore on his uniformthe Bronze Star for valor, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the ArmyCommendation Medal with V Device and Oak Leaf Cluster (awarded forcourage), the Expert Rifleman patch, the Army Achievement Medal, and theGood Conduct Medal (Serrano, 1998). References Hess, B.B., Markson, E.W., and Stein, P.J. People who respond to stress byrejection of goals and means -- a category of anomie that appears to applyto McVeigh -- tend to isolate themselves from the rest of society (Perrucci& Knudsen, 1989). Anomie refers to the disorganization that exists in individuals orsociety when norms are conflicting, weak, or absent (Hess, Markson, &Stein, 1989). McVeigh was particularly angry withgovernment efforts to limit the rights of citizens to bear arms and alsoappears to have been extremely vocal on the subject of Second Amendmentrights and the government's interference in the exercise of those rights(Jones, 1998). Hisparents separation may have been instrumental in leading McVeigh to developan almost obsessive interest in weaponry, government, and the military. Jones, S. "All American Monster." Amherst,NY:Prometheus Books. For McVeigh, the failure to achieve within the parameters of militaryexpectations -- specifically, his rejection by the Special Forces -- maywell have been the final straw. McFadden (1995) has commented that even though McVeigh was afrequently decorated soldier, he was frustrated in the Army becausepsychological tests were used to prohibit him from becoming a Green Beret.McFadden (1995) also notes that interviews with superior officers andfellow NCOs suggest that McVeigh became increasingly isolated in his threeyears and seven months in the Army. While some of these medals andcitations are virtually automatic for soldiers who meet basic requirements,others are awarded less frequently.
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