Extreme political violence like assassination usually has a pathological psychological basis

Evidence

Extreme forms of behavior are also likely (though not certain) to have a pathological basis, as in the behavior of American presidential assassins such as Ronald Reagan’s would-be killer, John Hinckley, Jr. (Clarke, 1990). — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 1153

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the cultural legal concept of the insanity defense and to ‘lone wolf’ attacker studies. — connects to: Japanese austerity produced depression, assassination, and militarism. — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 544; Security-force killings of activists triggered escalatory cycles of mourning and reprisal — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 603; Intermittent violent actors must be read against the full political context of their regime — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 220