Emailed Threats Less Crazy Than Snail Mail 113
SoyChemist writes "Psychologists at the University of Nebraska have read 300 threatening letters and 99 angry emails to members of Congress. They concluded that the authors of the electronic messages show less signs of serious mental illness, but they are more profane and disorganized. The report was published in the September issue of the Journal of Forensic Sciences."
Duh (Score:5, Insightful)
Snail Mail is cheaper and seems "more serious" (Score:3, Insightful)
The truly paranoid probably don't trust computers.
The functional-but-unstable ones probably heard that snail-mail and faxes are taken more seriously than email. That was true back in the late '90s. I don't know if it's still true now.
Premeditation (Score:3, Insightful)
Letters require more forethought and more steps (finding envelope and stamp, going to mailbox, etc.). They require premeditation. Snail mail letters are also harder to trace and thus less likely to result in a visit from the FBI.
Someone with a real mental delusion, making real threats is obviously more likely to use snail mail when compared with the average angry constituent who just wants to let out their frustration.
A duh to go please.. (Score:5, Insightful)
To sit down, find an envelope, and actually put 35 cents on the thing requires more forethought and commitment than firing off an email. It also takes at least several minutes to do, so there will be a bit more composition of thought than in an email.
Email can be a much more heat of the moment thing, as evidenced frequently by this forum. I guarantee that if replying to this thread, or even this forum required me to mail an envelope it would not have happened.
Re:Duh (Score:2, Insightful)
Sanity and functioning aren't the same thing. You can be completely insane, but wholly functional. Think Adolph Hitler -- he might have been totally nuts, but if he were living today I doubt very much he'd have any trouble opening or using an e-mail account.
Stamps are 41 cents now. (Score:4, Insightful)
Dropping off a letter in a different city is an easier method than anon proxies for most people.
Nebraska tax dollars (Score:2, Insightful)
It's a Matter of Focus (Score:3, Insightful)
Potentially flawed method (Score:2, Insightful)
From the abstract: "[letters and emails] were randomly selected from the United States Capitol Police investigative case files and compared." [Emphasis mine]