Carjacking: a sign of the times.

• Author: Hyatt, Ralph

"To be terrorized [by such a crime] is to be psychologically shaken at the roots. Physical integrity, safely, self-esteem, and sense of self are at risk."

Imagine the intense fear evoked at approaching one's car in a mall parking lot after a pleasant shopping spree and, at gunpoint, being forced to lie quietly in the rear seat as the gunman crazily races through the streets of the city. The scene becomes even more inhuman when this brutality is combined with pistol-whipping and robbery, or if an infant or youngster is present. The horror can be ratcheted up in direct relation to the sadistic desires of the terrorist.

Carjacking is defined as armed auto theft of an occupied vehicle. In 1992, there were 28,000 such incidents, and they occurred in urban, suburban, and rural areas in every section of the country. No one is exempt.

Carjacking is on a continuum with rear bumper robberies, the gunning down of innocent travelers at airports, stoning of people in a marketplace, bombing of New York's World Trade Center, and the shoot-out with the Branch Davidians in Waco. The basics are the same - anger, frustration, lack of impulse control, and the desire to frighten and inflict pain, as well as obtain immediate satisfaction. These emotions aren't strange. They may crop up in all individuals during various stages of development, but maturity and social order demand self-discipline and respect for others. Otherwise, a terrifying price must be paid, by both terrorist and victim.

Teenagers share the limelight with adults as abductors. They will steal cars and whoever is in them for joyrides, the value of the car and its parts, or just to taunt those who represent law and order. Robbery, rape, and kidnapping often become supplements for their intense inner fury. Carjacking may have no other motive than thrill-seeking, which escalates purely by getting away with the crime. It may be nothing more than another game of risk.

Rampant abuse of alcohol and drugs certainly adds to an increasing frequency of this heinous act. Car alarms and other security devices also have contributed to the rising statistics; it has become simpler to dismantle humans than mechanical and electronic systems.

Psychological effects

Abductees often experience the destruction of their fundamental human fabric. To be terrorized is to be psychologically shaken at the roots. Physical integrity, safety, selfesteem, and sense of self are at risk.

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