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What could lead someone to commit so much destruction?
What could lead someone to commit so much destruction?
Why did Adam Lanza walk into an elementary school and kill twenty children and six adults? Can science help us understand these senseless mass murders? Can we prevent them? There have been several incidents of public shooting sprees recently, and sadly, there will almost certainly be others. You will be reading an article that reviews the psychological research on the various types of mass murders and some of the common psychological factors that lead to such senseless violence.
12-A: Overview & General Classification Systems
12-A: Overview & General Classification Systems
What qualifies as a mass murder incident?
What are some of the major limitations and challenges associated with doing research on mass murders?
What are some of the common features of mass murder incidents? Be prepared to describe:
Killer’s feelings, personality traits, and worldview
The number of perpetrators involved
Planning and rituals
Childhood history
What are some of the major contributing factors? Be prepared to provide three examples from each category of factors:
Biological
Psychological
Social
LOCATE: Knoll's (2012) study entitled "Mass murder: Causes, classification & prevention."
READ: Start with the Key Points box (pg. 757) and continue with the Overview, the section on Mass Murder Commonalities, and Box 1 on the contributing factors.
STUDENTS - The full paper is in the file section of our Canvas course page
PUBLIC - It appears you can request to view the full paper here.
12-B: Categorizing Murder-Suicide & Mass-Murder Incidents
12-B: Categorizing Murder-Suicide & Mass-Murder Incidents
What are the defining features and perpetrator characteristics of the various classifications of incidents involving murder and suicide? Be prepared to read a case study and classify it appropriately.
Consortial-physically ailing
Consortial-possessive
Extrafamilial
Familicide-suicide
Filicide-suicide
What are the defining features and perpetrator characteristics of the various classifications of mass murder incidents? Be prepared to read a case study and classify it appropriately.
Familial-depressed
Indiscriminate-resentful
Pseudocommunity-psychotic
Specific community-resentful
Workplace resentful
READ: Continue with the section on Mass Murder: Toward Classification and Boxes 2 and 3. Pause when you get to The Pseudocommando.
WATCH: Six Dead in Workplace Shooting
This video describes the shooting committed by Wesley Higdon at his place of work.
READ: The following murder-suicide case studies and consider which classification each represents.
12-B1: Police: Lewisboro, N.Y., father killed wife, kids, self
12-B2: Three in murder-suicide had Alzheimer's, chronic pain, relative says (see Files section of Canvas)
12-B3: Man, woman dead in murder-suicide (see Files section of Canvas)
12-B4: Catherine Murch, St. Louis mom, killed herself and her 2 kids in murder-suicide, police say
READ: The following mass murder case studies and consider which classification each represents.
12-B5: Aaron Alexis
12-B6: James Holmes' psychiatrist warned he may pose threat (or see the Files section of our Canvas page)
12-B7: 10 Shocking Cases of Parents Murdering Their Families - The section about John List
Jiverly Wong
12:B8: Before Killings, Hints of Plans and Grievance (or see the Files section of our Canvas page)
The section on him in the Knoll (2012) article (pgs. 769-773)
12-B9: Mailman massacre: 14 die after Patrick Sherrill 'goes postal' in 1986 shootings (or see the Files section of our Canvas page)
12-C: Pseudocommandos
12-C: Pseudocommandos
What are the typical features of an attack perpetrated by this kind of murder? Be detailed in your discussion of trends, including...
General motivation
Public vs. private locations
Time of day
Planning and preparation
Escape plan
How would you describe the five critical elements that tend to prompt such massive destruction?
What does it mean that they externalize their pain and aversive self-awareness?
In what way does externalizing pain and social isolation lead to a downward spiral?
How does "splitting" enable violent fantasies? In what way does the consequence of splitting relate to depersonalization and emotional distance?
What is the nature of their paranoia and how does this sometimes relate to their externalizing?
Why do they view their attack as heroic revenge? How is that related to their destructive envy?
Why is this type of offender so likely to die in his own attack?
In what way might healthy individuals sublimate aggressive urges? How might their nihilistic ideology and sense of hopelessness interfere with their ability to sublimate?
READ: Continue in Knoll (2012) with the section on The Pseudocommando.
WATCH: The article references "sublimation" and if you are not already familiar with the term, watch this brief video on psychological defense mechanisms for a definition and example.
12-D: Psycholinguistic Method
12-D: Psycholinguistic Method
What is the overall concept of forensic psycholinguistic analysis and how can specific features of communication be studied to reveal the psychological features of a mass murder?
What are the limitations to this methodology?
READ: Continue with the section on Psycholinguistic Method, the two case examples and the Discussion of Forensic Psycholinguistic Analysis (pgs. 766-774). Stop when you get to Prevention and Future Directions.
Closing Thoughts...
Closing Thoughts...
Unfortunately, mass murders are all too common, to the point where many don't make national news headlines. Though mass murders seem senseless and inexplicable to most people, psychological analysis of the murderers, their intentions and the events leading up to the attack reveals a shared set of features and elements. Understanding mass murders, including the various classifications and the reasons behind these acts of violence can help explain their prevalence. With this in mind, could a greater understanding of mass murders (particularly pseudo-commandos) and the features associated with them help prevent these tragic attacks? What role do we all play in their prevention?
In-Class Learning Objectives
In-Class Learning Objectives
After participating in our class meeting or an interactive online presentation you will be able to answer the following questions:
What is postpartum psychosis and why might it, in rare cases, lead to filicide? How is this disorder different than postpartum depression?
Who is Elliot Rogers, what did he do, and in what ways does he fit the pattern of a pseudocommando? Be prepared to give specific examples that relate to each relevant characteristic.
If you're interested in learning more...
If you're interested in learning more...
WATCH: Here first-hand the despair that can lead someone to contemplate committing an atrocity, and how an act of kindness can make all the difference.
If you are particularly interested in the analysis of mass murder writings I would highly encourage you to read Dutton, White, and Fogarty's (2013) article entitled "Paranoid thinking in mass shooters". It is a fascinating, more detailed look into the minds of some of the most infamous mass murders in history.
For a broader sense of what we have learned about active shooter incidents in the United States, the FBI recently published an analysis of the statistical data:
Read: A Study of Active Shooter Incidents in the United States Between 2000 and 2013
For more on data in a more global context:
Read: Public Mass Shooters and Firearms: A Cross-National Study of 171 Countries
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