In an op-ed in the Washington Post criminologists James Densley and Jillian Peterson throw some shade on the hate hypothesis for identifying the motives of mass killers:
Our research shows that mass shooters walk a common route to violence through early childhood trauma. If they fail to achieve what they’ve been socialized to believe is their destiny — material wealth, success, power, happiness — as they age, they reach an existential crisis point.
When they no longer feel connected to the people and places around them, this becomes a suicidal crisis — except the thought of merely taking their own lives leaves them unfulfilled. As the sister of one perpetrator told us, her brother went from asking, “What’s wrong with me?†to asking, “What’s wrong with them?â€
Hate comes late along this pathway. Searching for answers, angry men comb through the words and deeds of other angry men who came before, including past mass shooters. In the darkest corners of the Internet, they eventually find someone or something else to blame for their despair.
Unlike many of those who identify problems they have some prescriptions:
There are many strategies to preempt mass shootings, none perfect on their own. These include improving access to mental health care and crisis support at schools and workplaces, expanding suicide prevention programs, holding media and social media companies accountable for hateful rhetoric on their platforms, and limiting access to firearms for high-risk individuals.
which are okay as far as they go I suppose but I think that we would find that all of those are much more difficult and of more limited effect than they may suppose.
Their diagnosis rings pretty true to me and I think it should be noted that the sense of entitlement to which they point is not limited to white supremacists but is common to white supremacists, black nationalists, and Muslim fundamentalist extremists, albeit for somewhat different reasons. Perhaps we should think a bit more critically about the factors. Has a generation of the cult of unearned self-esteem supported a fertile environment for developing such monsters? What role does isolation play? How much do social media cultivate that isolation? How about family structure and dynamics? Too much/too little/the wrong sort of parental attention?
In the 80s SNL was doing skits about how every one of these shooters is broadly similar. There is no specific trait that lets you figure out who is going to kill. We arent likely to come up with a good intervention. The on line radicalization looks pretty similar for most of these killers. We could probably eliminate the sources that radicalize people but it would run into free speech issues. Same with guns, plus we have so many there is no realistic way to stop access. We are pretty much just stuck with these killings. However, we can still point fingers afterwards.
Steve
My original comment got swallowed into the ether. Let’s see if I can do this again…..
I’m not a degreed psychologist or therapist. But unfortunately have what amounts to a Masters from the SHK, due to family issues and far too many discussions with people who are very skilled and experienced.
The first paragraph is close to standard orthodoxy. Always look to family of origin. Generally look to childhood trauma. Sometimes its neighborhood or school issues, but those generally wind back to family. (Trauma is sexual abuse, physical abuse, being demeaned or rejected etc) This is important: the two fundamental and potential fears are feeling not good enough, and fear of not belonging. Anyone who tells you they have never experienced that is either a liar, or completely self unaware – or perhaps in denial. We react to these issues.
In any event, most of us overcome these issues. But some do not.
They implode upon themselves as not good enough; they project these inferiority feelings onto others. Some go to co-dependancy. They want to take your problems on as their own – and fix them. This is the progressive mindset. I’m not kidding.
Others dive into a neurotic hell. And they begin to exhibit “maladaptive behaviors to their neuroses.” This is where the addictions, anti-social behaviors and angers emerge.
As an aside, if a victim of childhood trauma makes it through their teens (not committing suicide, becoming a profound drug addict [usually with prostitution] or other profound psychological problems) they can actually perform quite well, even for decades. However, and this may be relevant to the authors assertions, they tend to implode decades later. Its well documented in the literature. But hate is not generally cited. Other self destructive behaviors are. They may be correct, but I’m highly doubtful. Hate is not the sequential result.
How do we explain teen and early teens hate and violence? Its drugs, power, money………I’d put hate deep down the list and a very rare event.
Hate talk and accusations are popular as a weapon against what is supposed to be a right wing issue. Only fools buy that.
PS – I think the comment about unearned self esteem is interesting
I think hate is actually a factor in a lot of these killings. These are people who have generally failed at life, and a lot of the reasons in the OP and what Drew says are reasons for those failures, but these people sometimes focus on finding others to blame. They find reasons to create and hate some “other”. At some point for a small number that becomes strong enough to tip them into killing. I think we have no idea how to predict who will tip. In any large group we can pick out the odd ones we think may gone to cause real trouble but we dont which of those is the potential killer. We arent willing to spend the time and money to try to fix the whole group and if we are honest we really dont even know how to fix everyone.
Steve
I’m not so sure, steve. I think perhaps you take it too far. Childhood trauma is a different malady. These people almost always begin by blaming themselves, not others. They are children, and they have irrational relationships with parents and siblings resulting in fears. They overwhelmingly subsequently destroy themselves as a result of their personal “maladaptive behaviors” rather than lash out. They become failures in life. At least that’s what the literature suggests.
Haters and other types of sociopaths can arise from early childhood, but generally not in the same fashion. A guy doesn’t generally serially rape and kill women because of childhood trauma. They are true non-empathetic sociopaths. FBI profilers try to figure these people out.
A guy doesn’t get into drug dealing or knocking over liquor stores and shoot someone in a deal gone bad because of childhood issues. They aren’t failures in life dealing with inner demons. They are greedy immoral thugs who think it just grand to make a living like this. And so it goes.
Maybe to draw a distinction. Columbine was the former type. Ted Bundy or this character up in Buffalo the latter.
Last word on this: Pres Biden disgraced himself today (as have others) politicizing what is obviously a sick person and trying to work in gun control or draw broad brush white supremacy issues into the event. Just ghoulish.