Analysis Of Psychwatch: Mass Murders

People who have been diagnosed with this cluster are sexually inappropriate, prone to a grandiose view of their own uniqueness and abilities, emotionally unstable, self-centered, lacking and sense of guilt, shame or empathy and are often superficially charming, manipulative and exploitative. Most serial killers exhibit a well known triad of behaviors in childhood: a fascination with fire, cruelty to animals and prolonged bed-wetting. Many become almost uncontrollably interested in pornography as teenagers and anti-social when they reach adulthood. Most were physically and/or sexually abused. However, they appear normal in surface appearance and behavior. Typically with this illness, comes overpowering waves of compulsion to kill that wax and wane over time but normally get worse with age. Serial killers are described by law enforcement as organized or unorganized. Organized killers often appear normal in their appearance and socially. They typically plan their killing, have a mode of transportation and bring some sort of murder “kit”, containing the tools they will need. Most serial killers don’t use guns. The victims usually fit into a certain profile (e.g. gender, race, hair color etc.) and they will hunt down their victims. The organized killer is more likely to have a crime scene picked out, take or discard the weapon, and move or transport the body to a hiding place. In contrast to the organized killer the

Mass murder is defined by the FBI as the killing of three or more people in a single event or in the same day (Petersen & Farrington, 2007). Mass murderers are complex and can be examined by the many factors that regularly appear among them, such as violence precipitating events, weapon of choice, and mental illnesses. The motivations and methods for committing mass murder are easily broken down into specific groups, and through the examination of these definitions and specific cases there is much to learn about the mind of a mass murderer.

In Psychology, there are perspectives and approaches that are looked into when trying to understand how the intricate human mind works. These perspectives are respectfully derived from different ideas and time periods, exemplifying different ways of thinking. These perspectives include: sociocultural, biopsychological, psychodynamic, behaviorism, cognitive, and humanism. These approaches are critically essential in solving something as serious as murder, or simply even why someone acts the way they do. There are many instances where there will be shocking news stories about people committing murders—people that are so unexpected to do such harm. However, when the six

As technology continues to evolve, our understanding of sickness and disease grows as well. Modern day technology is able to tell doctors what caused the disease and in ideal situations how to cure it. Recent scientists have begun to look at the desire to kill as a disease. This theory poses an interesting concept that if it is a disease, then maybe there is a cure that prevents serial killers from killing. In Christer Claus and Lars Lidberg’s article they look at the desire to kill as a disease. The article states that while using Schahriar Syndrome as a model, they are able to explain even the most vicious human behaviours, such as planned and repeated homicide (Claus/Lidberg 428). This disease is broken down into five main characteristics: omnipotence, sadistic fantasies, ritualized performance, dehumanization, and symbiotic merger. These five traits are not only common among people with the disease, but among serial killers as well (428). The article states that after a successful killing, the killer is surprised. When the killer is able to get away with murder, a sense of amazement consumes them. Once the killer has repeatedly killed their victim and escaped the authorities, they begin to feel like they are omnipotent. As time goes on, over fifty percent of serial killers experience sadistic fantasies that make them want to keep committing the crimes. Each killer uses their success and sadistic fantasies to form a certain ritual. They begin to believe that if they are

In the past decade mass shootings and domestic violence has become a topic frequently talked about in America's society. In America it is a popular belief that mass shootings are a product of mental illness or because there are an abundance of guns. A part of mass shootings occur because of mental illness, but not in the way many people believe. Drugs that are prescribed to people that have a mental illness or are depressed are affecting people's brains and the things that cross their minds. America's crisis on mass shootings and domestic violence is due to the prescription of psychotropic, psychiatric and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) drugs, commonly referred to as antidepressants, from trusted psychiatrists.

A serial killer is traditional defined as the separate killings of three or more people by an individual over a certain period of time, usually with breaks between the murders. (Angela Pilson, p. 2, 2011) This definition has been accepted by both the police and academics and therefore provides a useful frame of reference (Kevin Haggerty, p.1, 2009). The paper will seek to provide the readers with an explanation of how serial killers came to be and how they are portrayed in the media.

Mass murderers have many different types of planning. A mass murderer can plan their attack or it can be heat of the moment. The first type of planning is organized. In organized there can be Pseudocommando, Schizophrenic, Morbidly Jealous or Set-and-run. A example of pseudocommando is Omar Mateen. Knoll implies, “The pseudocommando is a type of mass murderer who kills in public during the daytime, plans his offense well in advance, and comes prepared with a powerful arsenal of weapons. He has no escape planned and expects to be killed during the incident” (Knoll). This means the Mateen planned his mass murder out in advance. He killed all the people in public and daytime. He thought to himself that he was going to be killed.

Due to today’s advanced media technology, we as a society are more aware and instantly informed about mass murders and serial killers. There is a difference between a mass murderer and a serial killer, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, statistics Bureau. (“Mental Floss”, 2008). A “mass

Has the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill led to the increase of mass shootings experienced in the US? According to Lankford, several reports suggest that up to 60% of offenders of mass shootings in the US since 1970, exhibited symptoms including depression, delusions, and acute paranoia prior to the commission of their crimes. Further statistics have shown that since 1982, there have been at least 71 public mass shooting across the country; with 34 of these mass shooting having occurred since 2006. A recent analysis of the database by researchers at Harvard University corroborated by a recent FBI study concluded that mass shootings have been on the rise. More than half of the cases involve school or workplace shootings, 12 and 20

To me there isn’t enough data to back the theories validity. The studies described in the text consist of research counts of 84, 102, 1200; that is not enough research or statistical data collection to convince me that these behaviors are direct links to the behaviors shown in serial killers. The simple downfall of this theory is the lack of research and study groups.

In this journal, Knoll and Meloy research the psychological wellness of mass murderers. They both claim that most mass murderers deal with some level of paranoia, which leads to them committing violent crimes. The researchers came to this conclusion through analyzing “pre-offense” (239) messages such as videos and letters that mass murderers often leave behind. They more specifically discussed analyzing Kipland Kinkel, who killed his parents and two students at his Oregon school in 1998. After analyzing these messages, they came to the conclusion that mass murderers are often on a “spectrum from paranoid traits to psychotic delusion.” (241). This means that mass shooters often suffer from some level of a mental illness, whether it be minor

There is an assumption that if you understand the minds of serial killers, or persons who commit mass shootings, that it may help prevent mass shootings. “Mass shootings are not on the rise, but have held steady over three decades, randomly clustering in time to trick our brains into finding a pattern of increase where none actually exists” (Shermer 3). Mass shootings happen at varying times without rhyme or reason. Some think that a psychological disorder or some genetic defect could be the reason people commit these crimes. Although we cannot prevent mass shootings, we can educate on how mental health issues can be a precursor to such a tragedy, and how better laws can create a safer environment.

These mass killings can be linked to one of the theory that can explain why these crimes occurred. According to Borgeson, Kevin and

The majority of them are loners with no friends and few acquaintances has an adoration for guns and most likely has no criminal record or any lengthy history of mental record. They also tend to be married with children and have a career. Have had a childhood pass of being physically and sexually abused and are from broken homes. As children they often wet the bed, were infatuated with masturbation, were cruel to animals, and liked playing with fire. Because of their childhood, they often developed a psychopathic nature and do not know how to feel sympathy or be involved in a relationship. Because of their insecurity a compulsive need to feel like they are in authority becomes a vital part of their well-being, even at no cost to others lives. Also, their motives for murder vary. A notable motivation for mass murder is revenge, but other motivations are possible, including the need for attention or fame. The murderer’s incident can last for a few minutes or as long as several hours. In order to qualify as a mass murder, the incident must be carried out by one or few offenders. Highly organized or

Attempting to understand the motivations behind another individual's actions is often the most difficult task for crime prevention. While there are patterns for behaviour that can help researchers to formulate a binary for the a-typical criminal, it is difficult to pinpoint exact behavior as motivated reasoning differs case to case. This weeks readings attempt to incorporate the use of a Routine Activities perspective towards understanding the typology of mass murderers. While routine activities theory generally focuses on the victim of a crime, the implementation of this theory proves useful due to the consistently missing link in studying mass murderers which is , offender motivation. According to the article, contrary to mass media perceptions the majority of mass murders take place in rural settings. I hypothesize that due to rural populations generally having limited resources for mental health advocacy in comparison to high populated areas, the lack of mental health awareness may