There is a body of criminological research suggesting that mental instability and Dissocial personality disorders play the major role in the criminal behavior of mass murders (Agnew, 2012). In support of this theory researchers including Robinson, have observed that the delusional tendencies among mass murders could be a defensive extrapolation by the perpetrator to rationalize their actions (Robinson, 2004). The contrary perspective is best summed up by the irrational nature of the crime itself, which leads most researchers to categorize mass murders as typical psychopaths (Lynam, Moffitt, & Stouthamer-Loeber, 1993). However, the idea of lumping mass murder perpetrators and psychopaths together in a comparison contrast may in fact be the key
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The targets of these killers are generally unrelated to the mass murder and their social/peer group, yet the victims are the focus of aggression in the contorted thinking of someone whose anger and belief system leads them to reaffirm their self-worth by achieving notoriety through violence (Maslow,1943). A violent act transforms them from losers to warriors for a cause, fighting not only on behalf of themselves, but for others in a greater struggle. While the pathologies that cause mass murders are clinically apparent, the drivers that create the environment that promotes these types of killers is still obscured but arguably related to the classic interpretations of …show more content…
Yes-As the researchers (Robinson, Craig, and Picart & Greek) suggest the accepted definition of demonology has been changed by the rise in prominence of the individual, in that the evil represented by demonology is no longer the realm of the super natural, but rather has transitioned to men who willfully act against the soul of society(Kloer, 2002). Are the circumstances of mass shootings and mass murder incidents self-perpetuating? Yes-as implied in the writings of Holmes and Harper-Mercer, those perpetrators related to the deviance of prior mass murders and felt that the acts themselves were most heroic and should be duplicated (Craig et al.,2009). And if so, is modern pop-culture fueling the mass murder trend? More than likely Yes-As the researcher Dunant points out, the 24/7 media cycle fixates attention and promotes copy-cat actors in a fashion that fuels future incidents as a type of escapism for the perpetrators (Dunant, 1999). Or are some members of society succumbing to a distorted view of infamy as a key to a perverse fifteen- minutes of fame afforded to each of the killers? Yes-From Manson to OJ society has become fixated on notoriety as an extension of fame, in which socially damaged individuals lash out and commit unfathomable crimes for their fifteen minutes in the lime-light (Jenkins,
The targets of these killers are generally unrelated to the mass murder and their social/peer group, yet the victims are the focus of aggression in the contorted thinking of someone whose anger and belief system leads them to reaffirm their self-worth by achieving notoriety through violence (Maslow,1943). A violent act transforms them from losers to warriors for a cause, fighting not only on behalf of themselves, but for others in a greater struggle. While the pathologies that cause mass murders are clinically apparent, the drivers that create the environment that promotes these types of killers is still obscured but arguably related to the classic interpretations of …show more content…
Yes-As the researchers (Robinson, Craig, and Picart & Greek) suggest the accepted definition of demonology has been changed by the rise in prominence of the individual, in that the evil represented by demonology is no longer the realm of the super natural, but rather has transitioned to men who willfully act against the soul of society(Kloer, 2002). Are the circumstances of mass shootings and mass murder incidents self-perpetuating? Yes-as implied in the writings of Holmes and Harper-Mercer, those perpetrators related to the deviance of prior mass murders and felt that the acts themselves were most heroic and should be duplicated (Craig et al.,2009). And if so, is modern pop-culture fueling the mass murder trend? More than likely Yes-As the researcher Dunant points out, the 24/7 media cycle fixates attention and promotes copy-cat actors in a fashion that fuels future incidents as a type of escapism for the perpetrators (Dunant, 1999). Or are some members of society succumbing to a distorted view of infamy as a key to a perverse fifteen- minutes of fame afforded to each of the killers? Yes-From Manson to OJ society has become fixated on notoriety as an extension of fame, in which socially damaged individuals lash out and commit unfathomable crimes for their fifteen minutes in the lime-light (Jenkins,