School Shootings in the USA - Term Paper Example

? Psychological Review of School Shootings in the USA Psychological Review of School Shootings in the USA The contemporary USA has faced frequent cases of school shooting incidents which is striking considering that there were very few similar incidents before 1995. Ever since the Virginia Tech killings in Columbine in 1999, school shooting incidents have been documented at least more than once every year. For instance, there were six incidents in 2000, 7 in 2001, 2 in 2002, 6 in 2003, 6 in 2004, 2 in 2005, 4 in 2006 and 2 in 2007 (School Violence in the United States, 2007). The Ohio school shooting in 2012 brought back the issue firmly in public light as a modern day concern. The injuries and deaths caused by such school shootings are a source of major concern to American society, sparking debates from various angles including gun control and touching on important societal issues such as drug abuse and parenting. Amid the controversy and confusion that accompany these shootings, psychological analysis may help explain the pathological behavior among the perpetrators. This is important as it may help highlight the underlying problem and, thus, aid in establishing effective strategies to deal with the problem. The recurrence of the shootings indicates that the society has not quite understood the reasons behind such incidents, further adding impetus to the need for psychological explanations. The personality of a perpetrator of a school shooting can be viewed through several psychological concepts. In terms of the psychoanalytic theory, the personality of the perpetrators is viewed as being influenced by important childhood experiences that shape the personality of the perpetrator later in life. Besides this, psychoanalytic concepts explain the conflict in the perpetrator arising from opposing forces; the unacceptable motives of injuring or killing versus the defense mechanism preventing the dissonance from becoming unmanageable. In terms of the first concept of psychoanalytic psychology of the perpetrator’s personality, negative childhood experiences such as neglect and abuse may have resulted in the current personality of the perpetrator. The psychoanalytic view of the perpetrator suggests that they will face anxiety and dissonance when making the decision of going on the shooting spree. When this occurs, individuals usually establish defense mechanisms; whereas some defense mechanisms would lead deviation from the plan, others result in rationalization of the issue. Thus, engaging in the shooting spree becomes acceptable and justifiable in the mind of the perpetrator. The original decision to go on a shooting spree may also be a form of negative compensation for other underlying issues such as being accepted and being victimized by bullies as has been mostly said to be the problem in these shootings. Importantly, the psychoanalytic concepts explain that the observed shooting incidents may find explanations in childhood experiences and defense mechanisms. The concepts of the psychoanalytic theory, however, cannot be generalized across all cases of the perpetrators of high school shootings. Concepts from the Traits theory can also be applied in explaining the shootings observed in USA schools. In particular, Eysenck’s dimensions of personality involving neuroticism versus emotional stability, extraversion versus introversion and lastly, psychopathology help analyze school shooting perpetrators. Neuroticism versus emotional stability explains the individual’s ability to control their feelings; here, the perpetrator is viewed as having a neuroticism personality as they are unable to manage their affect, leading to extreme actions such as going on a shooting spree. Most of the perpetrator’s psychology profile shows them as being reserved and withdrawn, with fewer friends and limited interaction although not in every case. This is characteristic of introversion as a dimension of personality among the perpetrators. The last dimension of personality involves psychopathology, where individuals apathetic (showing lack of feeling for others), tend to defy social norms and conventions, find it difficult to interact and also tend to be different. This psychopathology concept effectively describes the perpetrators of the shootings as they also appear to have little concern for their victims and fewer friends than their age mates, which is indicative of difficulties in interacting. Overall, the psychological concepts discussed in the Traits theory provide dimensions of personality within which majority of the perpetrators are seen to fit. The perpetrators may generally be described as having neuroticism, introverted and psychopathological personality. These concepts, however, do not cover all the perpetrators of school shootings. Humanistic concepts also help understand the pathological behavior portrayed by the perpetrators. In this theory, people tend to grow towards higher levels of functioning, entailing a universal need to be loved and respected by other people. Self meanings and positive regards are directly attached to values attached to a person by others. The development of a healthy personality depends on a balance between the two; self concept and the opinion of others. In case of major discrepancies between the two, psychological disturbances are bound to emerge in the individual. On the other hand, acceptance, respect, love and support from those around the person result in more realistic self concept meaning. When the perpetrators are viewed according to this concept, it is clear that a discrepancy between their self concepts and their perception of others valuation results in psychological disturbances. Although not generalizable to all cases, a number of the perpetrators were themselves victims of bullying, exclusion, humiliation and taunting. In this case, the perpetrators lose their self worth and experience negative self concepts. The end result is psychological disturbances that cause such students to engage in bizarre acts such as shooting other students. The school atmosphere, thus, directly contributes to negative self concepts among a number of students which creates an environment which breeds perpetrators. The concepts discussed in humanistic psychology adequately explain the behaviour of perpetrators of school shootings. However, not all cases may be explained by these concepts since not all perpetrators can be described as having discrepancies in their self concepts and value from others. Socio-cognitive concepts can also be used to analyze school shooting incidents, where a combination of situational instigators and predisposing personological characteristics may explain perpetrator behavior. Situational instigators include aversive conditions, provocation, frustration, social stress and bad moods. Situational instigators also include factors that interfere with the inhibition of aggression as occurs in non-perpetrators; these include high stress levels and consumption of alcohol and other drugs. The personal preparedness aspect entails cognitive structures and emotional tendencies with the capacity to influence behavior. Aspects of personal preparedness that drive the behavior in question include negative self schemas and low self efficacy alongside hostile world schemas (where the individual perceives hostility from others whether or not it is present). A number of environmental modifiers also drive pathological behaviors and emotional instability, including maladaptive families and parenting, media violence, extreme social environments, community and cultural environment. For instance, extreme social environments showcasing high levels of poverty, deviant peers, violent neighborhoods and cultural fear and hatred among others can result in heightened aggressive behavior. The combination of situational instigators, personal preparedness and environmental modifiers can be used to explain the personalities of the perpetrators. They may have been provoked through insults and bullying (situational), developed hostile world schemas (personal preparedness) and grew up in extreme social environments. The ultimate result is an individual who is emotionally disturbed enough to go on a shooting spree. The concepts discussed in the socio-cognitive framework of personality effectively cover the majority of the perpetrators in terms of explain the underlying influences that cause school shootings. In conclusion, the frequent cases of school shootings observed in the USA can be discussed through drawing from psychological concepts. Concepts from psychoanalytic theory indicate that the perpetrators may have experienced difficult childhoods and then negatively managed their anxieties resulting in the act. Traits dimensions of personality describe the perpetrators as having a personality showing neuroticism, introversion and psychopathology. Humanistic concepts explain the perpetrators behavior as resulting from psychological imbalance caused by discrepancy between their self efficacy and perception of others valuation or opinion. Lastly, socio-cognitive concepts indicate that situational instigators, personal preparedness and environmental modifiers drive the perpetrators towards engaging in shooting. The various concepts achieve different levels of capacity to explain the personality of the perpetrators. Whereas the first three discussed above fail to cover most of the profiles of majority of the perpetrators, socio-cognitive development concepts effectively explain the occurrence of high shootings. References School Violence in the United States (2007). Chaplain Fellowship Ministries International Inc. Retrieved 25 April 2012 from http://www.chaplain-ministries.com/school_violence.html Read More