There IS research that suggests that media publicity for these events generates copy cat activity. At least dating back to Monroe's suicide.
That is not to imply that this is the only cause. I meant that the touch of narcissistic entitlement that I think characterizes our culture, plus the vicarious reinforcement provided by multiple examples of media publicity, probably interact with predisposing tendencies - the people already had the tendency - suicidal/homicidal, also drugs such as alcohol, cocaine and meth, it's probably complex and hard to anticipate. Nancy Melucci Long Beach City College LB, CA -----Original Message----- From: Helweg-Larsen, Marie <helw...@dickinson.edu> To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) <tips@fsulist.frostburg.edu> Sent: Sat, Feb 13, 2010 12:20 pm Subject: RE: [tips] Neuroscientist Denied Tenure Goes On Shooting Spree Does anyone know any of the research on what characterizes such violent revenge mass murders? Is it really that a moment of revenge and media attention is thought to be worth a life in prison (or death). If you get fired you could also be upset and then get a different job?! Marie **************************************************** Marie Helweg-Larsen, Ph.D. Department Chair and Associate Professor of Psychology Kaufman 168, Dickinson College Carlisle, PA 17013 Office: (717) 245-1562, Fax: (717) 245-1971 http://www.dickinson.edu/departments/psych/helwegm/ **************************************************** From: drna...@aol.com [mailto:drna...@aol.com] Sent: Saturday, February 13, 2010 11:38 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: Re: [tips] Neuroscientist Denied Tenure Goes On Shooting Spree Individualism and collectivism both have good and bad sides. The bad side of the American brand of individualism is the narcissistic rage and attention-seeking that generates these mass shooting crimes. A combination of a kind of misinterpretation of the declaration of independence…the right to pursue happiness becomes the right to be happy and get one’s way – to never be seriously frustrated. And then the media orgy that typically follows these events ensures that the person – male or female – is (in) famous for quite some time. Like the guy who shot the women at the gym earlier this year. I am not even sure that the guns are the issue – doesn’t Canada have similarly lax gun laws, and much less gun crime? Please correct me if I am wrong. I am sure someone will…. Nancy M. LBCC et alia -----Original Message----- From: tay...@sandiego.edu To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) <tips@fsulist.frostburg.edu> Sent: Sat, Feb 13, 2010 7:38 am Subject: Re: [tips] Neuroscientist Denied Tenure Goes On Shooting Spree I think in general people talk about what is a man's crime and what is a woman's crime. I think the whole bloody mess that results from shooting has more to do with avoiding using guns in general, than the ease of pulling a trigger. Similarly, you seldom see women taking up hunting. Hardly anyone hunts in the US exclusively to get food for themselves or their family. So why aren't women joining the men, or going out on their own? A girls' weekend out hunting. It's so inconsistent with expectation it's almost fodder for comdey. You just never hear about it. Messy and bloody and yucky. So here is the bigger psychological question, are women raised to not like blood and gore, or is there some biological predisposition to avoid blood and gore? Hence women will prefer the cleaner ways of doing away with people, such as poison. I'm not counting suicide in here because women clearly do shoot themselves, but the premise is that they will not be around to deal with or see the resulting mess. Annette Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology University of San Diego 5998 Alcala Park San Diego, CA 92110 619-260-4006 tay...@sandiego.edu ---- Original message ---- >Date: Sat, 13 Feb 2010 06:53:39 -0500 >From: Ken Steele <steel...@appstate.edu> >Subject: Re: [tips] Neuroscientist Denied Tenure Goes On Shooting Spree >To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" ><tips@fsulist.frostburg.edu> > >Mike Palij wrote: >> A biology professor at the University of Alabama-Huntsville who was >> denied tenure Friday (02/12) morning, apparently came back and shot >> up a faculty meeting, killing 3 people. See: >> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35372168/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/ >> >.... >> It's early and I'm sure that there will be more details that will clarify >> what happened. It's just very strange that it was a female faculty >> who did the shooting. >> >> -Mike Palij >> New York University >> m...@nyu.edu >> > >Hi Mike: > >I agree it is statistically unlikely that the shooter is female >but I find the lack of female shooters to be odd also. > >Shooting a pistol does not take a lot of physical strength. The >requirement is good eye/hand coordination. The arms industry has >been targeting (oops) women for many years under the flag of >"self-defense" training. I keep expecting the number of women >shooters to show an increase. > >Ken > >--------------------------------------------------------------- >Kenneth M. Steele, Ph.D. steel...@appstate.edu >Professor >Department of Psychology http://www.psych.appstate.edu >Appalachian State University >Boone, NC 28608 >USA >--------------------------------------------------------------- > > >--- >You are currently subscribed to tips as: tay...@sandiego.edu. >To unsubscribe click here: >http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13534.4204dc3a11678c6b1d0be57cfe0a21b0&n=T&l=tips&o=575 >or send a blank email to >leave-575-13534.4204dc3a11678c6b1d0be57cfe0a2...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: drna...@aol.com. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=12993.aba36cc3760e0b1c6a655f019a68b878&n=T&l=tips&o=579 or send a blank email to leave-579-12993.aba36cc3760e0b1c6a655f019a68b...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: helw...@dickinson.edu. 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