Mass shootings are often blamed on serious mental illness. This study assesses the role of psychosis in contributing to mass shootings along a continuum. The role of psychosis is compared with other motivations for mass shootings including employment issues, interpersonal conflict, relationship issues, hate, and fame-seeking. Perpetrators … [Read more...]
Psychosis and mass shootings: A systematic examination using publicly available data.
Upcoming Event: Advancing Understanding, and Informing Prevention of Public Mass Shootings: Findings from NIJ Funded Studies, Part 2
Join us on November 18th from 3-4:30 pm Eastern (4-5:30 pm CST) for a webinar on mass shooting research. This second webinar in a two-part series on mass shootings will review characteristics of these events over past decades, the psycho-social background of mass shooters, and the reasons behind school shootings. Register to attend this Webinar … [Read more...]
Violence Against Women and Public Mass Shootings
Two researchers from Boston University used our database in their cross-referencing study of mass shooters with histories of violence against women. Their study found that nearly half of public mass shooters have had known histories of violence against women. Read more about their other findings and future paths of research here. Authors: … [Read more...]
What’s an ‘Incel’? Westgate Shooting Suspect Identifies with this Online Subculture
The Violence Project co-founder James Densley spoke with reporters from NBC's 12 News yesterday to talk about the Westgate Entertainment District shootings. In interviews with police, Westgate suspect Armando JR Hernandez has claimed to be an "incel," which Densley explains is "an online subculture focused on member's perceived inability to find … [Read more...]
A Common Trait Among Mass Killers: Hatred Toward Women
“They’re angry and they’re suicidal and they’ve had traumatic childhoods and these hard lives, and they get to a point and they find something or someone to blame,” said Jillian Peterson, a psychologist and a founder of the Violence Project, a research organization that studies mass shootings. “For some people, that is women, and we are seeing that … [Read more...]