Results 1 to 3 of 3

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

  1. #1
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    PARADISE (San Diego)
    Posts
    99,040

    Why do kids kill? School murders in Sparks, Danvers revive questions

    Why do kids kill? School murders in Sparks, Danvers revive questions

    Tragic headlines out of Sparks, Nev., and Danvers, Mass., notwithstanding, the number of juvenile homicide offenders has lately hit a 30-year low. 'Nothing's different about kids' today, says one criminologist.


    By Stacy Teicher Khadaroo, Staff writer / October 25, 2013




    Parents and Danvers High School students hold candlelight vigil to mourn the death of Colleen Ritzer, a math teacher at Danvers High School, on Wednesday, in Danvers, Mass.
    Bizuayehu Tesfaye/AP

    The headlines this week have been unavoidable:

    Related stories




    •In Massachusetts, 14-year-old Philip Chism sits in jail, charged with murdering Danvers High School teacher Colleen Ritzer and awaiting a grand jury decision about whether he should be tried as an adult.
    •In Nevada, a 12-year-old boy is dead by a self-inflicted gunshot wound after killing a teacher and wounding fellow students at Sparks Middle School.
    •In California, a boy who was 10 when he shot and killed his abusive neo-Nazi father awaits sentencing as a juvenile.

    Each case is different, but collectively they may prompt people to wonder if more young Americans are turning into murderers. What can explain such killings? Can they be prevented? How should young killers be punished or redeemed?


    RECOMMENDED: Crime falls in the US. Are you safer today?


    The first question is easiest to answer – with data. Though it’s not much comfort to the victims of any particular crime, the number of juvenile homicide offenders in the US recently hit its lowest level in 30 years.

    In 2011, there were 808 12- to 17-year-olds known to have committed homicides, down from 1,437 in 1980 and a peak of 2,800 in 1994, according to the FBI’s Supplementary Homicide Reports. Homicide by those younger than 12 is rare, with five offenders in 2011 and ranging between 0 and 30 offenders a year over the past 30 years.


    “Nearly 20 years ago, we had half a dozen multiple-victim school shootings by students in America … and the same questions were being asked then: What’s the matter with kids today?” says James Alan Fox, a criminology professor at Northeastern University in Boston.


    “Nothing’s different about kids,” he says, though 50 years ago, bullied kids might have been more likely to take their anger out through vandalism rather than pick up a gun. Kids today may more often fantasize about shooting up their schools because of “a change in the cultural scripts,” he says, but most of them don’t actually do it, and killings by kids are not at epidemic proportions.


    Schools and students would be well-served today if they “upped the level of respect” through improving the overall climate for kids, but whether or not that willprevent school shootings isn’t known, Professor Fox adds.


    People often struggle to understand the motive behind violent crimes, especially by children. Phil Chalmers was so interested in this question that he spent 25 years interviewing more than 200 young murderers and writing the book, “Inside the Mind of a Teen Killer.”


    On the basis of those interviews, he speaks with groups all over the United States about 10 causes he identified. Usually three or more of these factors are present in a teen killer’s background, he says. The most common: an unstable home life or being bullied at school, obsession with violent entertainment, being suicidal, or involvement with drugs and alcohol. Among other common factors were gang or cult involvement, and mental illness.

    Many teens experience several of those factors and few become killers. Mr. Chalmers teaches audiences to look for warning signs that someone may be headed toward violence. And if they’ve already seen such signs, he says, they have to be especially watchful for what might trigger someone to act on thoughts of violence. “The biggest trigger for a male teen killer is that his girlfriend dumps him,” he says. For girls, the most common trigger is being told by her parents that she can’t date a particular person.

    Related stories




    Sometimes, teens kill while committing another crime, such as sexual assault. Sometimes they are seeking a thrill, Chalmers says.

    The obsession with celebrity in society may share some blame, as well.

    A lot of young killers are “invisible at school, nobodies, and they know they are going to be famous if they kill,” says Chalmers.


    Although most of the teen killers he interviewed will never get out of prison, Chalmers says, “the majority are remorseful.”


    Some homicides by youths can be traced back to mental illness, but not most, Fox says.


    Because adolescents tend to be more impulsive, their “reasons for killing are often trivial – a leather jacket, or someone looking at you the wrong way,” Fox says.


    Brain research has contributed in recent years to the understanding that juveniles should be seen as “redeemable, because they are still developing,” says Naoka Carey, executive director of the Massachusetts group Citizens for Juvenile Justice. “They don’t have a lot of life experience to put their current situation in context…. They feel things very intensely. They have a breakup and it’s the end of their life because they’ve never gone through that before…. It doesn’t change the fact that they may have done something really terrible, but it changes the context of how we understand what happened.”


    Acknowledging the science on adolescent development, the US Supreme Court ruled last year that mandatory life sentences without parole were unconstitutional for anyone under 18 at the time of the crime. Several years earlier, the court also outlawed the death penalty for offenders under 18.


    In California, the boy who killed his father when he was 10 told police he was afraid he would have to choose between living with his father and his stepmother, who were headed for a divorce. He had a history of violence from a young age and was indoctrinated in the beliefs of white supremacy.


    Living in a county juvenile hall, he has attended classes, has received regular therapy, and has made progress in controlling the violent outbursts that got him kicked out of various schools.


    A hearing is under way to determine whether he’ll continue to serve in a juvenile justice facility or be sent to a residential treatment center that defense attorneys say is better equipped to handle his emotional disabilities.

    http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society...vive-questions
    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


    Sign in and post comments here.

    Please support our fight against illegal immigration by joining ALIPAC's email alerts here https://eepurl.com/cktGTn

  2. #2
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    PARADISE (San Diego)
    Posts
    99,040
    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


    Sign in and post comments here.

    Please support our fight against illegal immigration by joining ALIPAC's email alerts here https://eepurl.com/cktGTn

  3. #3
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    PARADISE (San Diego)
    Posts
    99,040
    1. Why Kids Kill: Inside the Minds of School Shooters: Peter Langman ...
      www.amazon.com › ... › Adolescent Psychology


      Why Kids Kill: Inside the Minds of School Shooters [Peter Langman] on Amazon.com. *FREE* super saver shipping on qualifying offers. In the horrific aftermath ...
    2. The Unthinkable — Children Who Kill and What Motivates Them ...

      www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/weird/kids2/index_1.html‎

      Child serial killers and thrill killers. Katherine Ramsland takes a look at the most famous cases and what forces can turn youthful aggression into murder.
    3. What drives a kid to kill? - The Why Files

      whyfiles.org/065school_violence/2.html‎
      What causes school killings? The Why Files asked people who are paid to understand these crimes to take us inside the heads of juvenile mass murderers.
    4. Why Kids Kill Parents | Psychology Today

      www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200910/why-kids-kill-parents‎
      Tragedy in the family: When kids murder their parents. By Kathleen M. Heide | Psychology Today.
    5. Why Kids Kill | Peter Langman, Ph.D. | Macmillan

      us.macmillan.com/whykidskill/PeterLangman‎

      Why Kids Kill by Peter Langman, Ph.D.. In the horrific aftermath of school shootings,... Bonus Publisher Materials: Praise, Author Biography, Awards.
    6. Why Kids Kill - SchoolShooters.info

      www.schoolshooters.info/PL/Why_Kids_Kill.html‎

      Why Kids Kill: Inside the Minds of School Shooters classifies ten school shooters within a three-part typology: psychopathic, psychotic, or traumatized. The ten ...
    7. Why Kids Kill: Inside the Minds of School Shooters - Peter Langman ...

      books.google.com › PsychologyDevelopmentalAdolescent

      Ten years after the school massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado, school shootings are a new and alarming epidemic. While sociologists have ...
    8. News for why kids kill shington Post

      1. Why do kids kill? School murders in Sparks, Danvers revive questions
        Christian Science Monitor ‎- by Stacy Teicher Khadaroo ‎- 1 day ago
        Tragic headlines out of Sparks, Nev., and Danvers, Mass., notwithstanding, the number of juvenile homicide offenders has lately hit a 30-year ...
    9. [PDF]Why Kids Kill: Inside the minds of school shooters

      www.pins.org.za/pins39/pins39_bkrev_cartwright.pdf‎

      by D Cartwright - ‎Related articles
      TURMOIL. Langman, P ( 2009) Why kids kill: Inside the minds of school shooters. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-60802-3 hbk. Pages xii + 231.
    10. SAGE: Why Kids Kill Parents: Child Abuse and Adolescent Homicide ...

      www.sagepub.com/books/Book4752‎

      A SAGE Publications book: Juvenile/Youth Crime, Why Kids KillParents: Child Abuse and Adolescent HomicideKathleen Heide, Ph.D.. A tragic portrait of ...
    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


    Sign in and post comments here.

    Please support our fight against illegal immigration by joining ALIPAC's email alerts here https://eepurl.com/cktGTn

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •