Who Does School Shootings? Psychopaths, Not People with Asperger ’s Syndrome

When school shootings take place, especially after Newtown, Asperger’s Syndrome is often suspected. Both the Florida Sun-Sentinel and the New York Times reported comments that Parkland shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz was diagnosed with autism. It’s important to make this clear — research has shown that people with Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) are no more violent than the general population. In fact, they’re much more likely to be the victims of bullying and violence. People can mistake the lack of social skills and social withdrawal of young adults with AS for hostility. Their withdrawal has little to do with hostility and often has much more to do with anxiety. An Asperger’s student may say something inappropriate if bullied beyond his or her tolerance, but that student is unlikely to act in a violent way. I have unfortunately seen students with AS expelled or indefinitely removed from the mainstream for such statements. People with AS can have coexisting psychiatric problems, most commonly ADHD, depression and anxiety disorders. Other coexisting conditions are certainly possible. So who does school shootings? The people who kill groups of innocent people (outside military actions) are those who have no regard for other people, no capacity for empathy or remorse. The popular term for this is psychopath; the psychiatric term is antisocial personality disorder. Tony Farrenkopf, a forensic psychologist, studied the profiles of mass shooters. He found that killers of...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Aspergers Autism Bullying Criminal Justice Ethics & Morality General Minding the Media Personality Psychology Students Violence and Aggression Asperger’s Syndrome Gun Violence Hostility mass shooting Parkland shooting Sch Source Type: blogs