By Dr. Philip Scrofani, Ph.D., ABPP
Faculty Member of The Institute for the Psychological Sciences (IPS). Dr. Scrofani is the assistant professor and director of clinical training at IPS. In addition to teaching the graduate course in psychopathology at IPS, Dr. Scrofani has a private practice and is currently involved in the training of 32 physicians in residency for psychiatry.
Contact at: 703.472.4132 (cell); pscrofani@IPSciences.edu
What do the names Charles Whitman, Charles Manson, Eric Harris, Dylan Klebold, Seung-Hui Cho, and Steven Kazmierczak have in common?They are all shooters who perpetrated unspeakably violent crimes on unsuspecting victims. Some went about their macabre work in a random spree that stopped the lives of tens upon tens of victims, leaving an aftermath of grief for dozens of families and countless members of academic or geographical communities.
Each shooter harbored motives that to most of us seem strange or incomprehensible. What is especially baffling about this gallery of horror makers is that the psychological profiles and pathological roots are so diverse. Some appeared to be moved by severely psychotic processes like schizophrenia or entrenched delusional states, while others appear to have been propelled by combinations of extreme personality disorders like antisocial personality (or the more profound designation of psychopathic personality) or even obsessive compulsive traits peppered with superbly inflated, grandiose or romanticized, self-centered ideas about the gallantry of their acts.
The roots of these phenomenological processes can also often be illusive or even misleading at first until extensive postmortem work has been completed. For instance, in the case of Charles Whitman, the Texas Tower shooter in 1966, after endless clinical hypotheses from clinical psychologists and psychiatrist throughout the country, autopsy revealed the presence of a Glioblastomabrain tumor; the likely engine that drove his terrible acts.
In the recent events involving Steven Kazmierczak, we have perhaps the greatest mystery, at least in terms of the information currently available. Where the other individuals all had very marginal or peculiar pre-morbid life styles, Kazmierczak, like so many, many nonviolent and even admirable persons with psychiatric complications, seemed to be managing very well when controlled with medication. Yet, unlike the great majority of people suffering with these illnesses, he eventually chose the most unacceptable path to vent his internal frustrations.
Perhaps the ensuing weeks and months will lead to some answers but the answers are never simple or pure because the work in this area of psychopathology is still in its infancy.
So what then?
Well, we are still largely a people in community with the gifts of love and caring which we can offer to those who remain wounded in body and soul in the aftermath of slaughter and massacre. We stand by them, we grieve with them, we pray with them and we care for them. After the sadness and anger settles, we are careful not to neglect the many mentally wounded that deserve our good will. But we must not make light of their needs. Professionals must increase their vigilance on those who discontinue treatment when a severe need has been identified.
Finally, we endeavor to prevent such tragedies as well as our rudimentary knowledge allows. We must impart a sense of God's love and love for one's neighbor to children in formation by the example of parents and authority figures, so that life's stresses lead to soul searching rather than the slaughter of souls.