DEATH AND DYING : PSYC-401 WEEK 7 DISCUSSION

Module 7: Violent Death

Homicides

• Homicide = killing another human being • Justifiable homicide = using lethal force to protect

your own life • Negligent homicide = your carelessness results in

the death of another person • Manslaughter = contributing to a death without

intending to have done so

• Murder = intentional and unlawful act of killing another person

Murder • U.S. has the highest murder rate in the Western world

(5.6 per 100,000 in 2002; down from the all time high in 1980 of 10.2 per 100,000)

• Gang murder is rising • Arguments are the most common situation leading to a

death • Guns are used in 2/3’s of killings; knives second most

common • Homicides are more common in southern states,

metropolitan areas, and impoverished areas

Murder • Males are most often the killer and the victim • Most at risk of becoming a victim between the ages of 25

and 44. • In most cases the murderer and the victim are of the

same race. • Most murderers are relatives, lovers, friends, neighbors,

or colleagues of the victims. • Murder is the leading cause of death for women in the

workplace.

Domestic Violence • Men who kill their partners

• Have an obsession with control and dominance • Generally were abused in their youth; as adults need

to feel dominant • Women who kill their partners

• Approximately 1.5 million physical assaults upon women by their male partners

• Often in response to repeated humiliation, abuse, and injury to themselves or their children from their partner

Domestic Violence • People who kill children

• Dysfunctional families, lack of parenting skills, Replacement Father Syndrome

• Mental disorders • Circumstances such as unemployment, drug abuse,

abandonment of mother and children by fathers • People who kill their parents

• 300 parents are killed per year in the U.S. (parricide) • Most victims and killers and White and non-Hispanic • Most killers are male and have been severely abuse

by those parents • Most parents in late 40s or 50s

Youth and Guns • Drive-by Shootings

• Little or no sense of identification with humanity • Peer acceptance is the dominant motivation • Guns and automobiles are remote and removed

• School Shootings • Killing has gained acceptance as a way of solving

problems • No other way to deal with rejection, frustration and

loss • Us and Them (or Me and All of You)

Mass Killers • Mass killing – several people die in a single episode

• Typically a lone, white male in his 20s or 30s, with firearms, who knows few if any of his victims

• Often have a suicidal streak, even motivated to die at the scene of their crimes

• Most are not psychotic, but do have antisocial personalities

• Angry, feels mistreated, oppressed • Rarely a hardened criminal

Mass and Serial Killers • Mass killing continued:

• Seldom draws attention to himself until caught • Often found in booming cities • Few mass murders in the South

• Serial killing – homicide of three or more people over a period of time • Difficult to establish the number operating in the U.S.;

estimates range from 20 to 300 • Generally not suicidal like a mass killer

Political Murder: Assassination

• Clark (1982): Four Types of Assassins • Type I: Political Extremists

• Believe their actions are good for society

• Type II: Rejected and Misguided People • Anxious people who feel unable to cope

• Type III: Antisocial Personalities • Show no remorse

• Type IV: Psychotics • Out of contact with reality

20th Century Terrorism and Genocide • Often against people of the same land and experiences

but who are perceived as being different in a significant way

• Often preceded by denying that other is a human being • Fear kills – Those in power have feared overthrow • Cold-blooded “rationalism” kills – planned political

operations • Religious intolerance instigates and justifies terrorism • Terrorism fails – seldom has a terrorist movement

achieved its objectives

Defining the term “terrorism” • There is no universally agreed upon definition of terrorism • Use or threat of violence aimed at creating fear not only amongst the

victims but also a wider group of people • The UN’s sort of definition:

o Terrorism is an anxiety-inspiring method of repeated violent action, employed by (semi-) clandestine individual, group or state actors, for idiosyncratic, criminal or political reasons, whereby — in contrast to assassination — the direct targets of violence are not the main targets. The immediate human victims of violence are generally chosen randomly (targets of opportunity) or selectively (representative or symbolic targets) from a target population, and serve as message generators. Threat- and violence-based communication processes between terrorist (organization), (imperilled) victims, and main targets are used to manipulate the main target (audience(s)), turning it into a target of terror, a target of demands, or a target of attention, depending on whether intimidation, coercion, or propaganda is primarily sought (Schmid, 1988).

Are their common traits shared by terrorists? • Have not really been successful in creating a

terrorist “profile” • Most terrorists have a very black & white view of

the world –typically very little ability to think for themselves

• Low self-esteem, attracted to charismatic leaders, risk-takers

• Highly logical – moving towards their goals • Sense of dedication to a religious vision • A terrorist typically isn’t a terrorist until they have

committed a horrific act

Motivation

• Usually motivated to send some message, make a point through violence (violence as a mode of expression, communication, assertion of power)

• In some cases, religion is used as a motivating factor, or religion is a common factor in bringing together those interested in terrorism

21st Century Terrorism World Trade Center Attacks • Profound impact on American attitudes

• Casualties were mostly civilians • Destruction occurred on the American mainland • The skyline of a great city was altered • Victims could communicate with cell phones • All Americans could watch it on t.v. • Changes in government, such as the Department

of Homeland Security, and military action

Genocide

The deliberate and systematic destruction of an ethnic or racial group or nation

Examples: The Jews during Nazi Germany Darfur Rwanda Kosovo population in Bosnia

Dehumanization: Key Factor in Genocide

• As a rule, human beings do not kill other human beings. Before we enter into warfare or genocide, we first dehumanize those we mean to “eliminate” ~Sam Keen

• Dehumanization is mostly likely when the target group can be readily identified as a separate category of people belonging to a distinct racial, ethnic, religious, or political group that the perpetrators regard as inferior or threatening” ~James Waller, Becoming Evil

What is Dehumanization? • Dehumanization typically refers to a process by

which an individual or a group of people assert the inferiority of another individual or group through words, images, or actions.

• stripping away of human qualities • occurs in conflict situations in order to cause

individuals or groups categorized as the enemy to not be perceived as similar to ourselves.

• When an individual is no longer seen as having human, personal qualities it becomes much easier for human beings to commit violent acts or acts of aggression towards others.

Dehumanizing Images, Language, & Symbols in War Time • Hutus used a word meaning cockroach to

describe the Tutsis • Nazis referred to Jews as filth, cancer, vermin • Islam and communism have both been

described as cancerous growths • Enemies are typically referred to as barbaric,

uncivilized, fanatics

Most Common Causes of Accidental Deaths • Motor Vehicles (as an occupant) • Pedestrian • Falls • Poisoning • Drowning • Motorcycle Riding • Fires, Smoke, and Burns • Off-Road Motor Vehicles • Firearms (accidental)

Natural Disasters

• Most common: earthquakes, storms, floods, fires

• Earthquakes are the most devastating episodic disasters

Impact

• Natural Disasters tend to cause mass death and destroy infrastructure that impacts the death system

• Long-term impact on an entire region • Most victims of natural disasters receive little

social or psychological support – focus is on economic support

Conclusion

• Mass death, whether human-made or natural, tends to have long-term impacts on individuals and communities.

• Some mass death can be prevented – better construction against earthquakes, tsunami warning systems, proper hurricane evacuation, better gun control, mental heath, intervention services for victims of domestic violence.