Narcissistic Symptoms in German School Shooters
- School shooters are often described as narcissistic, but empirical evidence is scant. To provide more reliable and detailed information, we conducted an exploratory study, analyzing police investigation files on seven school shootings in Germany, looking for symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV) in witnesses' and offenders' reports and expert psychological evaluations. Three out of four offenders who had been treated for mental disorders prior to the offenses displayed detached symptoms of narcissism, but none was diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder. Of the other three, two displayed narcissistic traits. In one case, the number of symptoms would have justified a diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder. Offenders showed low and high self-esteem and a range of other mental disorders. Thus, narcissism is not a common characteristic of school shooters, but possibly more frequent than in the general population. This shouldSchool shooters are often described as narcissistic, but empirical evidence is scant. To provide more reliable and detailed information, we conducted an exploratory study, analyzing police investigation files on seven school shootings in Germany, looking for symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV) in witnesses' and offenders' reports and expert psychological evaluations. Three out of four offenders who had been treated for mental disorders prior to the offenses displayed detached symptoms of narcissism, but none was diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder. Of the other three, two displayed narcissistic traits. In one case, the number of symptoms would have justified a diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder. Offenders showed low and high self-esteem and a range of other mental disorders. Thus, narcissism is not a common characteristic of school shooters, but possibly more frequent than in the general population. This should be considered in developing adequate preventive and intervention measures.…
Verfasserangaben: | Rebecca BondüORCiDGND, Herbert Scheithauer |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X14544155 |
ISSN: | 0306-624X |
ISSN: | 1552-6933 |
Titel des übergeordneten Werks (Englisch): | International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology |
Verlag: | Sage Publ. |
Verlagsort: | Thousand Oaks |
Publikationstyp: | Wissenschaftlicher Artikel |
Sprache: | Englisch |
Jahr der Erstveröffentlichung: | 2015 |
Erscheinungsjahr: | 2015 |
Datum der Freischaltung: | 27.03.2017 |
Freies Schlagwort / Tag: | narcissism; personality disorder; rampage; risk factor; school shooting |
Band: | 59 |
Ausgabe: | 14 |
Seitenanzahl: | 16 |
Erste Seite: | 1520 |
Letzte Seite: | 1535 |
Organisationseinheiten: | Humanwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Strukturbereich Kognitionswissenschaften / Department Psychologie |
Peer Review: | Referiert |
Name der Einrichtung zum Zeitpunkt der Publikation: | Humanwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Psychologie |
Externe Anmerkung: | Zweitveröffentlichung in der Schriftenreihe Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe ; 392 |