Why People Murder?
An interview with sociologist Gordon Knight
By Renee Fasanaro
Q: Are there any sociological theories that deal specifically with murders? What makes a person more prone to crime?
A: Bad things happen in society when people experience what 19th century French sociologist Amiel Durkheim called ‘Anomie,’ or normlessness … a person is unsure how to behave, what to expect … people experience anomie when they are without a social group. They feel a dislocation from life, and they are more apt to commit suicide or homicide. We can see this in the two boys from Colombine—they didn’t fit in.
Q: When does society start to shape a person’s mind? Or, rather, at what period in life does society have the most influence on an individual?
A: There are different theories. Freud would say adult personalities are developed by age 6. A sociologist would say adult personalities are developed throughout high school, college, and into the workforce … at any time after young adulthood, from 16-death. Early childhood is inaccessible.
Q: In what kind of society does a person need to live in to be more prone to commit murderous acts?
A: Societies with less structure experience higher levels of anomie. In a heavily structured and regulated society, there are fewer suicides. In a society with more choices, there is a higher incidence of suicide and homicide … Nazi Germany experienced very few suicides.
Q: Is there such thing as a “sociological profile” of a murderer, and if so, what does it consist of?
A: A sociologist would say there is no profile. The FBI says they torture animals as a child, etc … and there’s a degree of truth to that. But, anyone is capable of anything given the proper provocation. Who’s a murderer? Everyone, under the right set of circumstances. There is no profile because there is no personality … we all behave differently in different roles.
Q: How can murderers be treated, or rather, prevented from committing murders?
A: Think about Columbine: Here we have 2 loners. If a high school can identify these people and actively involve them in something, in group activities so they have rules, regulations, and expectations, anomie will go down and with it homicide and suicide…
Q: What sort of situation, then, was the recent shooting at Northern Illinois University?
A: In this case it seems to be that an individual went off his psychological medication. He got into a crazy situation that led to the killings … an honors student at NIU, he graduated and was unclear what to do … didn’t have any structure … left the military … failed at jobs, had a declining sense of self. The NIU story is really about the medication.
Q: Do you think this would have happened sooner, or at all, if he had never been on the medication?
A: While other school shootings are not, the NIU shooting is a clear psychological issue. The medicine was keeping him on keel. Deciding you don’t need your meds is probably when you need them the most.
Short URL: http://www.themountaineer.org/?p=55
Posted by Renee Fasanaro
on Mar 15, 2008 Filed under College.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
