What is the psychology of people who idiolize mass shooters, sees them as heroes and replicate their acts? - eviltoast

Im not fully grasping how the mind of those “copycats” works. People who are obsessed with Columbine for example, and want to do a mass shooting. That is their thought process? Is there some study I can read exploring what’s on their minds?

  • knfrmity@lemmygrad.ml
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    10 months ago

    I think this reflects more on the psychology and honestly sociopathy of society rather than specific individuals.

    Western society alienates us from the things we do every day to survive. If you’re constantly on the knife edge of having the needs to survive, and at the same time you labour to produce insane wealth for others, and this labour is wrapped in a puritan mythos of virtue and “good,” people will eventually snap. When access to weapons is easy and a culture of violence and glorifying violence is also involved, it’s not surprising that some people snap in a violent way.

    • ristoril_zip@lemmy.zip
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      10 months ago

      I dunno it seems like there’s a pretty solid “type” for mass shooters - young, white, male - that means something is left out of your evaluation. Economic oppression (by the owner class) and easy access to guns (enabled by the owner class!) makes it easy for these disaffected people to commit mass violence on the rest of us.

      I’m sure if people had more economic security there would be fewer shootings but I don’t expect they’d go away. But a lot of these shooters talk about feeling alienated or disrespected. In my estimation that comes from expectations not being met. Probably unrealistic expectations.

      (Yes I know “not every shooter is a young white male”)