Author Archives: am135199

In the aftermath of the recent mass killings of Aurora, Colorado and Oak Creeks, Wisconsin, many Americans are left with the ever looming questions. Were the killers evil or insane? What drove these individuals to such violence? What were their motives and intentions? Were these acts fueled by hate or were they simply the bi-product of an insane mind paired with what some may call less then adequate firearm laws? We are left with the cold and less then comforting reality. The true motives for such horrendous acts against society will forever be locked in the minds of those that committed them. It seems to be the trend, that when we are exposed to such extreme acts of violence and we find ourselves lacking explanation, too often we resort to labeling them simply as evil. In this article, Mass Murderers are Insane but not Evil; author Fay Weldon makes a compelling argument to the motivation of those that commit mass killings.

This June 2010 article is posted on the web site of The Telegraph, a British news agency. In this highly opinionated news account, Weldon analyzes the reasoning of the 2010 Cumbria shooting spree, which left twelve people dead, and twelve others severely injured. Like both the Colorado and the Wisconsin killers, Derrick Bird acted alone in his violent rampage. According to author Weldon, though his acts of violence were nonetheless horrifying, he was not evil. She goes on to state that by calling “Derrick Bird as “evil” is too easy: it’s to claim he was possessed, to shrug and say there is nothing to be done about the faults in our society, the horrors of its fantasy life and the anxieties of its real one. The deed of mass murder was evil, but the man himself was not necessarily so.” I am however by no means insinuating that “evil” (or what is miss labeled as such) was not present in both the movie theater and in the Sikh temple, yet after reading Weldon’s views on the way in which society justifies mass killings in the time of war and at the same time calling these spree shooters evil. By using this term, we are insinuating that such actions were brought on not by the current state of society, nor by a single mind and its inability to adapt to the greater consciousness of society, but by some larger destructive force that is believed to exist outside of our own understanding. It is fare to say that such supernatural “evil” existence has yet to be proven. One could go so far to acclaim the random killings carried out by a singular person and his fantasies of violence and his attempt to replicate a Hollywood production were not of evil but the actions of one that lost touch with reality. It could also be said, that both the soldier and the skinhead has most often found justification for their killings, not from some evil supernatural dark force, but by the reality in which one creates in his own mind. This brings us back to our original question. What distinguishes something as evil or insane?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/7806005/Fay-Weldon-mass-murderers-are-insane-but-not-evil.html

The Brains of Criminals is an article that was published in The New York Times almost a hundred and fifty years ago. In this short text, we are shown the testimony of a professional witness in a murder trial. The author of this article suggested that following the recent spike in court cases claiming the insanity plea in an attempt to escape punishment; a total collapse of social role of law and social morality would soon result. It was feared that by acknowledging a brain injury as a possible cause to a criminal or deviant act, human responsibility would disappear altogether.

Although technology and the understanding of the brain were limited to say the least, one could argue that this was the dawn of medicalization. I found it amusing, knowing this article was published before Alphonse Bertillon and Sir Francis Galton published their works. Even though the practice of measuring criminal’s heads is now seen as absurd and even racist, yet one may argue that the scars on the heads of some criminals could have contributed to their deviant behavior.  A head baring scars or trauma to the head does not guarantee that the one would act in what many would consider erratic behavior, yet those that appose medicalization must not forget the importance of the brain in decision-making. 

Exploring Technology to Protect Passengers With Fingerprint or Retina Scans is an interesting article on biometrics and airport security. This article appeared in the New York Times just eight days after the attacks on the World Trade Center. Author Barnaby J. Feder tells the reader that due to the recent attacks, there had been an increase in sales of fingerprint recognition, facial structure detection software and retina scanning equipment. He noted, that though most stocks had felt a significant loss following the attacks, there was however an increase in sales and profits in companies in the field of biometrics. Airplane travel is one noteworthy example of how society has been increasingly presented with the difficult question of security vurses privacy.  Although retina scans have proven to be one of the most successful methods in determining an individual’s identity, some civil libertarian advocates argue that this technology leaves little for health privacy of the private citizen.   Without becoming too political or referring to the Bill of Rights for validation, this article can be examined with a simpler yet finer sociological approach. It could be said that, it is the security of the group that relies on the amount of privacy that the individual is willing to give up. One may argue, that the Patriot Act fallowing September eleventh not only created a safer country but one with far less individual privacy.

-Andrew McCasland

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/19/nyregion/19TECH.html