When we guess of " mass murderer " our mind might zip in good order to a lone someone armed with a gun and bent on mass destruction . That ’s probably because the FBI defines a mass murder as four or more execution occurring from the same incident . We ’ve also become used to " aggregative execution " equaling a mass shot , so we ’re limiting our definition to fit a more stereotypical male pattern [ source : FBI ] .
Since 1982 , there have been 62 mass shootings in America , one of which was carry out by a adult female [ sources : Follman , Aronsen , Pan ] . Jennifer San Marco , who germinate a neighbor and six coworkers in 2006 , is the only womanhood who fits that verbal description . It ’s far too easy to hear a statistic like this and jump to the conclusion that women practice – or attempting – mass murder is unheard of .
But by restrain our definition to accelerator ferocity that kills four or more multitude , we ’re not reporting on some of the story . When we let the cat out of the bag about the current spate of mass shooters someone like Andrea Yates ( who consistently drowned her five youngster ) is n’t include . Or Priscilla Joyce Ford , a delusional schizophrenic who , in 1980 , used her fomite to run over and kill seven mass , spite 22 . Or Amy Bishop , a neuroscientist who shot six colleagues in 2006 , stamp out three . Bishop belong in the same category as Sylvia Seegrist , who shoot down and killed three people in a plaza while wound seven others : They are n’t considered mass murderers because of the number of fatality , but it can be assumed that they intended to induce larger - scale injury .
So before we dig into why men are most often mass murderers , we should recognize that women have prosecute in behavior that might not fit our idea of a lonely gunman but that does show the capability for strong-growing , criminal acts .
Now let ’s take a aspect at how gender – biologic and constructed – might meet a role in mass murder specifically .
Testosterone and Video Games: The Best Theories We Have?
Now that we ’ve acknowledged that adult female can engage in trigger-happy behavior , countenance ’s not beat around the bush : A majority of fierceness , both mass and otherwise , is practice by men . ( specially if you bring warfare and political relation into the issue , which might not jibe in this article but is worth meditate . )
When you take that between 1980 and 2008 , 90 percent of those who committed homicide were men and males were nine multiplication more probable to pique , it could happen upon you as less shameful that men committed nearly all aggregate execution . They seem to be the ones commit law-breaking , menstruum [ source : Cooper and Smith ] . ( Which might make it all the more shocking that historically there have been only two criminal offense committed every bit as often by women : polish off their own children and shoplifting [ source : Lithwick ] . )
Are human biologically wired to be more impulsive or fast-growing ? It seems sappy to say that man are inherently violent , but there are some raw factors that we should consider . workforce are stronger – that could intend that in a aggregated putting to death setting , they ’d be more likely to overpower any competitor and less likely to be stymied . So while that does n’t mean they ’re more probable to plot mickle violent death , it might lead back to our examples of red women who contain before more people were hurt .
A popular myth is that higher stratum of testosterone lead-in to hostility , which might excuse why males are more likely to commit lot murders . However , studies guide to the fact that violence might go to testosterone , not the other means around . Testosterone might be used to gear up the body for aggression ( and not pioneer it ) in both men and women [ source : Mims ] . And to prove once again that nature might just want a helping hand from rearing , one investigator points out one style to absolutely kindle a military personnel ’s testosterone level : hand him a hired gun [ rootage : Mims ] . ( The 2006 study that drew this conclusion only include male participant . )
That impart us to another very interesting juncture : For both biological and societal reasons men might commit more violence . A sketch at Iowa State University ascertain that video game exposure does , in fact , cause a physiological reaction in the organic structure . Video game players were less physiologically aroused by existent - animation violence , and the outcome were all evenhandedly standard across player [ author : Carnagey , Anderson and Bushman ] .
But , of course , a caution : This designate all individual were desensitized to force after video secret plan exposure , not just Male – or not just some males . While there might be an argument that men or boys play more video game and thus are more widely becoming harden to real - sprightliness wildness , that sure enough ca n’t explain why some of them wrench into aggregate manslayer .
Is It a Man’s World?
When contemplate sex roles , you ’ll descend across the term " hegemonic masculinity " quite a bit . It ’s a construct of maleness that says our society and grammatical gender roles are designed to insure male power over dependent females , and it applies to our discussion of male violence .
One theory about why men put mass slaying more often than women is that they ’re trying to find power after an episode or pattern of lose control over their lives . To assert their masculine identity , these men resort to furiousness and aggression , unimaginative " male " domain [ source : Kennedy - Kollar and Charles ] .
As you might anticipate , this hypothesis is load . But at its core , it does address some of the characteristic that are often observed in mass murderers . Many find they ’ve been in person humiliated by the people around them and see others to blame for their loser . And it does n’t inevitably imply that women are to pick ; simply that they have suffered degradations and letdown that have led them to essay to reaffirm a stiff , masculine identity .
For a less conceptual hypothesis , let ’s discuss mental health . It might not be a conjunction that woman are name with slump more than men , but many batch murderers expose sign of depression that were ignore [ source : Crocker ] . Why would youthful adult male be less likely to receive help for genial illness ?
It might go back to our in high spirits - concept estimate about hegemonic maleness . It ’s possible that charwoman are diagnosed and regale more for low just because we suppose it ’s , well , weird for a woman to be isolated , tempestuous or unenrgetic . Not to cite the fact that some signs of economic crisis in male do n’t necessarily match the " traditional " ( or Freudian ) symptom of depression . Depression was classically seen as a disease of fatigue duty or gloominess , but we now know that it can also manifest itself through wildness , tearaway behavior or peril - taking [ reservoir : Crocker ] .
So it could be that mass liquidator are overwhelmingly manly simply because we give more mental health tending to women who are " loners , " " eccentric " or " bizarre . " It ’s easy to say we ’re " ignoring the word of advice signs " in these male mass murderers , but the the true may be that as a culture we ’re just less tolerant to women outside the norm of satisfactory demeanor , and we do n’t see man as " needing " help .
Lots More Information
This is virtually an unacceptable article to write ; no one knows why mankind are more prepared to commit large - ordered series acts of murder . Any mind are just that : estimation . So while we ’ve discuss a twain here ( lack of genial health attending , a need to define their masculine place in a society they feel has wrong them ) , there ’s no pat answer at this point .
