CDZ Does it seem to you that the wrong folks are looking into the "Pulse" massacre?

[320 Years of History]

So, as goes "Pulse," we know who shot all those people. We know he was a "lone wolf" shooter. What else is there to figure out? Well, his motivations for doing so.

There are myriad psychologies that may explain or contribute to building an explanation of what inspired the guy's behavior, that is beyond the obvious, such as ISIS or the shooter's infatuation with ISIS and groups like it.

To that end, why is the DOJ leading the investigation rather than HHS or perhaps NIH, or any number of government entities that have psychology/psychiatry and sociology as part of their general scope of work?

I'm sure the FBI have psychologists on staff. The thing is that with their crime fighting focus, I think they're inherently going to look for explanations and behaviors that lead to too narrowly considered ideas. It just seems to me that the context in play is bigger than crime fighting.

 

[OldLady]

Getting to the actual bottom of this would show us why most mass shooters do what they do. I'm quite sure the information is out there. What has been tricky in the past is doing anything with the information. Given an individual with this general set of behaviors/attitudes/outlook, we still need to predict if the person is going to blow. That has been the impossible part, I'm pretty sure. Add to that the fact that most mentally unstable people think they're absolutely FINE, thank you, most times a mental health professional never even gets a crack at them. And then they die in the attack and no one is able to find out, definitively, what was going through their mind.
Is that what you mean?

 

[320 Years of History]

Is that what you mean?

The ideas you shared underpin the thread question/topic, yes.

 

[emilynghiem]

So, as goes "Pulse," we know who shot all those people. We know he was a "lone wolf" shooter. What else is there to figure out? Well, his motivations for doing so.

There are myriad psychologies that may explain or contribute to building an explanation of what inspired the guy's behavior, that is beyond the obvious, such as ISIS or the shooter's infatuation with ISIS and groups like it.

To that end, why is the DOJ leading the investigation rather than HHS or perhaps NIH, or any number of government entities that have psychology/psychiatry and sociology as part of their general scope of work?

I'm sure the FBI have psychologists on staff. The thing is that with their crime fighting focus, I think they're inherently going to look for explanations and behaviors that lead to too narrowly considered ideas. It just seems to me that the context in play is bigger than crime fighting.

I think it is a combination of both problems cited
1. the man was already abusive and unstable. Like other lone shooters who are isolated and feel oppressed/victimized by outside forces they resent, they take out their aggression in homocidal or suicidal violence or both.
2. such types ARE targeted recruited or influenced by anti-govt propaganda and groups preaching war and revolution
whether this was isolated connected or both, it is still a collective problem like crime is, and needs to be taken seriously

ALL these factors need to be addressed, not rejected as either/or

To resolve the root causes of:
mental illness, individual crime, and collective political violence terrorism and war
it still requires widespread commitment to weed out and resolve all signs of unresolved conflict or abuse at all levels

Since govt cannot do this but is limited to violations of civil and criminal laws,
it is up to people to police and correct problems at first sign of distress and danger/threat,
not for rejection and punishment but for counseling and treating the root causes of ills.

The sooner we identify and intervene we can likely prevent 85-95% of crimes which are foreseeable.
Maybe 5% cannot be predicted in advance, but most problems escalate from personal issues that are expressed.
We just have to commit to raising the standards on resolving conflicts to catch all these cases before they go too far.

What I would recommend 320 Years of History is supporting more voluntary
community outreach to address bullying, relationship abuse, and religious/political/legal abuse, by providing training and assistance with conflict resolution and counseling.

We can create more jobs for teachers, police and social work / mental health interns serving local communities, and reduce the prison population and spending that is better invested in prevention through mental health education, training and outreach services.