PSYCHIATRIC PERSPECTIVES ON THE JONESBORO MASSACRE

Victor Bloom MD

Sometimes we read about children killing children. We can't help but wonder about it. It boggles the mind. It can't be real. It's something out of Stephen King, a scene out of a dark novel. But it really happened. Two boys, 11 and 13, conspired to ambush their classmates and get even. For what? A boy was going to get even with every little girl who dropped him.

Most of us don't like to be rejected, but we handle it. Most kids go through the narcissistic injury of being rejected in numerous puppy-loves and infatuations without murdering the apparent object of their frustration and disappointment. What went wrong here?

We read of the boy's longterm familiarity with weapons. He knew that guns are used for hunting and target shooting. The boy was not successful in sports, but he was good at shooting. Among the stash of weapons was a powerful and accurate deer rifle with a telescopic sight. A man familiar with guns said that that combination is deadly; you can hardly miss; just aim and shoot.

And that is what the boys did. Aim and shoot, again and again. Where were their inner controls? Where was their reality-sense? Where was their bonding with other human beings? Where was their sense of right and wrong? What parenting was there? What religious teaching was available?

In situations such as this, psychiatrists ponder early development. The general feeling is that babies who bond with their parents identify with their values, and a basic value is not to hurt other people, and certainly not to kill. The act seems to speak for itself. There is no remorse. The boys complained that their prison food did not include pizza. They seemed to have no concept of crime and punishment. Life should go on as usual, as if, as if--- the dead and wounded classmates and heroic teacher were celluloid figures.

This consideration makes one wonder about the influence of shoot-em-up movies and television programs on susceptible children, and especially about video games of ongoing battles and fights. I've seen the 'virtual' weapons, high-powered automatic rifles, hand grenades, machine guns, laser beams, chain-saws. The children are able to become 'virtual' chainsaw massacres. Gives them a feeling of excitement, of power. Some kids play these games daily for hours at a spell. These 'games' give the child a distraction from the realities of everyday life. School and study. Home and chores. Right and wrong. Relationships. And sometimes the daily grind of bickering parents erodes the soul.

It cannot be said with certainty in this case, but the probability is that the parents were neglectful and did not guide their child in the best possible way. Only by a firm, loving, trusting bond, does the child become civilized, 'raised' from the wildness and primitiveness of childhood. Such a bond seems to have been insufficient or absent in this case.

And yet we sometimes see an unruly child emerge from a loving, protective family. Sometimes appearances deceive, and behind closed doors there is meanness and cruelty, neglect and trauma. But still, without these environmental shortcomings, it is possible that an occasional child is born with brain damage, or a variant of the human species lacking the neurons of conscience. Some experts believe that a few children are congenitally incapable of emotion or human relatedness, such as autistic children.

But the particular boy who organized the ambush and massacre was talking as if he were overcome with feeling, feelings of rejection. Why was there not a balancing knowledge that he was loved by his parents? Why couldn't he love himself? Love is what saves us all from the jungle.

The phenomenon of Jonesboro may merely be one of probability. Given that some children are exposed to a lot of violence, at home or from the media, and given that some parents are neglectful, and given the availability of guns, and given that a tiny percentage of children do not have the capacity to care about another person, this sort of thing is bound to occur. And sure enough, there have been two other school shootings in recent months, children by children. Now we know this sort of thing doesn't only happen in the inner city ghetto.

In a way we are living within a gigantic "Russian Roulette". There may be thousands of chambers and one bullet. Spin the chamber enough times, and someone is going to get shot.

Dr. Bloom is Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Wayne State University School of Medicine. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He is a member of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and corresponding editor of their quarterly journal, Academy Forum. He welcomes comments and questions at his e-mail address: vbloom@comcast.net.