Journal of Psychology & Psychotherapy
Open Access

Abstract

Understanding the Mind of Violent Aggressors: Review of a Ten-Year Study Depicting a Pathway to Destructive, Anti-Social Mannerisms and Mental Dysfunction

Donald F DeMoulin

Violence can be considered among the most far-reaching conditions now confronting the nation and its schoolage children. Nationwide, schools are showing an increase in violent acts since the tragic, 1999 Columbine shootings. Since Columbine, there has been a surge in violence and aggressive behavior in students across the nation with high-profile tragedies at Sandy Hook and the most recent deadly shooting in Parkland, Florida.

This article will review the findings from a ten-year study (1999-2010) in which data from this longitudinal investigation identified a pattern of behavioral characteristics common to individual(s) who commit different levels of violent acts. Along with this pattern surfaced a series of stages that progressed from the least violent stage to the most destructive stage of aggressive behavior-the stage in which a purging of conscience occurs and where conditions are conducive for a violent act(s) to be carried out.

The research presented in this paper was conducted not long after the 1999 Columbine incident and concluded at the end of 2010. Results were presented in 2012 at the 19th World Congress of International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions held in Beijing, China (Appendix A). While the study focused on elementary, middle, high school, and early college students, outcomes can also be integrated into adult aggressive behavior and stage advancement as compatible effects.