Tragedy of numbers -- what's to be done?
Dec 20, 2012
My site is dedicated to understanding and helping others come to terms with the effects of childhood trauma, especially interpersonal trauma, and no clearer example of childhood trauma on a large scale can be found in the events at Sandy Hook School, Newton, Connecticutt. My profound sympathies go out to those affected by this tragedy.
I've been involved, and "observing" exchanges on the American PsyLaw list. It is very difficult for me, coming from a society with strict gun controls and relatively few weapons, to understand these events, to come to an emotional peace with these events, and I am not ashamed to say that I have cried, on more than one occasion, when observing and thinking about the events. For those not privy to the discussion on the list I'd like to quote a couple of important pieces of information. Firstly, about what factors are likely to be involved; secondly, a listing of available resources. But first, some observations on numbers. Wikipedia quotes the population of the United States as about 315 Milliion people, with some estimating the number of gun weapons as approximately 280 Million -- 89 guns for every 100 people, with (quoted on Letterman, in NZ at least -- we're a bit behind here) 70 shootings at schools since 1994. As one of the contributors to the PsyLaw list said: there are hundreds of thousands of people using guns in the United States, with only a few thousand gun-related casualties per year. Again,on Wikipedia this is estimated as below 70, 000 per year. A contributor to the list from the UK is, like me, aghast at the events in Newtown, and has encouraged his colleagues on the list to support large scale gun controls -- this has NOT received support on the list, and I think it is beyond American culture, at this point in time, to accept such limitations. Perhaps after a further 70 shootings, or someone, like in the movies, sends his private militia in to fight a branch of the US Army? Certainly, some groups probably have more guns avaiilable, per person, than many Army units.
I'm indebted to the members of the list, and especially Dr Andy Kane, Clinical, Consulting and Forensic Psychologist of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for the final couple of items:
- depression,
- resentment,
- tendency to blame others for their misfortunes,
- social isolation,
- fascination with violence,
- interest in weaponry
and
- people who exhibit rage, either specific to some situation or in more generalized form,
- and people who are bullied.
Research conducted with those who have committed offences indicates that spending time with "antisocial attitudes", and in this context I'd imagine those supportive of fascination with violence and interest in weaponry (especially guns), is also a significant risk factor. Of course, relying on any one of these factors, in isolation from consideration of the others, is likely to lead to a huge number of "false positives" -- wrongly concluding that someone is a risk when they are not.
This document discusses some possible means of addressing this problem [LINK]
And here is a list of resources for parents of children aaffected by violence and disaster: [LINK]
Incidentally, the practice known a "Critical Incident Stress Debriefing" is no longer advised-- outcome studies have shown it to have effects either neutral or iatrogenic -- causative of further problems -- "re-traumatization" [LINK] See also [LINK]