I am also very annoyed by people saying there *must *have been something the parents - particularly the mother - were doing wrong to make Adam behave as he did. It sounds like the mother was known to be a caring, kind and generous person. NOT someone with a lack of affect, isolation and withdrawal of attention, lack of meaningful supervision, etc. We know a lot about behavior and mental illness that don't have causes rooted in the person's homelife.
In hindsight, of course, the gun ownership was a bad thing, but reading about the boy's extreme social withdrawal, it may have been the *only* thing she could do with him that he enjoyed doing with her - going to a shooting range. And knowing how socially withdrawn he was, the idea of him going out and doing what he did probably never occurred to her. Whatever the background information, I'm still stunned that so many people still sound like we're living in the 1950's, when everything was Mommy's fault. Beth Benoit Granite State College Plymouth State University New Hampshire On Mon, Dec 24, 2012 at 11:09 AM, Carol DeVolder <[email protected]>wrote: > > > > > > But still, to Beth's point, a mother and her son were also lost. The > son--to what terrible cause? The mother, simply by being. There are people > who will miss them. At the least, a father, brother, son. As terrible as it > is for the 26 others, and it IS unimaginably terrible--it is also terrible > for the shooter's family. They must be having a very hard time in the face > of unspeakable guilt (which is probably quite unwarrented but there > anyway). There were 28 losses to mourn. > > Carol > > > > On Mon, Dec 24, 2012 at 9:29 AM, Paul Brandon <[email protected]>wrote: > >> You might also discuss why a hundred times as many people are killed in >> car crashes as in plane crashes, but plane crashes get more publicity. >> >> On Dec 24, 2012, at 8:26 AM, Mike Palij wrote: >> >> > Cullen's main point is that in situations like Columbine and Newtown, >> most >> > of the initial information about what happened is just wrong. As the >> Guardian >> > article above points out, journalistic rules get tossed and "gossip" >> serves as >> > "news". What actually happened in Columbine or Newtown or Aurora or >> > other places involving gun violence takes a long time to figure out as >> well >> > as getting the details right. But an "infotainment"-driven news media >> has >> > no patience for such things because it works in "news cycles", that is, >> limited >> > time periods that can be devoted to one story until the next big story >> appears. >> > >> > In my methods class, I point out that when an airplane crashes the >> National >> > Transportation Safety Board (in the U.S.) it usually take 18-24 months >> for >> > them to conduct an investigation, reach conclusions, and present their >> report >> > for why the crash occurred. Sometimes the reasons are clear, sometimes >> no >> > definitive conclusion can be reached, and all the other incidents fall >> somewhere >> > in between. But the news media may only spend a couple or few days on >> > a plain crash, depending upon spectacular or newsworthy it is >> considered, >> > and people will learn and remember what they heard on these broadcasts >> and >> > NOT on the report that is issued maybe two years later. People will >> think that >> > they know what happened but this is just the illusion of knowledge. We >> should >> > not be surprised that similar things happen to other big news stories >> like mass >> > shootings. People have their own lives to live and unless they are >> directly >> > involved in the incidents will not really care to get the story >> straight (i.e., do >> > the hard work of following up what is learned and ultimately concluded). >> >> Paul Brandon >> Emeritus Professor of Psychology >> Minnesota State University, Mankato >> [email protected] >> >> >> >> >> --- >> You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. >> To unsubscribe click here: >> http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=177920.a45340211ac7929163a0216244443341&n=T&l=tips&o=22546 >> or send a blank email to >> leave-22546-177920.a45340211ac7929163a0216244443...@fsulist.frostburg.edu >> > > > > -- > Carol DeVolder, Ph.D. > Professor of Psychology > St. Ambrose University > 518 West Locust Street > Davenport, Iowa 52803 > 563-333-6482 > > > > > --- > > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13105.b9b37cdd198e940b73969ea6ba7aaf72&n=T&l=tips&o=22547 > > (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) > > or send a blank email to > leave-22547-13105.b9b37cdd198e940b73969ea6ba7aa...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > > > > > --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=22548 or send a blank email to leave-22548-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
