Watch this segment live on San Diego 6 News In The Morning this Monday, March 16th @ 8:20a.m.
Background: Once again our
Nation was faced with another school shooting this past week causing some local anxiety for our
youth. This is because most young children generalize that one school
shooting, even if far away, may lead to others closer to home.
Human suffering is once again on the minds of all along with feelings of anger
and sadness that these type of crimes continue on our school grounds despite
extensive efforts of all states and school districts insisting and implementing
greater security measures to protect the lives of their students.
Whenever something like this happens, many questions come to mind.
"Why?" ; "What kind of person commits something like this?; and
"Is there anything that could have been done to better prevent this from
happening?". All of these are very important questions but difficult to
answer.
Meanwhile many children are once again afraid to go to school while also
reawakening past experiences of previous school shootings. Despite the actual
rarity of such shootings taking place, as compared to other acts of crimes,
there is a continued need to educate the public on what signs to look for in
everyday encounters to b etter protect one another. Such efforts are being
encouraged by Homeland Security in reference to terrorists and the same type of
interventions need to be applied to identifying disturbed individuals in
general.
One active area of investigation and inquiry has been an attempt to
"profile" the type of individual or individuals who could commit
these types of awful crimes in hopes of identifying them before a potential
crisis could occur. These joint efforts of law enforcement, along with mental
health professionals, continue and offer checklists to both school personnel
and students in hopes of getting every
one involved with protecting one another.
Below is a list of some of the common profiling characteristics found in
individuals who have committed school shootings as well as other serious acts
of crimes. These characteristics are felt to be long standing in nature and in
many cases not identified in advance:
1. A history of psychological and/or behavioral problems.
2. A lack of close friends
3. Historically poor judgment
4. Significant use of magical thinking
5. A serious lack of moral integration
6. Strange habits
7. Antisocial thoughts and behaviors
8. Isolative
9. Tend to be socially rejected due to their qualities
10. Self-centered
Most professionals agree that if more adults and students alike were better
educated about such identifying characteristics and were made to feel more
comfortable bringing these in dividuals to the attention of adults, the
incidence of school shootings and other serious acts of pathology would
decrease and these targeted individuals could perhaps receive help that they
have obviously needed and have not received.
Research teaches us that individuals who demonstrate antisocial behaviors do
not just “snap”. They have histories of maladaptive styles that many people in
their lives have known about, but not intervened.
Hopefully, the joint efforts of law enforcement, school districts, and parents
will lead to better educating both children and school personnel about these
profiling characteristics in hopes of further decreasing crises such as the one
again experienced this past week.
Dr.
Keith Kanner/ Morning Show Host
Your Family Matters
XETV Bay City Television
San Diego 6 News
San Diego Living Show
8253 Ronson Road, San Diego 92111
ph (619) 261-2346/ (858) 756-3050
drkanner@sandiego6.com
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About drkanner
Dr. Kanner is a Licensed Clinical Child, Adolescent, and Adult Psychologist and Psychoanalyst with a full time private practice in Rancho Santa Fe, California. He is also an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine at U.C. San Diego and a Clinical Instructor and Supervisor at the San Diego Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. Recently, he has become the Director of Clinical Counseling for La Jolla Country Day School and has been named to the National Board of Directors for KidsKorps, USA. He continues as a Consultant for many public and private schools in San Diego and has also received distinguished teaching awards over the past seven years. He is a published author and a sought after speaker on topics pertaining to childhood, adolescence, and parenthood. He is also presently writing a book for Fox based on his show, Your Family Matters.
