Researchers Probe Minds of Mass Murderers

A man picks up a machine gun and, like a commando intent on killing enemies, sprays bullets on innocent people. A scary scenario, but it happens.

Research on the minds of impulsive mass murderers is scarce because such murderers tend to kill themselves before capture or are shot dead by the police, but the Scandinavian policy of using all means possible to catch the killer alive enabled Swedish researchers to study the life histories, crimes and Rorschach test results of two such murderers in the region.

The researchers, Christer Claus and Dr. Lars Lidberg of the Karolinska Institute in Huddinge, Sweden, found that the perpetrators share remarkably common psychological traits. They call the traits “the Armageddon Syndrome” and suggest they might help identify potential mass murderers of their type.

Writing in the American Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, they said the syndrome includes:

* Weapons fetishism: The pseudo-commando often treats his guns and rifles with tender loving care. They are the only friends he can rely on in a crisis.

* Deification: The pseudo-commando needs to feel connected to a strong leader. He might “know” that if Hitler were alive, the Fuehrer would have appreciated his heroic qualities.

* Hero complex: To compensate for his lack of self-esteem, the pseudo-commando needs honors and distinctions as a symbol of recognition. He needs to choose uniformed professions where he can be part of a hierarchical pseudo-family.

* Final-battle attitude: The pseudo-commando is eager to externalize his inner anxiety in a last deadly combat, where his own life will compensate for his low self-esteem and will be recognized as an important part of his imagined or real subcultures, such as political or religious extremist groups.

* Multiplicative defenses: The pseudo-commando tends to use generalized projective defenses to blame exposed groups such as immigrants, women, children or even animals. This is a denial of his own fear of being in the same position of powerlessness.

One of the two murderers studied was a 21-year-old Norwegian corporal, the other a 24-year-old Swedish second lieutenant.