Premium
Mass violence planned as ultimate leisure experience? Four diverse cases
Author(s) -
Williams D J,
Schaal Kaleigh
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of forensic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.715
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1556-4029
pISSN - 0022-1198
DOI - 10.1111/1556-4029.14743
Subject(s) - multidisciplinary approach , psychology , behavioural sciences , criminology , social psychology , applied psychology , sociology , social science , psychotherapist
As part of a larger project on contextual factors of mass murder, this paper identifies and discusses four cases that quite clearly suggest, based on the content of perpetrators’ personal communications and/or reports from those who knew them, that the perpetrators purposely planned and experienced their attacks as desired leisure experience. Leisure science, while consistent with the multidisciplinary roots of forensic behavioral science, has not yet been applied to better understand cases of mass violence. Together with traditional forensic behavioral science approaches, leisure theory may produce insights in cases of mass violence that are uncoerced, largely intrinsically motivated, and committed for personal enjoyment.