Predicting Violence: Finding That Middle Ground

Abstract

Abstract Across the complete fabric of our national life, we feel the need as never before to be secure from the threat of violence. This is particularly true of mass violence and murder. It has become mandatory that we identify and review the human factors that result in these horrific violent acts. Two recent documents address the role of mental illness in these acts. The first document, a Naval Postgraduate School thesis, points to past and ongoing efforts and research that attempts to identify a number of behavioral drivers relating to violence. This is done in hopes of formulating a predictive protocol that can be used by all the professions who are called upon to address and prevent this violence, and identify the individuals responsible before they can carry out that violence. The second document, the Sandy Hook Commission report, provides the analysis of the relationship between mental illness and the occurrence of violence. These excellent documents describe the evolving opinions about the role m...