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Some researchers have parallels between random attacks of violence and the "amok", a long-standing phenomenon in South Asia – and behind that, a "crisis" in the way some men seek to be socially recognized.
In 1901, a British doctor living in Malaysia described a phenomenon that drew his attention: that of people with no criminal history who had stopped the violence and went out to commit indiscriminate murders, attacking those who had nothing to do with them. done against them. "A 23-year-old man stole a sword and attacked six people who slept or smoked opium, almost decapitated one, killed three others and seriously injured others – all for no reason apparent, "wrote Dr. John Gimlette in the Journal. It was the local cultural phenomenon called amok when a person subjected to frustration or humiliation – in most cases a man – was going through a period of isolation and isolation, and then was launched in a cathartic and barbaric ritual: go to a public place and frequented to kill strangers for no apparent reason or connection. The word gave birth to the word "running wild", which can be translated as "taken by anger".
This phenomenon, first reported by anthropologists as a restricted manifestation to some communities in Southeast Asia, began to manifest itself. seen from another angle by western psychologists and scholars since the 1990s, as more and more indiscriminate murders began to make headlines: deaths in American schools or public places
More recently, another similar scenario: For some scholars, similar elements appear in amok and in the action of snipers or extremists in Western countries: a an explosion of indiscriminate violence perpetrated in public places where it is possible to make victims. And perpetrators usually continue to kill at random until they are arrested by the police or commit suicide.
It is also possible to note some similarities in this way of proceeding with the Euler Grandolpho affair, which killed five people and wounded three others on Tuesday. Metropolitan Cathedral of Campinas (SP), before committing suicide.
It is important to note that this relationship between amok and shooters in the West is an axis of thought and not a consensus of the community. Academic But this raises a debate about social exclusion, mental health and, finally, a possible "crisis of masculinity" between men who have difficulties to achieve full inclusion in the society in which they live.
Looking for a "moment of glory". 19659011] Unlike the original cathartic Amoks the shooters today seem to be feeding the idea that the killings will give them a moment of glory, triumph and media attention that they did not yet have. reached in life. Brazilian scholar Gabriel Zacharias, professor of history at Unicamp and specialist in recent cases of Islamic extremism in France (treated in the book in The Mirror of Terror: Jihad and the show ed. "Most people are targeted by so-called introspective people, whom no one thought they could do (blind murder), they are usually men, somehow frustrated," said Zacharias to BBC News Brazil
These frustrations may be due to lack of popularity, professional success or integration into the competitive society in which they live, as evidenced by
"Extremists in France belong to generally to the lower social stratum and to families of immigrant origin, which jeopardizes their difficulty of social climbing (…) They seem to have found in terrorism a means of giving a more noble meaning to a life that was already out of the ordinary, "he explains. "Anyone who commits an attack knows that it will be presented in a certain way in the press, on TV news, on jihadist social networks, and will have a moment of" triumph "," he explains. .
"Which brings us to the spectacular nature of these phenomena: most (extremists) produced videos with weapons, messages or even filming their own attacks, and they already felt it would be a moment of great media repercussion and (19659003) Of course, frustrations in themselves are not enough to explain the indiscriminate killings – everyone has, after all, moments of frustration, and very few of us have turned them into extreme In the case of Islamic extremists, it is also necessary to take into account the ethnic, religious and geopolitical components.In the case of school shooters, however, researchers in the United States believe that there is a "crisis". of masculinity "in the country: young men who feel disconnected from society and find in the culture of gun appreciation a way to express their feelings ents.
"All the school shooters and national terrorists I mentioned in my book exposed male rage, an attempt to solve a masculinity crisis through behavior. violent, and demonstrated a bad of firearms, "he wrote in 2008 Douglas Kellner, a researcher at the University of California at Los Angeles, author of the book Guys and Guns Amok.
Kellner spoke to the press a few days after gunman Steven Kazmierczak invaded Northern Illinois University. and killed five people on February 14 of this year.
"In school killings and acts of domestic terrorism, the perpetrators use weapons and / or acts of violence to resolve masculinity crises and become" hard men "," real men " They also use the press to create terrorist programs and establish themselves as celebrities, "wrote Kellner in a later article.
For the researcher, "in every case, men suffered from problems of socialization, alienation, and identity-seeking in culture that values weapons and militarism as powerful symbols of masculinity."
The weight of depression
In the end, in some cases, there is an essential component of mental health.
In 1999, the same year as the mbadacre an article published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry drew a parallel between the behavior observed in amok and the "modern industrialized societies", in the latter perhaps be stimulated by problems such as psychopathy, paranoia, schizophrenia, personality and temperament disorders, and suicidal or homicidal manifestations of anger, helplessness or revenge.
Let's go back to the case of Euler Gandolph. In Campinas, preliminary press reports and newspaper reports from the police suggest a picture of depression badociated with paranoid thoughts of persecution.
"How is it practically impossible to prevent an attack amok without the risk is the only method to avoid the damage done," the article says Increase the shelter network for people with a history of violent behavior or threats, who are stressed (financial loss or loss of a loved one or job) and have mental health problems.
For Gabriel Zacharias, it is difficult to propose solutions without thinking first and foremost beyond the immediate motivations of the perpetrators of the mbadacres and contradictions of today's Western society, which encourages fierce competition. and the research (mostly male) of an ideal of success is not always easy to achieve.
"There is a deeper problem of the subject's crisis: from the clinical point of view, it manifests itself in the enormous epidemic of depression observed, but also is competitive: the quest for success by annihilating the competitors. it's the way we structure our current labor market, "he said.
"Frustrated individuals do not know who to take revenge for and against random targets, which is why the symbolic justifications that channel hatred and resentment are extremely dangerous.If we say that the guilt of all The Evils The rise of far-right and racist, homophobic, anti-intellectual and anti-Semitic speeches has reoriented the action of snipers in case of attacks in synagogues and discotheques. There is reason to expect a similar phenomenon here. "
The American Kellner, meanwhile, advocates stricter gun control in the United States, but also" the projection of New and more constructive images of masculinity "less badociated with violence and aggression.
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