Narcissistic Symptoms in German School Shooters
| Date | 01 December 2015 |
| Author | Rebecca Bondü,Herbert Scheithauer |
| Published date | 01 December 2015 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0306624X14544155 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
research-article2014
Article
International Journal of
Offender Therapy and
Narcissistic Symptoms in
Comparative Criminology
2015, Vol. 59(14) 1520 –1535
German School Shooters
© The Author(s) 2014
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DOI: 10.1177/0306624X14544155
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Rebecca Bondü1 and Herbert Scheithauer2
Abstract
School shooters are often described as narcissistic, but empirical evidence is scant.
To provide more reliable and detailed information, we conducted an exploratory
study, analyzing police investigation files on seven school shootings in Germany,
looking for symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder as defined by the Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV) in witnesses’ and offenders’
reports and expert psychological evaluations. Three out of four offenders who had
been treated for mental disorders prior to the offenses displayed detached symptoms
of narcissism, but none was diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder. Of the
other three, two displayed narcissistic traits. In one case, the number of symptoms
would have justified a diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder. Offenders showed
low and high self-esteem and a range of other mental disorders. Thus, narcissism is
not a common characteristic of school shooters, but possibly more frequent than in
the general population. This should be considered in developing adequate preventive
and intervention measures.
Keywords
school shooting, narcissism, personality disorder, risk factor, rampage
School shootings by current or former students of a school with the intent to kill a
single person or groups of persons associated with the school are planned, with the site
being both deliberately chosen and related to the offenders’ motives (Bondü, 2012).
Hate; suicidal ideation; a desire for fame, attention, and respect; and the need to solve
a problem have been cited as motives for school shootings. However, revenge is con-
sidered the most frequent and central motive behind the offenses (Bondü, 2010; Fein
1University of Potsdam, Germany
2Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
Corresponding Author:
Rebecca Bondü, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24-25, 14476 Potsdam, Germany.
Email: Rebecca.bondue@uni-potsdam.de
Bondü and Scheithauer
1521
et al., 2002; Vossekuil, Fein, Reddy, Borum, & Modzeleski, 2002). It is thought to be
triggered by preceding negative experiences such as social rejection, bullying, per-
ceived injustice, or other forms of humiliation (Leary, Kowalski, Smith, & Philips,
2003; McGee & DeBernardo, 1999).
Some authors have suggested that school shooters perceive these experiences par-
ticularly intensely and negatively due to underlying narcissistic traits or narcissistic
personality disorder. Thus, this “pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behav-
iour), need for admiration, and lack of empathy” (American Psychiatric Association
[APA], 2000, p. 661) is considered a risk factor for school shootings. This implies that
narcissistic personality disorder or pronounced narcissistic traits should be noticeably
more prevalent in school shooters than in the general population. In this connection,
the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-V; APA,
2013) indicates prevalence levels of 0% to 6.2% in community samples, but also
points out that narcissistic traits may be common among adolescents without necessar-
ily indicating a subsequent narcissistic personality disorder.
Up to now, detailed empirical evidence for the assumption of particularly high rates
of narcissistic traits or even narcissistic personality disorder in school shooters has
been sparse. Research that has considered this factor has generally focused on the
presence of single narcissistic features without examining whether or not their number
would justify the diagnosis of a narcissistic personality disorder. In addition, the focus
has been almost exclusively on samples from the United States. Thus, the question
remains as to whether findings obtained there would apply to offender samples from
other countries. In view of these gaps, in the present exploratory study we examined
narcissistic traits and narcissistic personality disorder in a sample of seven school
shooters in Germany.
Prevention of School Shootings
Reliable knowledge on potential risk factors of school shootings is indispensable if we
are to understand why such offenses occur (i.e., explanation models for school shoot-
ings). It is likewise crucial for the development of appropriate strategies for an early
identification of potential offenders and their treatment. This knowledge would obvi-
ously be useful in modeling the risk that a school shooting might occur as well.
Recently, several attempts have been made to model the risk of low-base-rate phenom-
ena such as school shootings, focusing on related problems such as terrorist attacks
(Greenberg et al., 2012). These models have to account not only for low base rates, but
also for large proportions of missing data, uncertainties of the outcomes, or non-
linearity (Ulfelder, 2012). Their approach generally involves the use of probability risk
analysis, decision tree models, and/or Bayesian networks in estimating the risk of an
unwanted event (Chatterjee & Abkowitz, 2011; Ezell, Bennett, von Winterfeldt,
Sokolowski, & Collins, 2010)
These models still need to be transferred to school shootings, where the develop-
ment of preventive measures faces its own problems (Bondü, Scheithauer, Leuschner,
& Cornell, 2013). The danger of falsely identifying persons as potentially dangerous
1522
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology 59(14)
against the background of the low frequencies of school shootings in combination with
high prevalence rates of most potential risk factors has often been discussed (e.g.,
Mulvey & Cauffman, 2001; Reddy et al., 2001). Less attention has been paid to the
opposite problem: Focusing on the wrong risk factors or focusing only on single forms
of occurrence of a risk factor when different forms of occurrence are relevant may
increase false negative rates. That is, persons who are in danger of committing an
offense may not be identified at all or may not be treated in accordance to their
problems.
So far, most knowledge about school shootings is based on rather small and largely
overlapping samples of U.S. school shooters, predominantly from the 1990s. These
studies made the most important contribution to an understanding of the phenomenon
of school shootings. However, some recent publications have questioned the transfer-
ability of some of these studies’ findings to other samples of school shooters and found
evidence for cultural differences in the offenses (Bondü, 2012). For example, most
early studies reported that school shooters had almost always been victims of bullying
and had been socially isolated prior to the offenses. Recent studies, however, have
questioned interpretations of the early data, pointing out that not all offenders had been
bullied, and that additional problems had been present (Bondü, 2012; Langman, 2009).
Given the central role that some theories and researchers have placed on narcissism
and narcissistic traits among the factors leading to school shootings, it makes sense to
test whether previous findings with regard to narcissism can be transferred to and rep-
licated in different samples. It is also important to use clear and reproducible criteria
when it comes to defining the presence of narcissistic traits and narcissistic personality
disorder in school shooters, to allow future studies to use the same criteria. To this end,
the present study investigated narcissism and narcissistic traits in seven school shoot-
ers in Germany.
Narcissism as a Risk Factor in School Shootings
A number of studies on school shooters have reported narcissism or narcissistic traits
in the offenders. In their study of 18 school shooters from the United States, McGee
and DeBernardo (1999) described a narcissistic attitude of superiority and mixed per-
sonality disorder with paranoid, antisocial, and narcissistic features as risk factors for
school shootings. Similarly, O’Toole (1999), who also examined 18 U.S. school shoot-
ers, detected narcissistic and paranoid tendencies in the form of self-centeredness, lack
of insight into other people’s feelings, an inclination to blame others for negative expe-
riences, and illusions of grandeur. Hoffmann, Roshdi, and Robertz (2009) reported
“evidence of narcissism” (p. 200; translation by the authors) in 6 out of 7 German
school shooters. However, detailed defining criteria of these narcissistic features were
not reported.
Based on similar findings and theoretical assumptions, Bell (2003) stated that a
“narcissistic personality in combination with peer rejection contributes to” school
shootings (p. 30). Experiencing peer rejection leads to shame and humiliation, feelings
that conflict with the internal sense of superiority that is characteristic of narcissistic
Bondü and Scheithauer
1523
personality. This, in turn, results in anxiety of further rejection and leads to helpless-
ness and depression. Fantasies of violent revenge counter these feelings and restore a
sense of superiority, power, and control. Consequently, a violent...
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