Why kids kill

I enjoyed the messag As you can see, I started reading this book on March 22 and I did not finish it until June 2. I enjoyed the message behind the book along with the learning the details about all of these stories, but it was just way too long. Once I started reading though I did not want to leave the book unfinished. I knew that this was a topic that I found very interesting and it is a topic that needed to be talked about, but I had a very hard time finishing it.

This book begins with talking about how there are different types of school shooters. All of these kids do the same things, but they have many different reasons for why they did it. It goes into detail about these types of shooters and how they all differ. It was really eye-opening to me that all of these kids had different goals, but they ended up doing the same thing with the same outcome in the end.

The book then goes on to talk about the similarities and differences between these kids, and a lot of them had things in common, such as home life situations and feeling like outcasts. It ends with advice on how to deal with these kids, and how to do everything very safely.

The one part I really enjoyed about this book was the advice on the end about potential school shooters. I liked this part about the book because I feel like it was a call to action. It made it made it seem like there was really something that people could do to help in these situations. A lot of people feel like there is nothing that they could do in these situations, but they want to help. In a way, it is comforting to know that there is something that you can do in these situations when it feels like someone is hopeless.

View 1 comment. Sep 13, Anna rated it liked it Shelves: nonfiction-psychology , owned-physical-copy , nonfiction-true-crime. I feel like this book leaves a lot unsaid. No exceptions, no real overlaps, and with how varied these shooters tend to be, I simply could not be convinced in such a short summary that in this regard, they are uniform.

Brilliant side-by-side comparisons of major school shooters. The mental illness is the most causal--but like psychopathy, not just depression. I've been depressed all my life and I haven't killed anyone. Oct 12, Angel Stinnett added it. Angel Stinnett October 12, English 1. He conducts trainings on understanding the psychology of school shooters and identifying potential school shooters for professionals in mental health, education, and law enforcement.

Literary Time Period This book was originally published in In there were 7 school shootings in the U. Multiple school shootings in previous years dating ba Angel Stinnett October 12, English 1.

Multiple school shootings in previous years dating back to But some of the places they talk about are Columbine, Arkansas, Texas. He also has stories from high school students. Theme The theme in this book is reasoning and explanation. In this book Why Kids Kill: Inside the Minds of School Shooters goes beyond disrespectful labels and simplistic explanations, providing an understanding psychological analysis of school shooters.

Oppose to the trend of looking at school shooters as a homogeneous group, Dr. His insightful exploration identifies multiple factors that converge to turn kids into killers.

Plot Summary Why Kids Kill: Inside the Minds of School Shooters classifies ten school shooters within a three-part typology: psychopathic, psychotic, or traumatized.

The book also presents five adolescents who were hospitalized and evaluated by Dr. Langman because they were at risk for committing rampage school shootings. The five potential shooters are compared to the ten actual shooters and placed within the typology.

The book ends with a chapter addressing the prevention of school shootings and the early identification of potential shooters. Literary Devices Point of View- The book is told through the point of view of the author and he gives his opinions and explanation to why kids kill.

Imagery- When reading the quotes of these students that have dark and twisted minds, you can just imagine how crazy they are and what could have drove them to be this way. It was written by a junior in Columbine High School- a boy who came from a stable family, got good grades, and wanted to destroy the world.

His name was Eric Harris. Oct 12, Hannah Alderson rated it really liked it Shelves: Many shootings came along after that. So he wrote the book mainly to describe the minds of the shooters, and try to figure out why they would do something so sadistic.

The author wrote this book long after the shootings occurred, so just everyday life was going on as this book was written. One of the main ones was Eric Harris, one of the Columbine school shooters.

Another one was Dylan Klebold. Eric was a narcissistic, sadistic, evil, troubled young man. Dylan was described by his classmates as shy, loving, and stand-offish. It is meant to show you why the shooter may have done what she or he did, and what was going on with their lives before they created a huge massacre. It simply tells the stories of the shooters lives to explain why they did what they did. Dylan Klebolds actions really surprised people.

They never even dreamed of him participating in something like a mass murder. He was thought of as quiet, painfully shy, and peace-loving. Some people believed that Eric did what he did because partly from his medication. But they found references to the attack months before Eric and Dylan attacked Columbine. Just something to cause more devastation. KIll all retards, people with brain expletive ups… Geeeawd!

People spend millions of dollars on saving lives of retards and why? Put him out of his misery. He is only a waste of time and money. Peter Langman is a professional psychologist who specializes in violent youth. His professional opinion is so well regarded, in fact, that Susan Klebold, Columbine shooter Dylan Klebold's mother, considers his diagnosis of her son whom he's never treated as certainly correct. Where he felt out of the realm of his own expertise, he sourced other highly acclaimed psychological and crime prevention professionals, such as John Douglas, of FBI profiling fame.

Why Kids Kill is divided in 2. Why Kids Kill is divided into three sections. Section 1 introduces Langman's psychology background and discusses, and debunks, a lot of the motives the general public assumes are behind most mass killings bullying gets particularly chastised here.

Section 2, the meat and bones of this book, divides the sample of 10 school shooters Langman included in his book into three typologies based on a combination of mental health and behavior. These three categories are psychopathic, psychotic, and traumatized.

And section 3 wraps the book up neatly with five profiles of his own clients who were considered high risk but did not ultimately commit their plans of school shootings, and ends with a top ten list of things parents, communities, and schools can do to prevent school gun violence. A formulaic layout for this nonfiction psychology book that works well. Langman is a respected professional, and he included other well rounded, expert opinions. His profiles of the typologies are clear, concise, and easy for laypeople to digest and comprehend.

He provides sound guidance on top of his expertise. I closed the book feeling like I learned something new about prevention, motivation, and details on cases that I feel familiar with and some that were brand new to me. So why such a low rating? Dominantly, because this book is boring. A small complaint, all things considered. But I love nonfiction, and vouch for more people to read entertaining nonfiction. However, this book is as dry as a textbook, despite emotionally charged and often fascinating subject matter included.

It just reads like the voice from the Clear Eyes commercials. Because of that, I wouldn't recommend this book to say, a college student with a heavy textbook workload. Following that, the other complaints about Why Kids Kill are even smaller.

Granted, Langman never treated any of the ten killers this book discusses, so understandably the book has a lot of speculation.

The way this speculation is written, however, irked me. Langman would often times list potential motives or potential outcomes, but would not lend his own personal beliefs as to what he felt was most likely to be true. Without that weighty input, this litany of speculation momentarily makes one doubt the credibility of all that's been said in the section. If so much of what is being discussed is open to interpretation, and no likelihood as to how accurate these things are to occur by the psychological professional, I couldn't help but doubt that professional opinion overall.

Why Kids Kill would've been stronger, in my opinion, if Langman acknowledged the unknowable variations, but also gave his insight based on comparative cases or his other experiences in the field. He is, after all, a psychologist, not a common man making conspiracy theories. Overwhelmingly, Langman's voice and suggestions are firm and can be trusted. However, there was one instance of, for lack of a better word, cherry picking, or misrepresenting information.

For what purpose, I can't imagine. But at the end of the book, Dr. Langman suggests openly that if Eric Harris had simply gotten a girlfriend, Columbine may have been prevented. This section and suggestion in particular are intended to give hope to concerned parents mostly that an at-risk youth is not at risk for life and there's always hope for rehabilitation.

However, what Langman conveniently left out was that Eric had been seeing a young woman he really liked, even spending his prom night with her the WEEK of the shooting.

In the Basement Tapes, Eric goes on to address this young lady and say "I'm sorry, if we met under different circumstances, things would've been so different. Langman didn't know this about one of his sample cases, so to deliberately make such a brazen suggestion and by extension potentially inadvertently insulting the young woman involved felt incredibly disrespectful, unprofessional, and irresponsible to me.

I could not ignore this. His intentions were good, but by suggesting that very little things like having sex 1 time or getting into a relationship can be life-saving diversions for these people who he's spent the entire book building up as complex results of a difficult blend of genetics, environment, peer relationships, and self-esteem issues makes it hard for me to completely accept his perspective without question.

Again, I acknowledge his well-meaning intent to give hope to concerned parents who are much more likely to be his target audience than a true crime junkie who also loves psychology , but I would've enjoyed this section, and had much more respect for Dr. Langman's stances, if he had simply omitted that statement. The same point could've been made without being overly reductive and purposefully ignorant.

I did enjoy how the killers themselves were not as much the focus of this book as one might think. This book has a strong emphasis on the psychological makeup of these troubled boys, and it was very refreshing and informative to look at these crimes from that angle.

Very little focus was paid to the details of what was done, except for behavioral analysis, and instead concentrated on personal motivations, psychological issues, and background plans, experiences, or traumas. This was great to see as its very easy to come across play-by-plays of gruesome details, but to presented with the psychological pieces of the puzzle offers a much more complete, well-rounded picture.

So I do like Why Kids Kill and would recommend it to people who are interested in psychology, true crime, and violence prevention.

But be warned, it's incredibly dry-you might want to have a second book to read on the side to satisfy the pleasurable aspect of reading. Mar 14, James Thomas rated it did not like it. Avoid if at all possible. Sep 06, Nikki Everett rated it really liked it. The authors purpose is to teach kids not to kill inside schools or anywhere. He shows what we can do to make schools safe and homes friendly and child focused.

The theme of this book is to help everyone understand why some kids urge to kill innocent people. The style of the story is the exposition because the author is explaining how people want to kill because they are stressed out and don't want to be in school or have any thing to do with those people.

I don't think there is a argument because th The authors purpose is to teach kids not to kill inside schools or anywhere. I don't think there is a argument because the author is just saying why kids shouldn't shoot others for attention. Based on this novel I thought that it was a good story telling what not to do when you want attention. My opinion on the book is that it is a good book and I really recommend it to someone who likes to read stories that have suspense and don't know what will happen.

What I have learned from this story is to not kill anyone and do whats right and don't do anything bad for attention. Aug 17, Ben R rated it really liked it. Why Kids Kill is a fascinating book in which Langman provides the reader with an insight into the minds of kids so disturbed that they're able to murder their peers and teachers in cold-blood, without the slightest bit of empathy towards their victims.

Langman's method of evaluating the shooters is primarily done by categorising them into three types: Psychotic, Psychopathic, and Traumatised shooters. One thing that irked me with this book was that Langman's choice of shooters seemed less than ar Why Kids Kill is a fascinating book in which Langman provides the reader with an insight into the minds of kids so disturbed that they're able to murder their peers and teachers in cold-blood, without the slightest bit of empathy towards their victims.

One thing that irked me with this book was that Langman's choice of shooters seemed less than arbitrary, and I believe the individuals were chosen intentionally in order to support his personal method of evaluation, because there are plenty of school shooters I can name off the top of my head who don't fit snugly into these three types, despite how vague the labels are. Audiobook: Amazon. Find in a library. Finnish: Kouluampujat: Miksi Nuori Tappaa. Dutch: Waarom Jongeren Moorden.

Why Kids Kill should be required reading for school counselors and administrators … This work is a seminal contribution to child as well as adolescent psychology. Why Kids Kill: Inside the Minds of School Shooters In the horrific aftermath of school shootings, we all struggle to make sense of seemingly senseless acts.

It provides an interior view of the mind of rampage school shooters that helps us understand the origins of the narcissism, paranoia, sadism, and thwarted rage that appears to motivate them. Through the learned hands of Peter Langman, we come to understand the differences between shooters who are psychopaths and those who are schizophrenics, and why these distinctions matter. A dispassionate, but clinically powerful analysis, Why Kids Kill , will be of great interest to teachers, parents, school administrators, and law enforcement officials who are responsible for prevention and treatment.

A vital, phenomenal, extremely valuable work … Essential. The Munich gunman was not the first to have been been found with a copy of Why Kids Kill. The book was also found in the possession of Karl Pierson, an year-old who shot a fellow student and himself at a Colorado high school in Pierson wrote in his diary that he was psychopathic with a superiority complex.

Langman said he tried to be very careful not to provide any guidance for prospective shooters; his book is intended for parents, counsellors and psychologists. The psychologist added that he shied away from graphic details about the murderers, guns involved or any videos or photos or the killers or victims. He noted that some attacks were directed against victims the shooters has a specific grievance with, such as a girl who rejected them or a teacher who disciplined them.

Others attack randomly; their victims are strangers.