--- On Wed, 3/11/09, Jordan Hayes <jmhayes at j-o-r-d-a-n.com> wrote:
> From: Jordan Hayes <jmhayes at j-o-r-d-a-n.com>
> Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] German school gunman 'kills 16'
> To: "lbo-talk" <lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org>
> Date: Wednesday, March 11, 2009, 7:02 PM
> > My hypothesis is unprecedented glorification of virtual
> > or symbolic violence in mass culture.
>
> That can't be it, because we're all bombarded with
> that stuff and 99.999(99?)% of us don't go out and kill
> even single person, let alone a bunch of them at once.
>
> Unless your hypothesis also includes the idea that this
> unprecedented glorification of violence is only a
> "societal bad" in a very, very, very small number
> of cases?
[WS:] I do not think you read my argument correctly. I argued that increased exposure to violence triggers violent behavior in unstable individuals rather that it produces more propensity for violence in general population. That also counters the argument posted by Dennis Claxton about violence in Mexico. Drug trade related violence and rampant killing sprees are two very different animals, really.
A companion hypothesis is that alienation may produce more unstable individuals, as responses to this thread suggested. I am inclined to believe that this is the case - based on sociological theory that too little social integration produces alienation. However, the same theory also claims that too much social integration also may produce alienation and errant behavior associated with it. So it is really the matter of an empirical investigation.
I may also add that loosening of social connections (caused by capitalism) makes social control of deranged behavior more difficult. People who engage in violent outbursts usually have some emotional problems and signal their problems to others. If those people are connected to others, such signals are more likely to be detected and the individuals in question be be steered away from acting out their emotions. If such individulals are isolated, otoh, such "early detection" is less likely. What is more, there is a greater likelihood of positive reinforcement of emotions leading to violent outbursts, as these isolated individuals are likely to seek cultural contents (books, films, games, etc.) in tune with their emotions.
Another point - the legitimating effect of "officially sanctioned violence" on criminal behavior was proposed by a UCSC criminologist whose name escapes me at the moment - he supported his claim with longitudinal data showing increase in violent crime following wars.
Wojtek