My Son was a Columbine shooter - final PDF

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an analysis over the mother point of view of columbine shooter whom was her son. how did the justice system utilize this...

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My Son Was a Colombine Shooter Buhlebothando Scott CRJ 308 Psychology Professor Brett Cross September 6, 2021

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Mrs. Klebold is the mother of Dylan Klebold, one of the Columbine high school mass shooters who also committed suicide during the ordeal. Mrs. Klebold has been deeply affected by the event and she feels that her son’s actions were driven by a mental disorder. Mrs. Klebold’s observations about the link between mental health and violent criminal behavior are that the mass murder did not motivate an aspiration to kill, but a wish to die, and that an exceedingly small percentage of those suffering from mental health are violent towards other people. She states that seventy to over ninety percent of those that die by suicide have a diagnosis of a mental health issue. Not everyone who displays distorted thoughts fits qualifies to be diagnosed with a specific mental illness, which makes it possible for her not to realize the seriousness of her son’s mental health. There are numerous people who are suffering from fear, hopelessness, anger, and they are never assessed or treated. They only receive treatment when they are going through a behavior crisis. Once an individual is contemplating suicide, they have lost the capability of controlling their thoughts, their perception of the truth is distorted by a filter of agony, and which they believe to be the truth. Persistent suicidal thoughts need to be recognized and treated (Klebold, 2016). I agree with Mrs. Klebold’s statement and what I have learned on the course so far supports what Mrs. Klebold asserts in her talk. I learned that a person suffering from major depression will display signs of hopelessness, and even plan or attempt to commit suicide (DeLisi, 2019). According to DeLisi (2019), many individuals diagnosed with mental disorders do not behave violently nor participate in criminal behavior, and most of the criminals do not suffer from mental

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disorders. The most frequently diagnosed disorders associated with criminal behavior are bipolar, schizophrenia, anti-social personality,

and major depression. The symptoms of these disorders consist of delusions, hallucination, abnormal motor behavior, negative symptoms, and disorganized speech. It appears that these symptoms could distort an individual’s mind to where they have no control of their behavior. According to School Shooter Info. (n.d.), Dylan had been charged with a criminal delinquent that consisted of three offenses but had never been charged with any other offenses prior to that. Dylan committed these crimes while in the company of his friend Eric, grounded by his parents for a month, and forbidden to be around Eric. Dylan claimed his family dynamic to be good and he had a good relationship with his parents. Dylan had tried smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol, but he did not like how it affected him, and the fact that his brother was addicted to drugs. Prior to the mass murders, Dylan had a good relationship with the school administrators/ students but had gotten suspended from the school for breaking into the school’s system, stealing information about combination locker numbers, and breaking into two lockers. It appears that this act was committed while Dylan was on probation, as is noted on his probation paperwork. No consequences were taken by the Juvenile Probation office for this action. The therapist failed to make an evaluation and follow up on Dylan, as they noted “more information needed.” Dylan displayed signs of criminal delinquency, which is a norm for some teenagers, and not necessarily a sign that could have led to him committing mass murder.

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Dylan’s parents could have searched his room more often, to find out about his activities, since

he had been committing these criminal delinquencies. The information on the notebook paper, two years after his death, where he stated that he was cutting himself, tormented, wanted a gun so that he could kill himself. This information could have alerted her to seek psychiatric help for him.

There was also a communication breakdown between the parents of Eric and Dylan since the two boys spent a lot of time together. According to Films Media Group. (2002), Eric’s parents found a homemade bomb that was created by the boys but failed to alert the authorities for fear of the boys getting arrested. Dylan’s mother did not mention the knowledge of this incident, which could also have been a reason for the boys to get the psychiatric help that they needed.

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Resources: Klebold (2016). My son was a Columbine shooter (Links to an external site.). This is my story [Video file]. 2016. Retrieved from Sue Klebold: My son was a Columbine shooter. This is my story DeLisi, Schwartz & Klein (2019). Criminal psychology (2nd ed.). Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu School Shooters Info. (n.d.). Dylan Klebold diversion (Links to an external site.). Retrieved from https://schoolshooters.info/sites/default/files/dylan-klebold-diversion.pdf

Fi l msMedi aGr oup.( 2002) .Col umbi ne:Under st andi ngwhy.Fi l msOnDemand. ht t ps: / / f od. i nf obase. com/ Por t al Pl ayl i st s . aspx ?wI D=100753&xt i d=43042....