The Mass Killer

Six Case Histories That Tell Us Why

Gerald Schoenewolf

• Publisher: Defiance Press and Publishing
• Year: 2023
• eBook ISBN: 9781959677093
• Edition: 0
• Subtopic: Psychopathology

In "The Mass Killer," psychoanalyst Dr. Gerald Schoenewolf delivers a groundbreaking exploration of the psychological, familial, and cultural factors that create mass murderers. Through meticulous examination of six notorious cases—including Adam Lanza, Stephen Paddock, and Seung-Hui Cho—Schoenewolf reveals the hidden patterns and commonalities that connect these individuals beyond their tragic acts.

Unlike many books on this subject, Schoenewolf digs deep into the killers' early childhood experiences, uncovering how family dysfunction, parental neglect, and societal forces converged to create individuals who would eventually lash out in devastating violence. The author examines the psychological concept of "rage stages" and how unprocessed trauma and anger evolve into homicidal intent.

Schoenewolf challenges conventional wisdom about mass shootings, arguing that gun access is merely a means, not the cause. Instead, he points to broader cultural deterioration, including political polarization, shifting family structures, and the psychological impact of media violence on vulnerable individuals.

The book culminates with a thoughtful, if challenging, discussion of potential preventive measures that address the root causes of these tragedies—measures that would require significant social reform but could ultimately stem the rising tide of mass violence in America.

If you enjoyed "The Anatomy of Violence," "Why Kids Kill: Inside the Minds of School Shooters," and "The Evil That Men Do," you'll love "The Mass Killer: Six Case Histories That Tell Us Why."

Table of contents

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• 33. Schoenewolf, G. (2021). Forbidden Psychology: A Book for Dark Minds. Bushkill, PA: Living Center Press
• 34. Transcript: Greta Thunberg's Speech at The U.N. Climate Action Summit. In NPR. Retrieved from: https://www.npr.org/2019/09/23/763452863/transcript-greta-thunbergs-speech-at-the-u-n-climate-action-summit
• Alaine Griffin and Josh Kovner, “New report on Newtown shooter: Parental denial, breakdowns, missed opportunities.” In Chicago Tribune. Retrieved from:
• https://www.chicagotribune.com/la-na-adam-lanza-20141121-story,amp.html
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• Somashekhar, S. and Horwitz, S. (April 12, 2008). “A year later, family of Virginia Tech g https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2008/apr/12/a-year-later-family-of-virginia-tech-gunman-still/unman still lives ‘in darkness’.” In The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved from
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• Chapter 7. Salvador Ramos
• The Shooting
• O’Neall, N. and Hernandez, L. (2022). “Texas school shooter Salvador Ramos’ mom speaks out: ‘Forgive me, forgive my son’.” In New York Post. Retrieved from
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• Chapter 8. Preventing Mass Killings
• The urge to kill has its roots in the rise of anger that happens in dysfunctional families and cultures. It develops gradually. A few years after the end of World War II, America’s children started revolting against their parents and told their parents how to parent them; hence parents were no longer parents. During the Vietnam War, Americas students revolted against their schools and told their schools how to school them; hence teachers were no longer teachers. From the Vietnam War on, many young people revolted against their government and particularly police, and hence police could no longer be police. Then various extreme political and religious groups formed movements that protested in unpeaceful ways, and hence American society was no longer peaceful. This, in turn, provoked strife in our families and our culture and cultivated a collective unrest and anger.
• Dysfunctional families are created by dysfunctional parents who, in turn, raise dysfunctional children. One of the features of a dysfunctional family is dishonesty. Either the parents or the children will insist on their version of reality and they will censor any other way of viewing things. If a parent squashes his children’s attempts to criticize his parenting by saying, “Don’t tell us we are bad parents!”—this is a sign of family dysfunction. Dysfunctional cultures are an outgrowth as well as a source of dysfunctional families. If a government does not allow freedom of speech—does not allow people to say the government is wrong, it is a dysfunctional government. If a government or the people in a government insist on their version of reality and censor any other way of viewing life, it is a dysfunctional government. When dysfunctional leaders are in charge of a society, then that society is in fact being led by its most disturbed element.
• This definition of the jobs of mother and father is a heterosexual model, but that model can be adapted to alternate models. For the last hundred years or so, political and religious groups have created sentiment and pseudo research that appears to show that fundamentally religious or gay or transgender parenting is just as good as heterosexual parenting or better, or that one parent is as good as two parents or that the most important thing for children to learn is about homosexual and transgender rights. There has been a lot of research that purports to prove the validity of same-sex or transgender parenting, but the research that is used in that research has not been properly validated. Researchers in biased studies often interview children of transgender parents and ask them if they are happy or if they think their parents are good parents. Transgender parents, out of unconscious guilt feelings, may oversell themselves to their children in order to convince them that they are happy
• However, all married couples, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, who are able to produce healthy children could apply to be parents under the revised guidelines and would have to go through the same evaluation and training process.
• In 2013, when Black Lives Matter was organized, it began to direct followers to film more and more instances of police “brutality.” Soon the slogan, “Defund the police!” was heard around the world. After an increasing number of instances in which cameras captured “police brutality,” it seemed as if there was an epidemic of it. This resulted in police departments being defunded all over America, and prompted a heightened wave of crime (10). As Black riots became the standard, other groups began to copy that standard.
• Violent protest must be absolutely and completely banned and groups who protest violently must be fined, jailed, and otherwise punished in such a way that they will no long think about committing such an act. Such acts must not be portrayed as acts of liberation, but rather as acts of destruction to American culture. Violence in our culture can only stir up violent tendencies in potential mass murderers.
• The source of divisiveness is groupthink and doublespeak, terms first found in George Orwell’s novel, 1984 (15). Groupthink refers to people who are unable to think independently of their group. Doublespeak refers to telling lies that are made to seem to be the truth. As Democrats became more radical their goal was not peace and prosperity, but rather control over American government, values and culture. As Republicans became more reactionary, their goal became gaining power and ideological influence over America. Communication between them was warlike. It is the same thing that happens to divided families. Parents who are in conflict continually scapegoat each other and engage in right-wrong, warlike arguments. Their goal is to win the argument, not to resolve it. Divided liberals and conservatives (Democrats and Republicans) were intent on winning the ideological war, not in resolving differences and achieving unity.
• 8.Rodney King. In Wikipedia. Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodney_King
• 9. Shooting of Michael Brown. In Wikipedia. Retrieved from