Marlborough Express
The Issue
On 18 March the Marlborough Express published a feature article entitled "Kids who kill", an interview with the author of a book focusing on school shootings in America and the psychology of the teenage "mass murderers" involved in carrying them out.
The book author, Peter Langman, strongly emphasised that it was the severe mental illnesses experienced by the perpetrators that linked the crimes, rather than environmental factors, a point underlined by a paragraph in the story which read:
"Langman writes that most school shooters were severely mentally ill, their defective personalities and disordered minds causing existential rage that found its expression in mass murder."
The Response
(published March 23)
The history of school shootings in America is a tragic one. However, research has shown that the vast majority of people with mental illness are no more likely than anyone else to commit a violent crime. In fact, people with mental illness are more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators.
The strongest risk factors for violence are not attributable to mental illness or substance abuse - they are having a past history of violence and threatening to commit acts of violence in the future.
Around 18,000 people between the ages of 18 and 29 utilise New Zealand's mental health services ever year. New Zealand research into the experiences of these young adults has shown that stigma and lack of understanding about mental illness by families and communities hinders recovery.
The Ministry of Health "Like Minds, Like Mine" programme carries the message "what you do makes the difference". Helping to counter the damaging myth linking mental illness and violence is one way in which to do this.
Judi Clements
Chief Executive
Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand
You too can respond to media coverage that you believe is stigmatising or discriminatory. Visit our Media Watch section for a step-by-step guide on how to make a complaint.
