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. 2015 Feb;105(2):240-9.
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2014.302242.

Mental illness, mass shootings, and the politics of American firearms

Jonathan M Metzl  1 , Kenneth T MacLeish
Affiliations

Mental illness, mass shootings, and the politics of American firearms

Jonathan M Metzl et al. Am J Public Health. 2015 Feb.

Abstract

Four assumptions frequently arise in the aftermath of mass shootings in the United States: (1) that mental illness causes gun violence, (2) that psychiatric diagnosis can predict gun crime, (3) that shootings represent the deranged acts of mentally ill loners, and (4) that gun control "won't prevent" another Newtown (Connecticut school mass shooting). Each of these statements is certainly true in particular instances. Yet, as we show, notions of mental illness that emerge in relation to mass shootings frequently reflect larger cultural stereotypes and anxieties about matters such as race/ethnicity, social class, and politics. These issues become obscured when mass shootings come to stand in for all gun crime, and when "mentally ill" ceases to be a medical designation and becomes a sign of violent threat.

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Comment in

  • Metzl Responds.
    Metzl J. Metzl J. Am J Public Health. 2016 May;106(5):e15, e17. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2016.303173. Am J Public Health. 2016. PMID: 27049427 Free PMC article. No abstract available.
  • Seasonal Influence on Mass Shootings.
    Geoffroy PA, Amad A. Geoffroy PA, et al. Am J Public Health. 2016 May;106(5):e15-6. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2016.303065. Am J Public Health. 2016. PMID: 27049428 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

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