Volume 78/Number 4
Fall 1998
Tennessee Alumnus
Home Page
UT Home Page
Kids Who Kill
A child's finger on the trigger points to tragedy. Psychologist Helen Smith talks about the warning signs of juvenile violence and what can be done to stop it.
By Stephanie Piper
The recent rash of school shootings has focused national attention on an issue Dr. Helen Smith addresses every day: violent kids. Smith, who received both her bachelor's ('83) and doctoral ('94) degrees from UT Knoxville, is a forensic psychologist in Knoxville. She interprets psychological information for the legal system, often testifying as an expert witness in cases ranging from child custody to mental competency. She also sees private patients for psychotherapy. And in her spare time, she is writing a book on a grim but timely topic: kids who kill."It's a subject that has interested me for a long time," Smith says. "I had started research for the book well before the current wave of school shootings began last fall."
The impetus came from a 17-year-old boy she was asked to evaluate about two years ago. Psychological tests revealed that he was seriously disturbed with violent tendencies, Smith recalls.
"He wasn't threatening a particular person, so I couldn't call the police," she says. "And he had no health insurance, so he couldn't be hospitalized or even receive long-term counseling. I began asking myself how someone gets to this point, and what might be done to prevent it."
For the disturbed boy, it was already too late. Two weeks later, Smith learned he had shot and killed someone.
The event strengthened her resolve to understand the phenomenon of killer kids and to identify early warning signs of dangerous behavior.
"I wish I could say there was one explanation for this," Smith says. "I wish I could tell you the TV show 'South Park' or violent rap music or MTV was responsible for the school shootings.
"I don't think it's any one thing. It's a combination of factors. You have a kid who has a predisposition for problems, combined with a troubled home situation, like a divorce or parents who are abusing substances."
And in most cases, it's a youngster with a history of aggressive behavior."I've had preschool teachers tell me they knew from the time a child was two or three that there was going to be trouble," Smith says. "Very often, they're right. These are children whose anger is way beyond the typical temper tantrum."
Later, these children may torture animals and strike out violently against siblings and even parents. In nearly every case, they feel alienated from their peers.
"These kids perceive nobody cares about them. They need to 'be somebody' quick," she notes.
Paradoxically, the sense of isolation goes hand-in-hand with a sense of entitlement."They think: 'nobody has any rights but me. Nobody feels any pain but me. I am such a powerful person.'"
"They are not psychotic–they're in touch with reality. They are conduct disordered," Smith says.This is actually good news, because conduct disorders can sometimes be treated. But Smith stresses that early intervention and careful follow-up care are essential.
"The problem is that with our Jiffy-Pop HMO approach to mental health, kids who need long-term therapy don't get it," she says.
In her own practice, Smith helps conduct disordered children learn to gauge their level of anger and to plan strategies for times "when they feel like they're going to blow."
"Maybe they have a favorite teacher they can go sit with, even if they don't feel like talking."
Adolescence is a turbulent time even for kids without serious emotional problems, Smith says. For youngsters who are carrying that extra burden, it is a critical time.
"If we can stop these kids from the act of murder, that's a huge goal. Usually if they get through adolescence without killing someone, they go on to lead fairly normal lives."
She stresses that kids who kill are rare.
"Statistics from the Office of Juvenile Justice in Washington show the percentage rate is about the same as it was 15 or 20 years ago," she notes.
But media coverage of these events has expanded exponentially. Smith says the media bear some responsibility for the copycat factor in the recent school shootings.
"I have a problem with the way they portray these kids in the media. They're almost like heroes. A kid who's already disturbed, already has violent tendencies, will look at these pictures and say, 'look at the attention these kids are getting.' They want to feel powerful, and the ultimate power is holding someone's life in your hands. It's more helpful to portray these kids as pathetic social outcasts, which they are."
Smith worries that concerned parents and teachers may focus on the wrong issues in trying to prevent school violence. While she does not believe that juveniles should have unsupervised access to guns, she says that more stringent gun control will not stop these incidents. A disturbed teenager who is determined to act out violent fantasies would not hesitate to steal a weapon.
She'd rather see efforts directed at identifying and helping high-risk kids. The school killers all had made threats before they acted, she points out. One had even brought a gun to school.
"I'd have a kid who brought a gun to school under heavy surveillance, either in a mental health facility or an alternative school," she says. "That's a big thing. The problem with zero tolerance [automatic expulsion from school for a student caught with a weapon] is that there's no distinction made between someone who brings a butter knife to cut an apple and someone who brings an arsenal."
Most of all, she says, adults need to listen. The common denominator among young killers is the overwhelming conviction that no one thinks they're important.
"They prey upon us because we have turned a deaf ear."
Top of Page
.