Childhood adversity and mass shooter behavioral and motivational attributes

Purpose Childhood adversities have been identified as risk factors for maladaptive functioning in adulthood. The purpose of this study was to establish links between childhood adversities and selected behavioral and motivational attributes of mass shooters. Design/methodology/approach The histories of the male mass shooters (n = 183) archived in the Violence Project (Peterson and Densley, 2019, 2021, 2023) were examined. A cumulative Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) count was calculated from nine binary adversity items (family emotional abuse, child sexual abuse, child physical abuse, parental neglect, parental divorce, maternal battering, parental substance abuse, family mental illness and family member incarceration) assessed by a team of researchers for this archive. Shooter motives included racism, religious hate, misogyny, homophobia, employment/economic/legal/relationship issues, interpersonal conflict and fame-seeking. Findings Maltreated mass shooters in this unique database were relatively younger and killed more victims. They were more likely to engage in violence as a strategy to achieve fame and celebrity. Adversity counts were inversely related to shooter age (r = −0.32) and associated with firearms obsessions, assault planning and the total murder count. Higher adversity exposure counts were found among young (age 21 or younger) shooters (ACE > 0, OR = 2.65; ACE > 1, OR = 3.01; ACE > 2, OR = 4.52; > 3, OR = 6.23) and those who identified fame-seeking as a motive (ACE > 2, OR = 4.81; >3, OR = 5.50). A quarter of the shooters with more than three adversities were classified as fame-seekers. Research limitations/implications False negative classifications could be elevated for perpetrators with poorly documented histories. Practical implications Correlates from this analysis suggested that adversity might steepen developmental slopes and heighten desires for fame and celebrity among a subset of maltreated killers. Social implications Renewed attention is warranted regarding the impact of early trauma on mass murder fantasies. Originality/value Childhood adversity was associated with steeper developmental trajectories and penchants for fame-seeking.