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<\/div>\nAnalysis<\/p>\n
17:00<\/p>\n
New data shows that 96% of spree killers are men<\/h5>\n
by Katherine Dee<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t A candlelit vigil to mark the Monterey Park shooting in California in January 2023. Credit: Getty.<\/p>\n Men <\/span>commit<\/span><\/a> the majority of mass shootings in the United States. We know that. But the extent to which male shooters outnumber female perpetrators is nonetheless surprising. The Violence Project, a nonpartisan research group that tracks American mass shooting data as far back as 1966, <\/span>finds<\/span><\/a> that men are responsible for 98% of all mass shootings. Statistics <\/span>released<\/span><\/a> last week by the US Secret Service, which cover the more broadly defined \u2018mass attack\u2019, 25% of which don\u2019t include a firearm, puts that number at 96%, which is still staggering.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There have been 55 mass shootings in the US <\/span>so far this year<\/span><\/a>. Of those, 38 have resulted in at least one fatality. This month, separate shooting sprees in the Californian cities of <\/span>Monterey Park<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Half Moon Bay<\/span><\/a> killed 12 (including the perpetrator) and seven people, respectively. Both shooters were aged over 65, and therefore a deviation from the <\/span>enduring cultural image<\/span><\/a>, burnished by <\/span>Columbine and its copycats<\/span><\/a>, of the disaffected young man who turns to violent retribution.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Already registered? Sign in<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Yet these criminals are not nearly so much a departure from the norm as female killers. If mass attacks are an epidemic in the US, why do so few women commit them?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In an<\/span> interview with NPR<\/span><\/a> The Violence Project\u2019s president, Jillian Peterson, a forensic psychologist and criminology professor at Hamline University, offered a theory: \u201cMen are just generally more violent.\u201d Others, like Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR), have <\/span>suggested<\/span><\/a> that the disparity is because shootings are motivated by \u201ctoxic masculinity\u201d or grievances against women. Other scholars <\/span>attribute<\/span><\/a> this to \u201can evolutionary drive that pushes males to be more aggressive than females\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n There are shades of truth in all of these explanations, but a more nuanced answer might lie in the divergent nature of mass shootings and female violence. It\u2019s not that there aren\u2019t violent women, even if there are fewer of them: there are (t<\/span>he number is<\/span> growing<\/span><\/a>, too). However, mass shootings don\u2019t bear easy comparison to other types of violence. Yesterday\u2019s serial killers are not necessarily today\u2019s mass shooters. That\u2019s only true in terms of the <\/span>role<\/span><\/a> they play in media narratives.<\/span><\/p>\n Mass shootings are their own type of aggression, one that is both external and, when compared to other homicides, impersonal. Female violence, on the other hand, is more personal. Another way to think about it? Women <\/span>implode<\/span><\/i>; men <\/span>explode<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Mass shootings are explosive.<\/span><\/p>\n There\u2019s a huge exploratory gap in the literature around female mass shooters, but we can draw conclusions from data available elsewhere. <\/span>Studies on female violence<\/span><\/a> demonstrate that women channel their anger in a private and calculated way, whereas men tend to lash out.<\/span><\/p>\n But the new data from the Secret Service also shows that 50% of mass shootings are sparked by personal, domestic, or workplace disputes \u2014 that is, personal grievances \u2014 so where\u2019s the distinction? It\u2019s more about the expression of aggression.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Female violence is individualised. It\u2019s often <\/span>reactive or in response<\/span><\/a> to abuse from a sexual partner. It affects the family, relationships, and caregiving: Munchausen-by-proxy, familicide or infanticide, <\/span>black widows<\/span><\/a>, and angels of death (healthcare providers who kill their patients) are all common typologies. It almost always happens within the victim\u2019s home.<\/span><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/unherd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/GettyImages-1459514694-scaled-e1675181082408-1024x553.jpg\")
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