Science News for Writers

This 2013 study from Sweden is followed by a current report from Harvard Medical School of work toward accurately predicting people with a propensity to become violent.  This is a study of soldiers in the U.S. Military, the model developed may someday lead to a similar program that predicts those most likely to commit a violent act in the general population.  Again, notice that a very small percentage of individuals who commit violent crime are diagnosed with a mental illness - just 4% in this study of 2.5 million people.    *  *  *  *  * One percent of population responsible for 63% of violent crime The majority of all violent crime in Sweden is committed by a small number of people. They are ~ almost all male (92%)  who early in life develops violent criminality,  substance abuse problems,  often diagnosed with personality disorders and  commit large number non-violent crimes.  These are the findings of ...

Another study of killers attempting to build a predictive model doesn't tell us anything we don't know, but does point out by omission that mental illness is not typical of convicted killers.  This doesn't mean that mental issues don't play a role, but that mental issues aren't predictive.  Low IQ and exposure to violence are, as is access to firearms. Here's the report with a link to the full study in the attribution. *  *  *  *  * Criminologists try to solve murder mystery:  Who will become a killer? In a study of 1,354 youths charged with serious crimes, the youths charged  with homicide had lower IQs and more exposure to violence. Predicting which people will commit murder is extremely difficult, according to a study by criminologists at The University of Texas at Dallas. Dr. Alex Piquero, Ashbel Smith Professor of criminology and co-author of the paper, said he and his fellow researchers were motivated by the lack of scient...

Credit: University of Basel, IPNA Severe injuries inflicted either shortly before or after death: Cranial injury on a child between 3 to 5 years of age. If anyone thinks that mass killing is a modern phenomena, well, it's something the human species has been up to for a very long time.  These two Central European sites make it clear that man's inhumanity to man has deep roots. What this and like research projects don't address is the reason for the extermination of large groups of men, women and children.  Was it to make a political point?  Was it ethnic cleansing?  We may never know, though we can guess. For the writer of historical fiction, these sites create situations for speculation and the development of story lines exploring how we treat each other. Here's the report, with a link to the original study in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Science. *  *  *  *  *   Massacres, torture and mutilation:  ...