• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Monday, July 4, 2022
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home National

Focusing on Mental Illness Won’t Solve America’s Gun Violence Problem: Experts

Alex Graf by Alex Graf
10/07/19
in National
Guns in the united States

Around 32 percent of Americans own guns, down from a high of 50 percent of the population in the 1970s and early 1980s, according to a recent survey by the University of Chicago Photo: Scott Olson, AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The new Todd Phillips film, “Joker,” has drawn criticism for a number of reasons, including its portrayal of a mentally ill man committing a series of brutal murders with a gun.

In the aftermath of real-life mass shootings, it’s become routine for some political and media figures in the U.S. to point the finger of blame for gun violence at mental illness.

But mental health experts are telling a very different story from the traditional narrative, saying proposals to reduce gun violence by improving mental health services or targeting the mentally ill with gun restrictions are not supported by empirical facts.

With the release of “Joker,” the debate over the role of mental illness in gun violence has been reignited, with some voicing concern that the film reinforces a faulty and stigmatizing narrative about people with mental health issues.

“There are two characters in the film who undergo treatment for mental illness, and each inflicts serious harm to others,” Gabrielle Bruney wrote in a column for Esquire Saturday. “Meanwhile, in real life, the mentally ill are more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators of it.”

‘Pretty Much Zero’

There is an extensive body of research suggesting the link between mental illness and gun violence is far less pronounced than politicians and media figures have portrayed it to be.

One 2010 study from researchers at Columbia University found the public safety contribution of state laws that restrict access to firearms among the mentally ill is likely to be minimal, as only three to five percent of all violent incidents are linked to serious mental illness and guns are not involved in most cases.


Another 2017 study from researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Orebro University in Sweden concluded that the risk of violence associated with mental illness is low and that most psychiatric disorders are not related to violence, with the exceptions of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Even then, violent behavior often occurs only in tandem with substance abuse.

“There’s a very small relationship and it primarily resides with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, but if you account for substance use and abuse, then the relationship is diminished to pretty much zero,” University of Ottawa Psychology Professor Tracy Vaillancourt told The Globe Post. “We need to debunk this idea because it’s scapegoating the wrong people.”

‘Violence Begets Violence’

According to a meta-analysis by University of California Berkeley Associate Dean of Research Jennifer Skeem, “exceptionalist policies” with a narrow focus on those with mental illness would do little to prevent mass shootings. Policies focused on the general population like universal background checks and red flag laws, however, would go far in preventing individuals with and without mental illness from committing acts of gun violence.

Skeem told The Globe Post people with different mental illnesses differ from each other and that blaming mass violence on the mentally ill contributes to stigmas associated with mental illness.

“Half of us will meet criteria for some mental illness within our lifetimes,” Skeem said. “Ending violence from the mentally ill would still leave 96 percent of violent incidents.”

Echoing Skeem’s suggestion, Vaillancourt said rather than putting undue emphasis on the mentally ill, the focus should be on restricting access to firearms for people with a history of substance abuse, conduct problems, anti-personality disorder and general history of past violence; in particular men.

“A good predictor of who’s going to be violent is somebody who’s had a life-course trajectory of being violent … so violence begets violence,” Vaillancourt said. “We should be thinking about screening early and intervening early … If you want to look at predictors, you’re better at predicting who’s going to commit violence with a gun by looking at their gender than at their mental health profile.”

The Globe Post recently reported on the strong connection between domestic abuse and gun violence in an article which details similar findings to those described by Vaillancourt. A history of domestic abuse often precludes gun violence and more than half of all mass shootings involve some form of domestic violence, according to the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety.

Access to Guns 

Offering a Canadian perspective on gun violence in the U.S., Vaillancourt pointed out that while prevalence rates of mental disorders are similar between the United States and Canada, the U.S. has much higher rates of gun violence.

“Often what we don’t talk about is access to guns,” Vaillancourt said. “Restrict your access to guns and you will reduce the carnage in your country. There’s no way that is a wrong statement. It may not be a popular statement, but I’ll stand by it.”

This year, the House of Representatives, passed legislation to expand background checks, extend waiting periods for gun purchases, and voted to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act with language that would add new restrictions on gun purchases for domestic abusers.

The new restrictions include expanding restrictions to abusive partners and spouses and would bar those under a restraining order for abusing, stalking, or assaulting domestic partners from purchasing firearms. Thus far, despite promises from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to take up gun safety legislation, the Senate has yet to take up any of the House-passed gun safety legislation.


More on the Subject 

Controversy Over ‘Joker’ Film Highlights Americans’ Deep Fears Over Mass Shootings

ShareTweet
Alex Graf

Alex Graf

Keep up with his latest writing on climate, water, healthcare and more by following him on twitter @mjcabooseman

Related Posts

‘Deaths of Despair:’ Why Are US Suicides on the Rise?
National

‘Deaths of Despair:’ Why Are US Suicides on the Rise?

by Alex Graf
October 28, 2019
Sydney Harbour Bridge and Australian flags
Featured

Citizen ‘Heroes’ Atop Deadly Australian Knife Rampage

by Staff Writer
August 13, 2019
US President Donald Trump.
National

Trump Calls for Gun Control Measures Amid Charges He Fuels Far-Right Extremism

by Staff Writer
August 5, 2019
Social media users
World

Instagram Curbs Self-Harm Posts After Teen Suicide

by Staff Writer
February 8, 2019
Guns in the united States
Featured

Can Better Mental Health Care Help Prevent US Mass Shootings?

by Albert Kim
December 14, 2018
Students in a classroom
National

Mental Illness and Stigma an Increasing Problem on College Campuses

by Miranda Saunders
July 10, 2018
Next Post
The Supreme Court of the United States.

US Supreme Court to Take on LBGTQ Rights in the Workplace

Braving  Live Fire and Tear Gas, Thousands Protest Across Iraq

Tentative Calm Returns to Iraq After Protests, But Political Crisis Persists

Recommended

Shireen Abu Akleh

US Says Al Jazeera Journalist Likely Shot by Israel But Not Intentionally

July 4, 2022
Google logo

Google to Pay $90 Mn in Settlement With App Developers

July 1, 2022
Mexico murdered journalists

Journalist Murdered in Mexico, 12th This Year

June 29, 2022
Spain migrants

Spain Prosecutor Opens Probe Into Melilla Migrant Deaths

June 28, 2022
Afghan refugees

Pakistani Migrants in Afghanistan Caught in Quake No-Man’s Land

June 27, 2022
Joe Biden climate summit

Biden Calls Clean Energy Matter of National Security in Face of Russia War

June 17, 2022

Opinion

US President Donald Trump

Owning the Words and the Libs

June 16, 2022
Officers in Uvalde, Texas, stand outside Robb Elementary School near a makeshift memorial for the shooting victims

Child Sacrifice Makes a Comeback

June 3, 2022
A Lebanese election official stands at a polling station

New Group Threatens Lebanese Elections… and Potentially Middle East Peace

May 18, 2022
A man holding a gun

Safely Back in USA, Land of Guns and Burgers

May 2, 2022
China Muslim Uyghurs

Unfair Politicization, Corruption, and the Death of Modern Olympism

April 23, 2022
Ukraine war

The Ukrainian Refugee Crisis and the Hierarchies of Western Compassion

April 20, 2022
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post