Adam Lanza | Child Killers | Newtown Massacre| Turning Children Into Killers
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Adam Lanza, Newtown Massacre

Reply To A Comment On The Article Turning Children Into Killers

By Dr. Jay Kantor, Ridgewood, NJ

What caused Adam Lanza To Go Postal?  Adam Lanza's State of Mind Prior To Massacre

The Intolerable Pain From The Loss Of Security

Dear Kim, to predict exactly who in a group of traumatized children, in great pain, will go postal (or is that "Go Newtown"?) would be very difficult. There are psychological & emotional factors contributing to the commission of angry, violent, and murderous acts and other factors that would reduce their likelihood.

Yes, there are many abuse/trauma victims who are highly moral in their external behavior because they are conscious enough to self-monitor and control it. Such people are still seeking the love and attention of parental figures, so they continue to do what is considered acceptable. They still believe that there is a pot of parental gold at the end of their misery.

However, once a child has completely severed or been cut off from dependency on his parents (and so society), all civil bets are off. To quote Bob Dylan, "Once you've got nothing, you've got nothing to lose".

December 19, the NY Daily News published an exclusive statement by a friend of Nancy Lanza, the mother of Adam Lanza, the Newtown executioner, that Nancy had spotted his precipitous withdrawal before he went on his rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School. He didn't understand why she wanted him to go out into the world. She told me she couldn't reach him -- and she was worried. Further: In the days before the massacre, the mother of Adam Lanza was pushing her loner son to leave the Newtown home that provided his refuge from reality, a family friend told the Daily News Wednesday. The Daily News report continues: But the 20-year-old rejected the idea and stopped speaking to his mother, the friend said. Nancy Lanza and her youngest son hadn't talked for three days before he fatally shot her Friday morning and then murdered 20 children and six staffers at Sandy Hook Elementary
School.

Another way to articulate the emotional problem of a child like Adam is to say that he has an attachment disorder. The most important characteristic of a child's attachment relationship, most importantly his attachment with his mother, is its security. A secure attachment relationship with caretakers is the key to a child's mental-emotional and psycho-social development. It appears that Adam had his security rug pulled out painfully, from beneath his feet. He had no more security to lose and a world of painful insecurity to gain. His only remaining choice -- to exit life - became clear.

Is this what happened in Newtown? God only knows, but we humans must pursue these questions on Earth, if we hope to avoid Newtown "2" in the future. Thank you Kim for your comment.

Submitted on Monday, Dec 24, 2012 at 5:33:01 AM

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