Why People Kill

Why People Kill

Rodger M. Austin

Dr. Gail Summerskill

ENG 215

Assignment 2, Wk 3

01/14/2017

WHY PEOPLE KILL

      I have chosen for a topic “Why People Kill”, there are several different types of killers with different reasons that cause them to commit the ultimate sin of taking another person’s life.

     In today’s society every day we hear of another killing, a mother, father, son, daughters life is cut short at the hands of someone else but the question remains, “Why?” What could cause a person to take the life of someone else, is it hatred towards other people or is it the need for power and ability to control a situation? What role does mental health, child abuse and drug abuse play in the decision to kill?  

    There are several different types of killers. It has been determined they have different reasons on why they kill. Serial killers kill more than one person at different times and different locations, sometimes spreading out over years.  

     Mass Killers kill a large number of people in one location at one time and often commit suicide either to carry out the act or afterwards.  Andreas Lubitz, 27, the Germanwings Flight 9525 co-pilot, was the perpetrator of one of the worst mass murder-suicides in history taking 149 unsuspecting people with him to a horrifying death. Domestic killings which consume our news channels with random shootings or stabbings are often unplanned and are a direct result of drug and alcohol abuse. 80% of offenders abuse drugs or alcohol (NCADD.org).  In 2015 murder and non-negligent manslaughter increased 10.8 percent when compared with estimates from 2014. (FBI 2016).

      Is there a common thread?  How can we, as a society be proactive instead of reactive in curving death and destruction, or has it just become a way of life as we know it?

      The general audience of my paper is the general public, because people are the only ones who can curve the violence. Knowing what to look for you might be able to stop a life from being lost.

     The reason I chose this topic is because there’s a common factor in what is causing a lot of today’s violence and we as adults are responsible for this miss guidance of our youth, we can only correct the future by understanding the past.