This workshop is presented by a coalition of over 30 State, Provincial and Territorial Psychological Associations.

How do we make sense of mass attackers? All too often, we focus on things that happened to them: school shooters were bullied, workplace attackers were terminated, and so on. Yet, most people who experience such stressors do not become killers. Such explanations fail to consider who the people were that these things happened to. In other words, personality is often ignored as a factor in violence.

Though there is no profile of a mass attacker, there are common personality traits that occur in a wide range of perpetrators. One commonality is that they are psychologically fragile people with profound vulnerabilities. How these vulnerabilities manifest, however, varies dramatically. Using the work of Theodore Millon and other personality researchers, this presentation examines critical dynamics that shed light on the psychology of mass killers.

The presentation will begin with a brief overview of Millon’s model of personality and how it differs from DSM-5-TR. Following this, several personality disorders will be discussed. Each will be illustrated through the writings of perpetrators, highlighting how the traits increase the risk of violence. Understanding the dynamics of these perpetrators can aid in identifying people who may be on the path to violence.