In the aftermath of violent tragedies like the recent mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., a common panic-fueled and grief-stricken reaction is to rush to simple, tidy explanations. Mental illness, for example, is often used to make sense of what appears to be senseless.
The explanation is appealing because mass shootings feel shocking and sudden, and mental illness offers a way to wrestle with them and try to understand. But the reality is that although mental illness sometimes plays a role in violence, it’s rarely the most important factor.
Regardless, politicians proceed to call for improvements to the mental health-care system, sidestepping more difficult conversations about violence prevention. As a researcher within the crime and violence risk lab at Simon Fraser University, I argue that framing mass shootings as a mental illness problem misrepresents the evidence, and redirects our attention away from the other psychological, social and structural conditions that increase the risk of violence.
