What is the psychology of murder? How do some people think it is justified (consider checking the details)?

It is a mix of things.

Part of it is cultural. Violence has been made cartoonish in our culture. People die and come back in video games all the time. Violence is so prevalent that it could seem like an answer to some people with poor judgment.

Many people who murder someone are missing something internally. Their behavior governor is :broken”. That seems to be the case with the guy in the article.

Some people kill from impulse.

There’s a long list of serial killers who claimed “god told me to do it.” Yeah, course he did you sick fucks. Seems to me the psychology of murder is one of total disregard for life & a complete absence of responsibility or remorse. In short, ignorant evil bastards.

I don’t think that we have enough details to really answer the question in this case. There are a lot of factors to consider…. The age of the person in this case leads me to question 1. his daily environment and activities. Does he play violent video games more than he should, has he been brainwashed into a gang, are his parents or someone in his life abusive to him causing a mental impairment. 2. Does this child/person have an untreated mental disorder. 3. What did that principal really do to make him angry enough to retaliate so outrageously. Long term bullying can produce disastrous outcomes…...

Obviously what the kid did was wrong but obviously his wires ain’t quite connected right up in that head either.

In the case of the quoted person in your question, that’s a textbook sociopath. His feelings are paramount, and “annoyances” should be dealt with “whatever the cost” to those annoying people may be. Since he fails to recognize that other people have lives that are equally valid as his own (at least “equal” before he became an outright killer), and their wants, needs and desires – and their very right to live – carry equal weight as his own, then he can “dispatch” them as we would dispatch insects and vermin that “annoy” us.

So it’s not a question of “justification” in their minds; they need none at all.

Psychologically, it’s a failure of empathy, an inability—or unwillingness—to feel what others feel.

The result is objectification of the other. To kill, one has to see the other as alien, fundamentally different from one’s self. That’s true for more accepted forms of killing as well: slaughtering of animals, capital punishment, war. You first have to so alienate the other that they appear to be antithetical to your own being. Then they cease to have value.

Violent video games and cartoons are the problem. Why just the other day I set up a pit in my backyard and forced martial artists to fight to the death for my amusement. If their performance didn’t please me, I tied anvils to their legs and threw them off a cliff. I also forced them to wave a little sign that said “Egad!” Good times. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go put on my frog costume and hop across a six lane highway filled with speeding motorists.

I don’t know that in those cases such as the one you described there really is any sound logic or reason going on. Sociopaths have been shown to feel incapable of remorse or empathy and don’t understand why “he wouldn’t stop bragging about his new car,” for example, isn’t a valid reason to kill someone. I think mainly it comes down to mental illness.

In reading the question and details, it sounds like the real question is why do some people think that their act of committing a murder is justified?

Serial killers can pretty much be ruled out of this equation. For those that talk about it, it more often than not has to do with self-gratification. Some even admit that they knew it was wrong and just couldn’t stop their actions until someone intervened. Then there are murders that are gang-related, self-defense, crimes of passion, accidental, and the list goes on. Each case is as different as a fingerprint.

In this specific case, all we know at this point is that a high school student allegedly stabbed a principle and allegedly gave a vague reason why. In digging a bit further into other news reports, there is no mention that this confession was given while his parents and/or an attorney were present. If anyone has ever been interrogated by a police official, they understand how scary it can be, even if one being questioned is innocent or guilty of a minor offense. Being accused of murder is huge, and a teen is unlikely to know the local or state laws.

It is good to hear that the judge has asked that the young man have a psychological evaluation. There have been far too many cases of youths being accused, making a false confession without proper support, tried and stuck in a jail when they turn out to be innocent years later because of the due diligence of someone who re-evaluates the case.

Whether this kid is guilty or not, he deserves a fair trial.

Reading this article should put things into perspective.