Merriam-Webster defines humiliation as reducing someone to a lower position in one’s own eyes. Once a person gets to that position, they can do things, like school shootings, that individuals with higher self-esteem would not do. Studies show that the path is almost the same for everyone, including those living in Mississippi, but events along the way can be different.
It starts with humiliation
Research by Doctor Naomi Eisenberger from the University of California Las Angeles shows that when a person feels humiliated as a child, that pain, like physical pain, never disappears. It continues to grow throughout a person’s life; without intense treatment, there is no getting over it.
Humiliation leads to the desire for revenge
The intense pain caused by humiliation leads to a desire for revenge. While most people have revenge fantasies, people who have been severely humiliated lose the ability to regulate their emotions, so it feels like revenge is the only answer.
Violence feeds revenge
There is a further correlation between humiliated people and those who have experienced violence in their childhood. Most grew up in an environment where domestic violence was commonplace, and seeing this amount of violence further injured their self-esteem.
Desire for revenge leads to violence
The intense emotions for revenge and the availability of guns allowed them easy access to high-capacity weapons. Therefore, they think that if they use them, they will eliminate the strong emotions causing their turmoil. They finally must commit an offense to try to rid themselves of the intense emotions that are killing them inside.
People who attempted or carried out mass-causality events experienced humility as a child, which led to the feeling that they had to get revenge by using guns.