Abstract:
Previous research comparing rampage shooters in the U.S. and volunteer suicide
bombers in the Middle East appears to be virtually non-existent. When these two types of
suicidal killers have been mentioned in the same context, it has primarily been to dismiss any
possible connections. Rampage shooters are generally assumed to be mentally unbalanced,
while suicide bombers are seen as extreme, but rational, political actors. However, this review
explores the possibility that the primary differences between the two types of killers are
cultural, not individual, and that in terms of their underlying psychology and motivation, they
are actually quite similar. In both cases, substantial evidence indicates that these perpetrators
of murder–suicide share many of the following characteristics: (1) they had troubled
childhoods, (2) they lived in oppressive social environments, (3) they suffered from low selfesteem,
(4) they were triggered by a personal crisis, (5) they were seeking revenge, and (6) they
were seeking fame and glory.
