Isla Vista Mass Murder as a Hate Crime Research Paper

Abstract

Mass killings have riddled the American society for decades. Reasons for the mass murders have been different, but one thing many of such crimes have in common is the impact of social structures on the involved perpetrators. Gun control laws have been in the spotlight each time such crimes have been committed. With the public growing anxious every day waiting for the next incident of mass murders, the government has been under pressure to identify potential perpetrators before they commit the act. One such incident was the Isle Vista, California mass murders, homicide, and suicide enacted by Elliot Rodger, a university student. The story broke headlines all over the world with Rodger being described as a mentally unstable young individual with difficulties socializing with his peers. There is hardly any scientific evidence that supports a link between mental health and crime. However, intentions to kill and hurt his peers were premeditated making them hate crime.

Introduction

The case dubbed Isla Vista mass killings was of a suicidal male individual who killed six people, excluding himself, and injured fourteen others. This essay analyzes the events, and the murders, and debates on whether the killings should be considered hate crime or not.

Overview of the case

Isla Vista in California will forever remember the 23^rd day of May 2014. It was the day when Elliot Rodger committed suicide after killing six other people and injuring fourteen others (Brown, 2015). It is interesting to note that the rampage by Rodgers did not occur in one particular location, but it was a series of events. According to police records, Rodgers started on the murdering spree from his apartment, where he stabbed and killed three individuals. He went on to kill to other people at a sorority house and killed the last person at a local deli. It was revealed that Rodger had uploaded a video on popular site YouTube before he started killing his victims. The said video dubbed “Elliot Rodger’s Retribution” gives details on how he planned to make his other attacks and the reasons why he would kill his victims. Rodger clearly stated that his main reason was the rejection he had often received from women and the enjoyable life his male colleagues enjoyed that he did not enjoy, arguably due to the rejection. The police released detailed information on the chronological occurrence of the events. The order of events showed that Rodger had prepared adequately for the attacks, meaning that they were premeditated.

The police explained that they had to investigate a total of seventeen different crime scenes to come up with the said chronological order of events (Pickert, 2014). Rodger had started by killing his friends and roommates, and it was the relationship he had with the first three victims that allowed them to trust him enough for him to get close and stab them multiple times. Evidence showed that the three had been killed at different times, and then dragged to Rodgers apartment, where they were later found by the police. It was after this that he uploaded a video, and sent out a letter detailing his intentions before he made his way to the sorority house, where he shot two ladies dead and injured a third one (Overland, 2015). He then went on a rampage shooting and firing at people and even hitting them with his car before he finally killed himself.

After the incident, the case received a lot of attention from the community, media, government and the judicial system. The act was termed ‘senseless murder’ even though some professionals argue that Rodger was mentally sick at the time he committed the crime (Jonsson, 2014). Hughes (2014) observes that Congress went ahead and passed House Resolution 608, referred to as Condemning the senseless rampage and mass shooting that took place in Isla Vista, California, on Friday, May 23, 2014.

It is prudent to point out that the events that led to the killings, and also the act of killing other people due to personal issues, had an impact on the debate over gun control in America. Nagourney et al. (2014) explain that the debate on gun control has been taking shape for several decades. Historically, Rodgers is not the first person to attack other people due to personal grievances, thereby leading some people to argue that restrictions to gun owning by regular citizens would have saved the lives of many of the people who have been killed in such incidences.

Background of the perpetrator

The perpetrator was born in England, but his parents had to move, due to undisclosed reasons, when he was still young. They then relocated to the Los Angeles. His parents are well off, career-wise, and they probably had more than enough wealth. Rodger came from a line of famous men, with a successful father working as a filmmaker and an even more prosperous grandfather who worked as a photojournalist.

It is important to state that Rodger changed schools a lot. The reasons for the constant change in schools were not disclosed. By the time of the killings and suicide, Rodger had been in Isla Vista for three years as a student. The parents of the perpetrator were shoved into the limelight after the horrid activities of their son. They were divorced, and some analysts used this fact to explain the mental imbalance of Rodger. It was revealed that his parents tried to intervene and stop the rampage, but Rodger could not hear any of it. Even though many blamed parenting on the behavior of the young man, the country was in agreement that they had done all they possibly could to stop their son from committing the crimes he committed.

As mentioned, many people believed that Rodger acted the way he did due to a mental condition. Some people argued that Rodger had thought through his actions for a long time. Therefore, he did not act the way he did due to the influence of a mental illness. Regardless, it was revealed that even though there was no medical cause for concern over mental illness, Rodgers parents had taken him to several treatment processes to deal with mental problems. Overland (2015) explains that his parents explained that their son had refused to continue with the treatments once he became an adult under the law.

Rodger was described as a significantly bright young man, with a bright future. His main problem was his poor socializing skills. He had male friends, but they were few. Two of the males found dead in Rodger’s apartment were his roommates, who shared one room, as Rodger resided in the other room. It is, therefore, precise to assume that the three become friends only because they were living together, and that the two who Rodger killed had a much closer friendship compared to that which they enjoyed with Rodger. The one other friend that Rodger killed was probably more famous than Rodger and received more attention from the opposite sex compared to Rodger.

Despite the constant analysis of Rodger, a mentally ill individual, this essay will argue that his actions were not caused by a typical mental condition, but rather a developed and deep hatred for social structures that the perpetrator had developed over the years. Indeed, his parent’s separation could be one of the reasons as it might have shaped how the young man viewed the world, himself and others, but most of the blame should be laid on Rodger himself, and not to other people that were around him at that time.

Main body

Etiology

Elliot Rodger murdered six people, injured fourteen others and then killed himself due to hate. Several theories can be used to prove this premise right. Two of such theories are strain theory and social control theory.

Strain theory

Patchin and Hinduja (2011) explain that the strain theory suggests that social structures can at times pressure individuals to commit crimes. The theory can be used to explain the predicaments that fell on Rodger and his family. The first issue of concern when analyzing Rodger’s behavior is his upbringing. According to Thompson (2014), even though Rodger must have been suffering from mental instability, his actions were not out of a common mental illness like paranoia. The psychologist explains that Rodgers problem began long before he was an adult by having parents that tried to shield him from every single thing that would hurt him. In turn, he grew up incapable of handling pain and feelings of pain, and it is this inability to handle emotional pain that led him to murder the seven individuals, including himself.

In this sense, his parents instilled in him a weak characteristic, for lack of a better term. He could not handle being rejected, and this was the primary cause of his outburst. Ideally, his main query was with the female species, as they are the ones that rejected him. He only attacked and killed male colleagues because he felt they were too much competition, and that they had something he did not have. Even though it was not well stated, it can be rightfully assumed that Rodger had been rejected several times by women he had an interest in. It, however, does not mean that other women did not show any interest in him. Realistically, this is normal for any man and woman looking for a relation. However, due to the weakened ideas that Rodger had, that he cannot be hurt, and also has to get what he wants, he became bitter and angry towards the women.

Initially, the attack on the women targeted ladies from a sorority house he termed in his video “the hottest sorority house”. One can assume that he had an interest in a lady, or ladies from that specific house, who had rejected him, thus, his anger towards them (Nagourney et al. 2014). Similarly, one can also assume that he targeted that particular sorority as it represented, or was a symbol of the type of ladies he could not have. Regardless of this, one clear thing is that he did it out of anger.

Baron (2007) explains that the anomie theory, which is a branch of the strain theory, states that people who are not satisfied with the options and conditions in their lives choose deviance, and other similar techniques, as a deficient coping mechanism. Using the anomie theory, one can, thus, argue that Rodger’s actions were a gender-based hate crime. McDevitt, Levin & Bennett (2002) Walters (2011) both agree that such kinds of crimes are driven by retaliation. The idea passed through Rodgers video and manifesto is that he had been a good guy, and was now tired of that and wanted revenge for all the bad things that had happened to him.

Rodgers appears to blame the victims for his actions. He explains that it was because of the rejection, and other male colleagues were enjoying better sexual lives than he did that led him to do what he did. He feels entitled, and that he had no choice but to kill and injure the people he hurt, including himself. It can be argued that Rodger realized what he had done, and felt guilty, and that is why he had killed himself. However, analyzing his suicide in this light would mean that he was not aware of his actions before, and this is not the case.

Social control theory

The second theory that can be used to analyze Rodger’s behavior is the social control theory. Hirschi (1969) explains that the social control theory states that a criminal gets involved in crime due to the idea that the society is controlling him or her, and social bonds are broken. Just like the strain theory, the social control theory also heavily beats down on the parenting skills used.

The first thing that comes to mind in this analysis is the attachment Rodger had to his parents and himself. Growing up, it appears he was only attached to his parents, he had very few friends and was almost always isolated. As a young man, from a considerable well off family, he spent much of his tie studying and with his close family members. The idea that he was mainly isolated can be used to argue that he was mentally unstable. Similarly, it can be used to explain his anti-social behaviors and tough time making friends. It can also be argued that as he grew up, the poor interaction skills also affected his relationship with his parents. It was revealed that Rodger had been planning the attacks for approximately one year. During this time, the people he interacted with and did not try to kill were his family members. At the time of the killings, his parents tried to stop his activities, but he refused to listen to them showing how deviant he had become.

The social control theory is also enhanced by the idea that the perpetrator was not committed to anything before the attack. Clarke (2014) explains that he had dropped out from his university a year or so back before the killings. There has been a lack of evidence showing that he was involved in any other activities. Apart from spending too much time on his laptop and uploading videos on YouTube, he appears to be always on his own. It is crucial to point out that his family had notified the police of his worrying behavior long before the killings. The police had even questioned him based on his uploaded videos online. The police concluded that he was a shy and timid young man, but did not suspect him to be mentally sick. The analysis from the police can be criticized in two ways. The first, is the inadequacy in the grilling, which let go of a young man full of hate, and is potentially dangerous. The second way is the skill that Rodger had harnessed to pretend that everything was okay, to the level of convincing other people that he was ‘normal’ when in fact he was not.

Jonsson (2014) also explains that Rodger appeared to dislike and disagree with social norms. The deviance towards the society shows that to him, social bonds no longer existed. From his uploaded videos, Rodger claimed that he preferred racial discrimination over racial equality. This is interesting to note, because his mother would have been considered a minority if racial bias was put into perspective. Rodger explicitly declares in his videos his loathe for racial minorities. Perhaps he had a problem with his mother reacting the way that he did? It can be argued that Rodger also saw his mother being rejected by his father, who went ahead a d remarried after their divorce. Circumstances for his parents’ divorce were not revealed but from an outsider’s point of view it would appear that his father moved on with his life, and started a new family while his mother did not. Rodger, therefore, felt more inclined to his mother since he had been rejected by the opposite gender as well. His father represented the male species that was enjoying social life more than him. By looking at his parents in this manner, Rodger proves that he had no social bonds by the time of the killings.

Rejected theories and explanations

Two theories can be used to analyze the relationship between Rodger’s mental health and his behaviors. The two theories are the biosocial criminology theory and the labeling theory.

Biosocial criminology

Walsh and Beaver (2008) argue that no evidence links mental health to criminal activity even though many people, and the judicial system, use mental instability as reasons for crime. Skeem et al. (2014) agree with this premise stating that some people are mentally unstable, but cannot commit a crime and no scientific evidence has been presented so far to support the link between the two mentioned variables.

In discussing Rodger’s case using this ideology, one can argue that his rampage had nothing to do with his mental health. In his manifesto, Rodger reveals that he was angered by couples that appeared to be having fun, especially those that would be affectionate in public. He states that he attacked a couple in a local coffee shop, pouring hot coffee on them when he saw them kissing. He adds that he ran off feeling excited about the whole ordeal.

The fact that Rodger had planned the ordeal for almost one year also makes it impossible to tie them to a mental instability issue, or rather, a common mental instability issue. The premeditation of the activities that led to the writing of a 137-page manifesto, and the smaller attacks he had propagated early rule out the possibility of temporary insanity in the case.

Zimmer (2014) agrees that Rodger was not temporarily insane, but that he had been insane for a long time before he committed the heinous crime. Biosocial criminology also rejects this premise by stating that if the mental illness manifested itself at an earlier age, a criminal would have had a pattern of crimes of the same magnitude. For Rodger, even though he had offenses, they were not of the same magnitude as the killing of the seven individuals, including himself.

Labelling theory

Pittaro (2007) explains that the labelling theory states that identity is defined and shaped by terms that are used in description. Rodger highlights several such descriptions. For example, in his manifesto, he claims that his former roommate was a “nerd” therefore, they were easy to deal with. By defining his previous roommates as nerds, Rodger ideally meant that they were quiet and did not like to party, thereby, could not be seen as better than him. The roommates he killed, and their friend, were different as they would have parties without him. In addition, the three young men were all Asian, making them ‘minorities’. As mentioned, Rodger had clearly stated that he did not like minorities.

Lilly et al. (2014) argue that labelling theory has been used to show hatred towards women (misogyny). In this sense, the word ‘woman’ is used as a label. Rodger was, therefore, a misogynist. After reading his manifesto, one will note that initially, he had an intense obsession with blonde women. In fact, of the three women he had shot, two had blonde hair. To him, the label ‘blonde woman’ was the ideal woman and since they rejected him. He believed that all women were against him. He felt that he was better than other men that the ladies he was attracted to preferred, calling them egoistic brats.

It is in line with the two theories that the premise that the Isle Vista killings were hate crimes stands. In his last video uploaded on YouTube, Rodger says “I hate all of you; humanity is a deprived disgusting species.” He was aware of the hatred he felt towards other people. He even explains that his anger was due to not fitting in socially.

Prediction and prevention

After the events that took place on the gloomy day of 24^th May 2014 in Isle Vista, California, one question that was on everyone’s mind was the prediction and prevention of the events. Two main angles can be analyzed when discussing prediction and prevention. The first is the parents and friends. When asked if they had foreseen anything that would have suggested Rodger’s actions, his parents said they had not. They knew that he was disturbed, but not to the extent of killing other people and himself (Decker, 2014). In the same breath, his former roommate stated that he knew something was wrong with Rodger, and it was due to this that he decided to move out of their shared apartment. Also, his former roommate explained that when he heard what Rodger had done, he was not surprised (Kim, 2014). By stating this, it denotes the likeability of worrying activities that eventually led to the attack.

The second angle of looking at the prediction and prevention possibility is by analyzing Rodger’s interaction with the police. Rodger had interacted on numerous occasions with the police. On one occasion, which he describes in his manifesto, he explains that he lied to the police, and since they did not have any evidence, they let him go. He appears pleased with the fact that the police could not pin him down to any particular crime, and in his words, make him the alpha male.

Regardless of whether this particular killing spree would have been prevented or not, one thing is clear. Society had to come up with policies that help in quick identification of mass murderers. Pittaro (2007) explains that the social control theory can be used as a guideline for implementing social policies of crime identification. The identification would be made possible by first identifying individuals who do not fit into any social circle. Rodger would have been easily identified through the social control theory. He was an ‘outsider’ in almost all social contexts. He did not go out to have fun, and when he did, he did not mingle. According to Rodger, other people despised him. However, Lovett et al. (2014) who analyzed Rodger’s manifesto explain that Rodger himself did not appear eager to join in. He kept to himself for the parties and also kept to himself whenever his roommates went out. The scholar explains that in campus life, socialization is crucial. By keeping to himself, and using labels to pick the kind of girls he has to date, Rodger made his campus life that much difficult.

The strain theory can also be used in analyzing the prediction and prevention of Rodger’s killings. Patchin and Hinduja, (2011) explain that removal of tensions in socialization can affect the behavior of an individual. In the case of Rodger, the strain that would have been removed would involve secondary socialization. He would have been taught how to interact with other people, who are not his family. If socialization were done properly, Rodger would not have felt as alone as he did, in turn, he would have felt like the world, and women, in particular, had something against him.

Recommended Criminal Justice Responses

Practically, the theories that have been suggested cannot be employed in the criminal and judicial system. The main reason for this is their descriptive nature. However, the theories can be used for prevention and rehabilitation purposes. Despite this, the social control theory offers the best guidelines of possible punishments for the crime committed. The social control theory encourages the use of punishment as negative reinforcement of social norms. In the same way, the fact that good acts are rewarded, harmful or wrong acts should be punished. Up to this point, the ideal punishment for the crimes committed by Rodger cannot be defined. The confusion comes in the fact that his mental stability is still under question.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Elliot Rodger’s misconducts against humanity were a form of hate crime. The young college student was affected by his poor socialization skills that ensured he had no friends, let alone girlfriends. His anger had been spewing over a period, as he planned his revenge plot. Rodger murdered seven people, including himself, and injured fourteen others, in his revenge plot. After killing three young male adults in his apartment, he uploaded a disturbing video on YouTube and sent a 137-page manifesto of his life to his family, friends, and doctors. He then went ahead to kill and injure other students before turning the gun on himself. The extent of Rodger’s anger was so great that he explains in his video that humanity is disgusting, and he hates everyone. In his manifesto, he claimed that he hated minorities. This is interesting because the three male students he killed in his apartment were all Asians, making them minorities in a racial preview. It is, therefore, arguable that he killed the men due to their racial characteristics. It is prudent to mention that Rodger’s mother can be considered a minority as well, and so is Rodger in some aspect. By hating minorities, he hated a part of himself that he could not change.

The hate crime is also manifested in his killing of women. Some analysts have described Rodger as misogynist. Regardless of this, Rodger explains that he hates women because they rejected him. Analysts have explained that Rodger had an obsession with women with blonde hair. The labeling of such women as the most beautiful, and the idea that he (Rodger) deserved the most beautiful women made him angry when they did not pay attention to him. Two of the three women he attacked had blonde hair. Rodger’s anger towards men was due to jealousy, as he saw other men get something he deeply desired.

Several theories can be used to analyze the Isle Vista killings. Two theories that can be used are the strain theory and the social control theory. Using the strain theory, it can be argued that Rodger felt pressured by social structures to act and react the way he did. He was pressured to make friends, pressured to have a girlfriend and also pressured to act in some way to be socially acceptable. Since he did not know how to do these things, he reacted in the worst way possible. The second theory mentioned is the social control theory which emphasizes on broken social bonds. Rodger was not committed to any social bond. Indeed, the bond of family was broken when his parents separated. Even though Rodger does not explicitly state that his parents’ separation affected him. It is arguable that he did, due to his feelings of inadequacy. The case of Elliot Rodger is tragic and has been blamed on gun control laws in the country. However, it goes past gun control and into the foundation of the socialization process that is culture bound. His hatred spewed from ideas that he was different and could not fit in due to his difference.

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