ABSTRACT
Brenda Spencer, at age 16, killed two people, injured a police officer as well as several school children when she opened fire on an elementary school across the street from her home while students were arriving for class. Brenda made startling proclamations about the school shooting. She claimed the shooting made her day better, and that the shootings were fun. After being sentenced to twenty-five years to life, she has been denied parole since the incident and remains incarcerated today. There is no comprehensive explanation for the crime of Brenda Spencer. Yet, her mental condition and the positivist theory of crime can lend some understanding into her actions. Brenda did not consider the consequences of her actions, but merely engaged in the shooting. The shooting was not a rational decision made by Brenda, and this could be attributed to her low level of intelligence or mental condition. Brenda can be described as having the mental disorder of psychopath. She did not express any emotion regarding the killings, she had engaged in other criminal acts as a youth, and she had a history of attempting violent acts towards animals. Brenda also had an unusual sensation with killing.
INTRODUCTION
Crime intrigues us and arouses our interest. Yet, understanding the cause is often baffling. Most especially when the offender is a child. In the murders committed by sixteen-year-old Brenda Spencer, there was nothing to gain. There was no rage or revenge. The victims were chosen randomly. Theories of crime have not conclusively or singly been able to explain shootings such as this. However, the positivist theory along with mental illness can best describe the actions of Brenda Spencer.
THE CRIME
Brenda Spencer, at age 16, committed the first school shooting in U.S. History on January 29, 1979. Although her case did not gain as much attention as the shootings at Columbine High, Brenda was responsible for the murder of a principal and custodian, and the injuries of many school children and a police officer. Brenda was not a student of Cleveland Elementary School but have been a student at the school as an elementary age student. Brenda was the youngest child of three children of parents who had divorced. Her father obtained custody. At the time of the incident, her two older siblings had already moved out of the home. Her father, as a Christmas gift, gave Brenda a .22 caliber semiautomatic rifle and ammunition.
At Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego, California, Brenda opened fire upon the outside of the school while children were arriving for morning classes. She used a rifle to commit her crime and stationed herself in her home across from the school building to fire randomly at the students and adults. Brenda was sentenced to twenty-five years to life and has been in prison since.
Principal Burton Wragge and custodian Mike Sachar were attempting to shield the arriving children from gunshots when Brenda gunned them down. After a nearly six-hour standoff, Brenda was taken into custody by San Diego police officers. During the standoff, Brenda had made many statements regarding the reason for the shootings. She stated: “I don’t like Mondays, this livens up the day”, as one reason. She also stated that “There was no reason for it, and it was just a lot of fun”. In addition, she had claimed that the children were “just like shooting ducks in a pond” and that they “looked like a herd of cows standing around, it was really easy pickings” . During the standoff, news reporters had spoke to her on the phone, in ending the conversation, Brenda stated that “I have to go now. I shot a pig, I think, and I want to shoot some more”.
Brenda pled guilty to murder and assault with a deadly weapon. The court sentenced her to twenty-five years to life in prison. Since her incarceration, she has been denied parole at every hearing. At her parole hearings, Brenda made other statements regarding the shooting. She had once claimed to be high and drunk at the time of the incident, however, tests of her blood and urine after the shooting came up negative. Brenda also stated that she did not believe she shot anyone but rather police did the shootings. At a later parole hearing, she admitted to the shootings but claimed she was under the influence of drugs and alcohol. She also alleged that she was sexually assaulted and physically abused by her father as a child. The allegations of abuse did not arise until Brenda’s third parole hearing, nearly twenty-five years after the commission of the crime. At her most recent parole hearing in 2009, Brenda was again denied parole.
ANALYSIS
There is no one single theory that can explain any one crime. And, as for school shooting, studies have not resulted in any one comprehensive explanation . However, explanations tend to focus more clearly on mental illness. The positivist theory may explain the actions of Brenda Spencer along with the diagnosis of her as a psychopath.
The positivist claims that individuals commit crimes due to low intelligence or lack of social acceptance, not from making a rational choice. Under this theory, an individual commit because their mind is not right and he or she is not capable of determining whether the commission of the crime will a good or bad choice. Typically, the criminal does not “comprehend the wrongfulness” of his or her actions in the same manner in which a person with a normal intelligence or someone with adequate social acceptance .
Thus, according to the positivist, criminals are born criminals. There actions are not learned or based on experience or upraising. Rather, their actions are due to an innate nature. The positivist theorist Cesare Lombroso suggest that those who engage in criminal behavior are more primitive and less evolved. Criminals are biologically different according to Lombroso. Not only are biological factors considered in the positivist theory, but psychological and social factors are also considered. A psychological explanation for the crime committed by Brenda Spencer may be that she is a psychopath.
Psychopaths have an inability to feel emotion including anxiety or guilt. They do not see others as they see themselves and this is why no emotion occurs when victimizing others. Psychopaths also engage in other illegal activity including drug use, shoplifting and school truancy.
Brenda would chase stray animals with lighter fluid attempting to catch their tails on fire. She enjoyed shooting small animals. She had an interest in killing, knives and firearms. Her peers claimed to have been nice to her out of fear of what she may do to them if not nice. Brenda has a criminal arrest record due to previously shooting out windows of the school. After the shootings, she showed no remorse, rage or anguish. This lack of emotion represents psychopathic behavior.
Psychopaths also have unusual brain waves. Brenda had evidence of unusual brain waves when her brain was scanned after she suffered head trauma. Although the trauma may be linked to the altered brain waves, her behavior had remained consistent before and after the head trauma. Although these theories may provide some insight into why Brenda committed the random school shootings, it still seems incomprehensible to our understandings of society.
CONCLUSION
Brenda Spencer began a history of school shootings in America in 1979. Brenda opened fire on a school across the street from her home while students were arriving to school. She was responsible for the murder of a principal and custodian, and the injuries of many school children and a police officer. Brenda made startling proclamations about the murder during the standoff with officers following the shooting. She claimed the shooting made her day better, and that the shootings were fun. After being sentenced to twenty-five years to life, she has been denied parole since the incident and remains incarcerated today.
There is no comprehensive explanation for the crime of Brenda Spencer. Yet, her mental condition and the positivist theory of crime can lend some understanding into her actions. Brenda did not consider the consequences of her actions, but merely engaged in the shooting. The shooting was not a rational decision made by Brenda, and this could be attributed to her low level of intelligence or mental condition. Brenda can be described as having the mental disorder of psychopath. She did not express any emotion regarding the killings, she had engaged in other criminal acts as a youth, and she had a history of attempting violent acts towards animals. Brenda also had an unusual sensation with killing.
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