The Killer Narcissists

The missing explanation.

THE questions won’t go away. The recent shooting spree—the eighth in two years—forces us to face them again. Why all these wanton killings by schoolboys, this senseless spiral of schoolhouse slaughter? Who are these kids? Why are they doing it? What can we do? In the ’90s, most parents look to psychology for answers, but psychology doesn’t have one set—it has two: pre- ’60s answers and post-’60s answers. And they conflict.