USPP

Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics

Back to Index of Criminal Profiles


Profile of Eric Harris as Reported by U.S. News & World Report

Excerpts:

Some comprehension came as a more detailed picture of Eric Harris if not Dylan Klebold began to emerge. The image of Harris is at once disturbing and disturbingly reassuring. Just 18, Harris was not a racist or a goth or a fascist, although he dabbled in all those obsessions. In fact, it appears, Harris was a psychopath, who advertised his dark side nearly everywhere he went. For all his advertising it, though, Harris somehow attracted little attention until he had transformed himself into a hideous killer. The signs were hard to miss. Harris was taking Luvox, an antidepressant similar to Prozac that's often prescribed for depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Based on what's known about him in particular the writings on his Internet Web page some psychologists believe Harris may have suffered from a particular type of antisocial disorder known as "malignant narcissism." The traits are frightening: Self-absorption and an inability to empathize with others' pain. Messianic self-perception. A quest for revenge. A need for enemies as justification for extreme aggression. Aubrey Immelman, a psychology professor at St. John's University in Minnesota, says narcissistic leaders often surround themselves with uncritical admirers "willing to do their bidding at almost any expense." Perhaps that's where Dylan Klebold came in.

Full Story

Exorcising the Pain (By Betsy Streisand and Angie Cannon, with Joannie M. Schrof, Jeff Kass, Ben Wildavsky and Susan Gregory Thomas; U.S. News & World Report, May 2, 1999)

Full Report Provided to U.S. News & World Report

Indirect Evaluation of Eric Harris (April 30, 1999)
[Warning: explicit, violent, offensive language]


Page maintained by Aubrey Immelman

http://www.csbsju.edu/USPP/Criminal-Profiling/Columbine_US-News.html

Last updated November 24, 2007