COMMUNITY CURRENTS

Mass Shootings: The Limits of Help for College Students with Mental Disabilities

By Ross Pudaloff, Contributing Writer

No doubt in large part to media reports that reinforce stereotypes about mental illness, college students with psychiatric disabilities are often regarded as likely to be violent.  The stereotypes go as follows: not only is the perpetrator of such violence himself mentally ill, but also the mental illness itself causes and explains the violence. The association of violence and mental illness persists despite overwhelming evidence gathered by both social and medical scientists that mentally ill people are no more likely to perpetrate acts of violence than anyone else. (see PWDF Winter 2011 article: Reduce Loughner’s Impact)

There’s another aspect to the prejudices about mental health and violence when college students are the group in question.  Unlike other settings in which someone “goes postal,” we tend to expect our institutions of higher learning to do “something” that would have prevented the violence.  So if you mention Virginia Tech, Gabrielle Giffords or Aurora Colorado to someone, you are likely to hear in return a question that asks why the school did not prevent the shootings or at least forewarn the public about the tragedy to come, the assumption being that schools, more than businesses and other institutions, are responsible for the behavior of the population—in loco parentis (in place of parents) lingers on as does the seemingly not unreasonable idea that colleges and universities, which teach so much about humanity and behavior, ought to be able to do something about individuals who are potentially violent. 

The good news is that our colleges and universities all provide counselors and other forms of assistance to students with disabilities, including psychiatric problems. 

The bad news is that these services work best with students who are already diagnosed and in some form of treatment.  If that student has no interest in utilizing services even if he receives a referral, there seems little that can be done and little that is done.  Given the stigma of mental illness, it is easy to understand the reluctance to come forward and there is no easy way to move the student into some form of treatment.

All the colleges have established offices to assist students with disabilities, including of course those with mental illnesses.  Although there is a lot being done, Tom Merrell, Director of Student Disabilities Services at the University of San Francisco, notes the common thread:  in almost all instances, the programs in place to help the student with a mental health disability are reactive.  The student must come in on his own initiative or be referred by friend, instructor, or staff member. What this means in practice is that the programs are best set up to handle the student who is already receiving treatment or therapy of some sort.  Inevitably and sadly, this means that someone like Jared Loughner, the Phoenix shooter, remains outside the network of counselors and programs that are ready to assist him.  If one reads through the emails from faculty and staff at Pima Community College about Mr. Loughner (available through the website of the newspaper, the Arizona Republic), what strikes one is the way in which, short of a severe violation of the code of conduct that would bring about suspension or expulsion, no one feels able to do much.

There is something that can be done, however.  The University of San Francisco, for example, has a crisis management team, consisting of various stakeholders (e.g., counselors, faculty, administrators).  According to Mr. Merrell, it meets once a week to examine any reports of students who might pose a problem to others and/or himself.  That kind of coordinated attention and response was not present in Phoenix according to the emails and marginally and ineffectually available at the University of Colorado.

Still, there seems little else that can be done beyond notifying security and barring someone like Mr. Loughner or Mr. Holmes, who was both disruptive and seemed out of touch with others, from the campus.  Even through FERPA (the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) contains exceptions to allow some release of information about an individual.

But in this day and age, the sentiment to make it someone else’s problem cannot be ignored even as it is hardly an adequate solution.  Colleges and universities, by the nature of their mission, foreground how difficult it is to balance individual freedom with the perceived welfare of the whole.  Delinking the association between mental illness and violence and then achieving a society in which mental illness is dealt with like any other disease are clearly the ultimate solutions. Before we jump to the conclusion that it was due to his mental illness that James Holmes attacked a movie theater full of innocent strangers, at this point in time there is insufficient evidence to condemn those with a mental illness.   The difficulties faced by our institutions of higher learning make it clear we should not underestimate how long and difficult a process this might be.

PWDF Profile

Who We Are

People With Disabilities Foundation is an operating 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California, which focuses on the rights of the mentally and developmentally disabled.

Services

Advocacy: PWDF advocates for Social Security claimant's disability benefits in eight Bay Area counties. We also provide services in disability rights, on issues regarding returning to work, and in ADA consultations, including areas of employment, health care, and education, among others. There is representation before all levels of federal court and Administrative Law Judges. No one is declined due to their inability to pay, and we offer a sliding scale for attorney's fees.

Education/Public Awareness: To help eliminate the stigma against people with mental disabilities in society, PWDF's educational program organizes workshops and public seminars, provides guest speakers with backgrounds in mental health, and produces educational materials such as videos.

Continuing Education Provider: State Bar of California MCLE, California Board of Behavioral Sciences Continuing Education, and Commission of Rehabilitation Counselor Certification.