Is there any way to explain the unspeakable violence that struck Newtown, Connecticut on Dec. 14, 2012, when 20 children and six adult staff members were murdered at the Sandy Hook Elementary School?

Jeremy G. Richman, the father of Avielle Rose Richman—one of the first-graders who was murdered—will speak about The Science of Violence and Compassion at the 2015 Ben’s Bells Science of Kindness Conference on Friday, Aug. 21 at 7 p.m. at the Banner-University Medical Center DuVal Auditorium, 1501 N. Campbell Ave.

Richman and his wife, Jennifer Hensel, established the Avielle Foundation following the Newtown shooting. Their mission is to help educate people about the invisible world of brain illnesses (most often known as mental illnesses). They point out that the brain is another organ that can be healthy or unhealthy, but because of the stigma, people are afraid to advocate for their loved ones in times of need.

What are the risk factors for engaging in violent behavior and the protective factors that foster compassionate individuals and communities?

Richman will present a paradigm for brain health that espouses compassion rather than violence, knowledge instead of fear. There’s irony in the popular sentiment that it’s in our nature to be violent, he says.

“We’ve evolved living in groups and communicating with one another,” he says. “There’s evidence that if we develop the ability to be more empathetic and compassionate, we’ll be healthier, wealthier and happier.”

A $10 donation is requested at the door. For more information, and to RSVP, visit bensbells.org/kindness-conference. The conference is presented in collaboration with the University of Arizona’s Frances McClelland Institute for Children, Youth and Families and Banner-University Medical Center.

This article appears in Aug 13-19, 2015.

2 replies on “The Science of Violence and Compassion”

  1. It took Sandy Hook a year and a half and 3 requests from a judge to get Adam Lanza’s tox report from the coroner.

    All these people have 1 thing in common they had no history of violence before being given mood altering prescription drugs:
    Pharmaceutical Homicide
    Columbine mass-killer Eric Harris was taking – Luvox
    Dylan Klebold 1999 killed 12 students, teacher and wounded 24 – Luvox
    Patrick Purdy Stockton, Calif 1989, killed 5 school kids eAmitriptyline,&Thorazine.
    Kip Kinkel, 15, 1998 murdered his parents in Springfield, Ore killing 22 classmates – both Prozac and Ritalin.
    Laurie Dann, 1988 Winnetka, Ill., killing one child and wounding six – Anafranil as & Lithium
    Michael Carneal,Paducah, Ky, 1997, kidded 3 Michael Carneal another paralyzed. Carneal – Ritalin.
    Jeff Weise 2005, Minnesota’s Red Lake Indian Reservation, killed 9 & wounded 5 before killing himself – Prozac.
    Joseph T. Wesbecker – Prozac 1989, Louisville, Ky shot 20 workers killing nine – Prozac- (maker Eli Lilly later settled a lawsuit brought by survivors.)
    Kurt Danysh, 18, shot his own father to death in 1996 – Prozac.
    John Hinckley, took four Valium two hours before shooting President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
    Andrea Yates, 2001 drowned all five of her children – Effexor.
    (In 2005, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals quietly added “homicidal ideation” to the drug’s list of “rare adverse events.”)
    12-year-old Christopher Pittman, murdered his grandparents, Paxil and Zoloft
    Cho Seung-Hui, , Virginia Tech, murdered 32 people – Paxil
    Donald Schnell who murdered his wife, daughter and granddaughter – Paxil
    (GlaxoSmithKline was ordered to pay $6.4 million)
    Adam Lanza, SANDY HOOK Killed 27 people, Sandy Hook, Fanapt, anti-psychotic
    James Holmes, Colorado, killed 12, Zoloft

Comments are closed.