Wave of rampages highlights psychological problems in China
May 17, 2010
The first attack was carried out on March 23 in Fujian province by a doctor who had been unemployed for nearly a year. When asked why he killed eight children in a kindergarten, he said he carried out the attack, not because he hated children, but because they were weak and vulnerable and killing them would thus get him attention. After fast track proceedings, Zheng Mingsheng was put to death a month later.
On the same day of his execution, a similar attack was carried out in a kindergarten in southern China, injuring 16. One the two following days, there were two similar assaults.
The latest case happened on Sunday night, as a 20-year-old man attacked six women with a meat cleaver before killing himself. This unprecedented wave of violence has left the Chinese people searching for answers.
The high price of rapid growth
Professor of sociology at Jiangsu University, He Wenjiong, believes while each of these cases needs to be examined individually, it can be said there is one thing the attacks have in common, that is, they show a core problem, the high price of China's rapid societal change. "Our economy and society are changing so rapidly that society can not keep pace and we don't have enough regulatory mechanisms. Some of the attacks were carried out because of great social disparities. In other cases, the attackers felt their interests were not represented. Some of the culprits showed signs of behavioral disorders, but they were not noticed in time or they didn't receive the help or support they needed."
Dr. Jie Song is a Chinese psychologist who got her degree in Germany. Her place of work, the Institute for Psychology at the University of Freiburg, has a cooperation program to train Chinese doctors in psychology. She says though people have access to mental health care in China, especially in the larger cities it doesn't help much because of traditional core values. She says modern psychology "is new to China. Psychology used to be taboo. But even today, there are not enough well-trained professionals to take care of these individuals. When Chinese people have symptoms, they prefer going to normal doctors. There are a lot of people who can't accept that they or a family member has a mental problem. It is a disgrace for the whole family. You just can't afford to be mentally ill."
Copycat killers
Jie Song believes one reason there have been further attacks is because people are mimicking the first assault, which was widely covered inside of China and outside.
"I think these kinds of things also happened in the past but they weren't covered in the news. The media was never as open as it is now so people didn't know what was going on."
Jie Song says auto-aggression is much more common among patients than aggression towards others, especially towards children. But she worries that because the cases draw so much media attention, the culprits here are offered a larger platform for their messages.
People in China are asking how the state can take charge. Some believe media coverage should be banned. Jie Song believes fringe groups should be more closely watched by the state. She also suggests people start speaking more freely about psychological problems so they become de-stigmatized and accepted in society.
Author: Sarah Berning
Editor: Thomas Baerthlein