Vulnerability to Ideologically-Motivated Violence Among Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Marc R Woodbury-Smith; Rachel Loftin; Alexander Westphal; Fred R Volkmar

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.873121

Vulnerability to Ideologically-Motivated Violence Among Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Front Psychiatry. 2022 Mar 25:13:873121. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.873121. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Marc R Woodbury-Smith¹, Rachel Loftin², Alexander Westphal³, Fred R Volkmar⁴

Affiliations

¹ Biosciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom.
² Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, United States.
³ Division of Law and Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States.
⁴ Child Study Center, Yale University and Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT, United States.

Abstract

People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are represented among those who espouse extremist thought and have committed violent acts associated with their beliefs. Media often highlight a perpetrator's psychiatric diagnosis following acts of mass violence, which in some instances has included ASD. ASD may itself not provide useful information for understanding motivations. Instead, understanding specific traits and neuropsychological and other vulnerabilities may offer an opportunity to make sense of these very complex events.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder; extremism; forensic; incels; mental health; terrorism; vulnerability.