Psychologist would ask:  What factors in Lepine’s personality led him to _______________this crime?  Did Lepine have a psychological _______________________?  Were there any _______________________ events in Lepine’s childhood that made him act this way?  Was Lepine ______________________or ___________________ at other times in his life?

Psychological Assumptions  An individual’s personality and ______________________is shaped by his or her prior experiences.  Understanding the significance of key ________________in Lepine’s upbringing as will help us to understand his ____________________on the day of the massacre.

Psychological Methods  Psychologists would want to _____________________interviews to assess his psychological state; however, since Lepine killed himself, psychologists would not be able to _____________________________him.  They would speak to his ________________ and __________________________.  They would also examine his _______________ _____________as well as documents relating to his prior life, particularly his formative early years.

Psychological Explanation  Marc Lepine’s father was a brutal man who regularly beat Marc and his mother. When Marc was seven years old, his parents separated. Testimony at the divorce hearing revealed a long history of physical abuse. These traumatic events scarred Marc. Having been brought up in an abusive home, he saw violence as a viable solution to life’s problems. He was a shy and secretive boy who was not brought up in a home where discussing one’s problems was encouraged. When his difficulties began to overwhelm him, he resorted to violence.  Lepine’s father openly expressed his opinion that women were inferior to men. Like his father, Marc believed that women were inferior and he hated them. He did not have close female relationships, and blamed women for most of his problems. The engineering class represented a place where, in Marc’s opinion, women were invading a space that should have been a male domain. His murderous rampage allowed him to act out his hatred. In his suicide note, he wrote, “I have decided to send Ad Patres [Latin: "to the fathers"] the feminists who have ruined my life.... The feminists always have a talent for enraging me.” Lepine’s mother speculated later that it might have been an attack indirectly aimed at her, since as a single working mother, she embodied some of the “feminist” ideals that Marc hated.  Marc used a gun to kill most of his victims. Marc’s fascination with guns dated from his teenage years, when he spent summers hunting at his uncle’s farm. The guns may have given him a feeling of power and control over his world. He applied for the Canadian Forces but was rejected, and his proclivity for violence and fascination with guns found another outlet.

Sociologists would ask:  Sociologists attempting to explain the massacre would look at social trends of gender and gender violence.  What common factors are in the lives of men who have acted with extreme violence against women?  What are the social norms and institutions that shaped Lepine’s view of gender?  How are misogyny, male violence and sexism present in social institutions?  How are women normally treated in this context (at a technical school)?  What social interactions in Lepine’s background affected his relationship with women?  Why did Lepine focus his hatred on women as the hated ‘other’?

Sociological Assumption: The significance of the acts Lepine committed can best be understood when looked at in context of the _____________________ ______________________ and ___________________________around him and his belonging to certain _______________________(men, mass murderers, victims of abuse).

Sociological Methods  Sociologists might study the statistics around _________________violence in Canadian society.  They would also look at other instances of mass murders – particularly those with women as the victims – and draw conclusions about the ____________________.  They could also analyze the presence of gender _______________________________within the institution of the polytechnic school.  In addition, they would study society’s approach to _____________ ____________________– what are the rules and systems that allowed Lepine to legally acquire a gun and to enter the classroom with a gun?

Sociological Explanation  Sociologists would say that mass killers as a group share common characteristics, and Lepine fits the typical profile of a mass killer. He was a loner with few meaningful relationships. He came from a broken family where there was a history of violence and abuse. Early in his development, he began to blame his frustration and failures on a hated “other” – in Lepine’s case – women. Once he had adopted this ideology about gender, he began to perceive everything in terms of how this target group caused his problems. The massacre was his way of taking vengeance on this group.  Lepine’s crime took place within a society that, despite the successes of the feminist movement, was still patriarchal. His victims were chosen because engineering was considered a typically male field of study, and Lepine believed that women were taking over and pushing men out. There are still gender divides in many fields of study and work, and Lepine was not the only one to perceive engineering as a men’s field – educational institutions at this time did not push women to enter these fields and they were the minority in classes and in the workplace. Lepine believed that women were trying to usurp men’s jobs and social roles and that these “radical feminists” (i.e. women enrolled in science courses and in other male-dominated professions) were destroying society. He believed that certain rights and privileges should go hand in hand with being a man and he blamed his shortcomings on women.  There was no gun registry at the time and Lepine was able to acquire a gun legally without an intensive screening. The social structures were not in place to prevent it.

Anthropologists would ask:  Why do some men act __________________________toward women, particularly to the point of murdering them?  Why does society seem to ____________________________violence against women?  Are there _________________________evident when examining this case and other mass murders?  What cultural _______________ exist around _______________ _______________ and what kind of ‘retribution’ have men taken against women who transgress these roles?  Why do men in many ___________________and eras feel a need to __________________________women?

Anthropological Assumptions  There are factors in the nature of human society as a while that _____________________some men to act violently against women.  The incident needs to be examined __________________and in context, and it can be compared to ___________________ incidents in other __________________and periods of time.

What methods would an Anthropologist use? Anthropologists would examine statistics of gender violence as well as mass murders in ______________________________society and ______________________it with male violence in other _______________________________and at other points in history to see if there are larger trends.

Anthropological Explanation  Marc’s murderous rampage was the ultimate act of male violence in a society that has traditionally tolerated acts of violence against women – including domestic violence, rape, and sexual harassment. Statistics show that one in five women has been or will be sexually abused, while one woman in four has been or will be physically abused. In some societies, domestic abuse is still tolerated and men who assault their wives or female relatives are treated less harshly by the courts.  Women often make less money than men in certain careers and have been treated around the world and throughout history as less valued than men. Women are exploited and objectified by the media. In addition, violence is glamourized in the media. Marc Lepine took the message that he got at home and in society – that women are less valued than men and violence against them is acceptable – to its limits.  In addition, anthropologists would look at patterns of mass murder across cultures. Mass murderers usually target a group – generally it is an ethnic or religious group, but in this case, Lepine targeted women. Mass murderers do not kill because they enjoy it, they kill because want to make a statement against the group. Lepine wanted to take out as many of his “enemies” as he could and then die in a blaze of what he perceived as glory.