Forensic psychiatrist Enrique De Rosa stated that the issue of violence must be addressed, referring to the case of an armed student who entered Mariano Moreno N°40 School in Santa Fe and killed a 13-year-old student. De Rosa, speaking with Agencia Noticias Argentina, emphasized that various factors influence a teenager's decision to kill. "Several factors may be involved, but basically, one must start from the premise that it is not just an individual pathology, but also the context, the situation, and the modus operandi; one can understand what it's about," the mental health specialist enumerated. In this sense, he explained that "the reverse process begins with bullying," although some causes may be related to "regional characteristics": "They have to do with early detection, the prevention or non-prevention of violent behaviors, the structure, in some way, the validation or trivialization of that violence. Murder is the consequence, but the serious issue is that there is a sequence that must be seen from much further back; that is why it is not a single factor." The psychiatrist stressed that the family's role is "fundamental" because a person, a child, a young person, or an adolescent grows up in a small school, family, and social structure, as they later form in a "town" or a "city" that "feeds them messages in which that violence is either validated or not." "Obviously, the first brake can be the family, although it may not be. Strategies must be generated, and in this case, it will also involve treating trauma victims," De Rosa added. "Let's add to that the issue of drugs or no drugs," he added. According to the doctor, state policies on mental health "are, to some extent, in place," although he acknowledged that "evidently, if cases are increasing, we are not seeing what is escaping us in society," so one must appeal to "psychoeducation": "It is about starting to work on the implications of violence." De Rosa cited the example of suicide among adolescents, a problem that is on the rise in Argentina, as situations like school bullying or violence are a "very important factor": "The point of work must be centered on violence, and in particular, on the one occurring in post-pandemic society." Regarding the role of psychiatrists and psychologists, he stated that today they must study behaviors that lead to the commission of crimes: "There is a much broader spectrum."
