Tit-for-Tat Criminals

[jwillx]

Many, if not most, of the serial and mass murderers suffered as children and can be seen, one way or another, as "getting back" at their parents or themselves by committing murder or other crimes. The recent Binghamton mass-murder could be explained as a way that a desperate paranoid could commit suicide while getting back at those most like himself and his family, in the past.

The classic example was the Osama bin Laden sponsorship of the 9-11 attacks on the United States; these apparently were inspired by a surprise attack by air, when the Clinton administration tried to assassinate Osama (and the Taliban leader, Omar), using cruise missiles in 1998. Would Osama even have gotten the idea of airplane suicide attacks if he had not been a target himself? Having been missed so narrowly, how could he get back?

How much of crime is because of a "tit-for-tat" mentality? How many impulsive criminals kill someone in an argument because the victim insulted them? What if the "getting back" factor could be removed? If so, how many criminals would have committed their crimes?