Forensic PsychiatryAdolescent HealthSchool Safety

From Fascination to Attack: Understanding the Psychology Behind Teen Emulation of Killers

UUnknown

2026-02-15

10 min read

Why some teens shift from morbid curiosity to actual attack planning—and exactly how clinicians and schools can stop it.

Hook: When media portrayals and online communities becomes a red flag

Clinicians, school leaders and caregivers increasingly face a distressing pattern: adolescents who start with a morbid curiosity about killers and end up making concrete plans to harm others. That shift from fascination to operational intent is rare but catastrophic when it occurs. This article translates recent case evidence and 2026 trends into practical guidance for clinical assessment, school interventions, and forensic practice—so you can spot risks early, intervene safely, and reduce the chance of imitation.

The current landscape (2024–2026): why this matters now

High-profile copycat planning and the rapid spread of violent content online have kept this problem in the headlines. In January 2026 a UK teenager, McKenzie Morgan, was convicted after telling police he wanted to mount a "Rudakubana-style attack" and possessing radicalising materials; police were first alerted after a concerned peer reported disturbing social-media behaviour. Cases like this illuminate three converging trends in 2025–2026:

Greater digital exposure: Adolescents access high-fidelity media, forums and tutorial content (including weapon manuals and glorifying material) via platforms that persistently recommend sensational content.
Artificial-intelligence amplification: AI tools can assemble manifestos, build step-by-step plans and produce realistic imagery that normalises violence—raising the bar for what a curious teen can imagine or research independently.
Institutional response evolution: Schools and health services have expanded multidisciplinary threat-assessment teams and telepsychiatry options, but gaps remain in early detection and safe, evidence-based intervention.

How fascination turns into planning: a stepwise model

Understanding the psychological trajectory helps clinicians and educators make timely judgments. The transition from fascination to attack typically follows four overlapping phases:

Morbid curiosity: Exposure to violent stories or media—often seeking identity or thrills.
Identification and glorification: The adolescent begins to identify with a perpetrator, elevating them as a symbol of power or grievance.
Competence-seeking/normalisation: The teen seeks how-to information, tools or peer validation; experimentation with simulation (games, mock plans) increases.
Operational intent and planning: Concrete steps are taken—researching targets, acquiring materials, rehearsing or communicating intent.

Key inflection points clinicians must watch for include shifts from passive consumption to active information-seeking (e.g., searching weapon construction, contacting extremist forums) and any operational behavior like acquiring weapons or testing explosives.

Psychological drivers: the core mechanisms

Three psychological drivers commonly operate together and explain why some adolescents cross the line:

1. Glorification

Media portrayals and online communities that monetise or aestheticise perpetrators can strengthen this process.

2. Identification

Adolescents who feel socially alienated, bullied, or humiliated may identify with perpetrators who appear to reclaim power. Identification reduces moral distance and reframes violence as self-expression or correction of perceived injustice.

3. Curiosity and mastery

Curiosity about forbidden acts often combines with a developmental drive for competence. Learning how to commit harm becomes a way to demonstrate skill or control, especially for youth with impulsivity, sensation-seeking or limited prosocial outlets.

Risk and protective factors to prioritise in assessment

When evaluating an adolescent, integrate static and dynamic domains. Use structured judgment where possible and document findings clearly.

Prominent risk factors

Recent and escalating interest in past attackers (esp. messaging that expresses admiration or intent).
Concrete preparatory behaviours: searching for weapon-making instructions, buying knives, experimenting with chemicals, mapping targets.
History of violence, cruelty to animals, fire-setting or prior threats.
Significant social isolation, ongoing bullying, or online role in ideologically violent communities.
Mental health conditions that increase risk (active psychosis with violent themes, severe conduct disorder, substance misuse), especially when untreated.
Access to weapons or materials with intent to use them.

Protective factors

Strong family attachment and adult supervision.
Connectedness to school or community activities.
Access to timely, evidence-based mental health care and mentoring.
Presence of moral reasoning and remorse for past harmful fantasies or acts.

Tools and frameworks clinicians should use

Structured approaches improve predictive validity and reduce bias. In adolescent work, preferred tools include:

SAVRY (Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth) — helpful for integrating historical, social/contextual, and clinical risk domains.
START:AV — for dynamic risk and protective factors, and to guide management planning.
MAYSI-2 or equivalent screening tools — for early identification in emergency or school settings.
C-SSRS — to screen co-occurring suicide/self-harm risk, which frequently intersects with homicidal ideation in adolescents.

These are adjuncts — not substitutes — for careful clinical formulation. Forensic psychiatrists and clinicians should combine structured data with collateral information (family, teachers, digital forensics) and document reasoning about imminence and severity.

Red flags from digital behaviour: what to collect and how

Digital evidence often reveals the earliest transition from curiosity to planning. Practical rules for clinicians and school staff:

Ask specific, nonjudgmental questions about online activity: "Have you searched how to make X?" "Who do you follow online?"
Preserve evidence safely: screenshots with timestamps, descriptions of where content was found, and witness statements from peers who shared concerns.
Coordinate with school IT and law enforcement when there is evidence of imminent harm or possession of illicit material.
Respect privacy laws, but prioritise safety when there's credible, immediate risk. Know local reporting requirements and thresholds for breach of confidentiality.

Practical interventions for clinicians

Once risk is identified, interventions should be rapid, collaborative and tailored:

Immediate safeguarding: If imminent risk exists, activate emergency protocols—ensure child is in supervised, secure environment, contact crisis services or police as required.
Multidisciplinary assessment: Convene youth mental health, school leadership, social services and, when needed, forensic psychiatry and law enforcement using a threat-assessment framework.
Individualised treatment plan: Evidence-based therapies (CBT for anger and problem-solving deficits; trauma-focused therapies if relevant; DBT for emotional regulation) and, where appropriate, medication for psychosis, mood disorders, or severe agitation.
Family engagement: Educate caregivers about online controls, supervision strategies, and the rationale for interventions to gain buy-in and improve adherence.
Behavioural contracts and safety plans: Concrete agreements about access to devices, weapons, and supervision, coupled with crisis contacts and de-escalation steps.
Re-integration and closure: When returning to school, phased reintegration with monitoring, mentoring, and a restorative approach reduces stigma and ongoing risk.

School interventions: practical steps to reduce imitation risk

Schools are critical detectors and settings for preventive action. Best practices for 2026 emphasise rapid information-sharing, clear protocols and trauma-informed responses.

Core elements for school policy

Threat-Assessment Teams (TATs): Multi-disciplinary teams with clear thresholds for escalation and documented processes for investigation and intervention.
Safe-reporting channels: Anonymous reporting apps, trained peer mentors and low-barrier referral pathways for worried students and staff.
Digital literacy and resilience curricula: Teach students how algorithms work, how to spot recruitment or glorification, and how to seek help.
Parent outreach and supervision guidance: Workshops on device safety, privacy settings, and recognising red flags in behaviour and language.
Partnerships with local mental health services: Fast-track referrals and on-site mental health professionals reduce delays in care.

Forensic psychiatry perspective: assessment, legal thresholds, and disposition

Forensic clinicians should emphasise longitudinal risk formulation and evidence-based management:

Contextualised risk formulation: Place the adolescent's ideation and behaviours in developmental context, with attention to impulsivity, capacity, and co-occurring disorders.
Legal standards: Distinguish between ideation/role-play and criminal preparatory acts; document specific behaviors that meet statutory thresholds for detention or prosecution.
Disposition planning: Where risk is high, recommendations may include inpatient care, secure youth services, or intensive community-based programs with strict supervision.
Mental state and criminal responsibility: Evaluate cognitive capacity and potential for diminished responsibility in complex clinical presentations.

Case vignette: takeaways from the Morgan (2026) incident

In the 2026 case of McKenzie Morgan, multiple preventive opportunities existed: peer concern reported online activity, and there were concrete possession offences (an extremist manual) and stated intent. Two clear lessons emerge:

"I wanted to carry out a Rudakubana-style attack" — statement reported during investigation.

Peer reporting matters. Systems that empower and protect reporters shorten detection time.
Possession of operational material raises the risk threshold rapidly—clinicians should prioritise immediate interdisciplinary response when such evidence is present.

Communication strategies: what to tell parents, teachers and students

Conversations must balance transparency, support and non-stigmatising language.

With families: Explain the observed behaviours, assessed risk, and the rationale for interventions. Provide concrete parenting strategies (supervised device use, structured routines) and emphasize safety over punishment.
With students: Use brief, factual, non-stigmatising language. Emphasise that seeking help is a sign of strength and that the school will prioritise safety and confidentiality to the extent possible.
With staff: Share specific behaviour-monitoring guidance, reporting steps, and who to call during a crisis. Train staff on mental-health first aid and de-escalation techniques.

Prevention: upstream strategies that work

Reduce risk over time by shifting focus to upstream, scalable approaches:

Promote school connectedness: Programs that strengthen belonging and adult-student bonds consistently reduce violence risk.
Teach digital resilience: Curriculum that builds critical thinking about online content reduces susceptibility to glorification and recruitment.
Expand accessible youth mental health: Rapid-access counseling, brief interventions and mentoring reduce escalation.
Community partnerships: Faith groups, sports and arts programs provide prosocial identities and activities to counteract violent identification.

2026 trends and future directions clinicians should watch

Look for these trends shaping prevention and assessment in the next five years:

AI-driven content risk: Expect more sophisticated automated content that can produce persuasive, step-by-step violent how-to guides—clinicians should ask about use of AI tools during assessment.
Platform policy shifts: Regulatory pressure and improved moderation are reducing extremist content in some spaces, but fringe communities persist in encrypted or decentralized networks.
Integration of digital forensics into clinical workflow: Forensic teams and schools will increasingly use standardized protocols to collect and interpret digital evidence safely.
Outcome-focused threat assessment: Research is shifting toward evaluating the effectiveness of specific interventions (mentoring, school-based CBT) for reducing conversion from fantasy to planning.

Actionable checklist for clinicians and schools (immediate use)

Screen any adolescent expressing fascination with killers for concrete planning: ask about searches, purchases, rehearsals and communications about targets.
Preserve digital evidence; instruct caregivers on how to secure devices and accounts without confrontation.
Activate a multidisciplinary threat-assessment team if there is any evidence of operational behaviour or imminent intent.
Use structured tools (SAVRY, START:AV) to document risk and protective factors.
Create a clear safety plan with family: supervised device access, removal of weapons, scheduled check-ins and crisis contacts.
Arrange urgent mental-health follow-up; consider inpatient care for high imminent risk or if community management is not feasible.
Debrief and support peers and staff after incidents, using trauma-informed practices and avoiding sensationalism that can feed glorification.

Ethical and legal considerations

Balancing confidentiality with public safety is challenging. General principles:

Prioritise safety when risk is imminent. Document rationale for breaching confidentiality and follow local laws for mandatory reporting.
When possible, seek consent for information-sharing; explain limits clearly to adolescents and caregivers.
Ensure any criminal involvement is coordinated with forensic services and that mental-health recommendations inform legal decisions.

Final practice implications

Fascination with killers in adolescents is a warning sign—not destiny. Most youth who admire violent figures do not become perpetrators. But clinicians and schools must act decisively when admiration crosses into planning. Use structured assessment, prioritise digital evidence and family engagement, and deploy rapid, multidisciplinary interventions that restore safety while offering developmentally appropriate mental-health care.

Call to action

If you are a clinician, school leader or caregiver: update your threat-assessment protocols this year. Train staff on digital red flags, implement low-barrier reporting channels, and establish rapid referral pathways to youth mental-health services. If you suspect imminent risk, don’t wait—activate your emergency team now.

For practical resources and a downloadable checklist you can implement today, subscribe to clinical.news and download our free School & Clinician Threat-Assessment Toolkit for 2026.

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