Gladwell says most US lethal violence is ‘expressive’ conflict escalation rather than planned crime

What was said

"But in fact, overwhelmingly, America's lethal violence is expressive. It's people having fights and settling feuds and getting caught up in the moment and doing things they regret and not thinking straight and not being able to resolve their conflicts in a peaceful manner."

Malcolm Gladwell argues that, contrary to popular depictions of premeditated murders, most US lethal violence is “expressive” — fights, feuds and spur-of-the-moment acts carried out by people not weighing consequences rationally. He says this mismatch means deterrence-focused criminal justice responses address a minority of killings.