Contextualising mass school shootings in the United States

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel R. Paez ◽  
Joel A. Capellan ◽  
Madison G. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
School Shootings

Mass School Shootings in the United States: A Novel Root Cause Analysis Using Lay Press Reports

2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (13) ◽  
pp. 1423-1428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris A. Rees ◽  
Lois K. Lee ◽  
Eric W. Fleegler ◽  
Rebekah Mannix
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Root Cause Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
School Shootings ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Mass Shootings ◽  
Cause Analysis ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Root Cause

School shootings comprise a small proportion of childhood deaths from firearms; however, these shootings receive a disproportionately large share of media attention. We conducted a root cause analysis of 2 recent school shootings in the United States using lay press reports. We reviewed 1760 and analyzed 282 articles from the 10 most trusted news sources. We identified 356 factors associated with the school shootings. Policy-level factors, including a paucity of adequate legislation controlling firearm purchase and ownership, were the most common contributing factors to school shootings. Mental illness was a commonly cited person-level factor, and access to firearms in the home and availability of large-capacity firearms were commonly cited environmental factors. Novel approaches, including root cause analyses using lay media, can identify factors contributing to mass shootings. The policy, person, and environmental factors associated with these school shootings should be addressed as part of a multipronged effort to prevent future mass shootings.

Masculinities and School Gun Violence in the United States

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha Deane
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
The United States ◽  
School Shootings ◽  
Gun Violence ◽  
Symbolic Violence ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Everyday Interaction ◽  
Foucauldian Theory ◽  
The Impact

Schools are sites of personal, political, and symbolic violence. In the United States acts of rampage school gun violence, themselves symbolic, are connected to acts of personal violence via the inscription of social gender norms. Carried out by White teenage boys rampage school shootings call us to grapple with the ways in which schools form and discipline gendered subjectivities. Central to the field of masculinity studies is R. W. Connell’s theory of masculinity which draws on a Gramscian theory of hegemony rather than a Foucauldian theory of power. Whereas Gramsci focuses the ways in which power moves down, Foucault studies the impact of small interaction on our subjective sense of self. When addressing the phenomena of rampage school gun violence where White teenage boys target their schools in acts of gendered rage, a Foucauldian theory of power helps us to take seriously the significance of everyday interaction in legitimating gendered ontologies. Jointly Foucault and the contemporary works of Jane Roland Martin, Amy Shuffelton, and Michel Kimmel point towards an avenue that may afford us the opportunity to root out practices and environments wedded to hegemonic masculinity (and thus rampage school gun violence): the everyday celebration of gender-inclusive and egalitarian ways of learning and living.

Violent Video Games as Scapegoat After School Shootings in the United States

2021 ◽  
pp. 292-315
Author(s):  
Allen Copenhaver
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Moral Panic ◽  
The United States ◽  
School Shootings ◽  
After School ◽  
Violent Video Games ◽  
History Of ◽  
Children And Young Adults ◽  
History Of Violence

The United States has a well-documented history of violence. School shootings are a contemporary social problem which raise much concern, as children and young adults are killed on school grounds. After such tragic events there is public debate as to what causes such horrible events to occur. When looking for a source of such shootings, violent video games are often named as a source of such unconscionable violence. However, it is argued here that blaming violent video games constitutes a moral panic when violent video games are unfairly scapegoated as the source of school shootings. This chapter also points to other sources of violence which may be identified as potential causes of school shootings once the scapegoating of violent video games is acknowledged.

K-12 Alma Mater School Shootings With ≥2 Killed, 1990-2018

2020 ◽  
pp. 226-242
Author(s):  
Thomas R. Hochschild Jr. ◽  
Kathryn Grant ◽  
Michael G. Noll ◽  
Lorna L. Alvarez-Rivera
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
School Funding ◽  
The United States ◽  
School Shootings ◽  
Spatiotemporal Patterns ◽  
Alma Mater ◽  
Emotional Pain ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
K 12 ◽  
A Current

In this chapter, the authors examine what they call “alma mater” school shootings - those in which a current or former student returns to attack people at the school. In this case, the focus is on K-12 school shootings in the United States between 1990 and 2018 where two or more individuals were killed. They argue that many shooters target their alma mater because it is the place where they have experienced “place trauma” - emotional pain that is intertwined with a location. After discerning common demographic, personal, and spatiotemporal patterns, they discuss how the shooters acquired the firearms used to carry out the attack. Finally, the authors outline policy and practice considerations focusing on education, school funding, and legislation.

Defining Mass Shootings

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
The United States ◽  
School Shootings ◽  
Mass Shootings ◽  
Public Places ◽  
Post Offices ◽  
National Characteristics ◽  
Mass Shooting ◽  
History Of

This chapter interrogates public understandings of mass shootings. First of all, gun violence statistics for the United States are compared with those in other developed countries. The varying definitions and trends of mass shooting are shown to be problematic in trying to gain an accurate understanding of the phenomenon. Discussed is the history of mass shootings in the United States from “going postal” attacks occurring in post offices and workplace massacres through to school shootings and mass shootings in public places. Possible reasons why the United States has the highest number of mass shootings are deliberated. Hofstede's often-quoted cultural model is used to discuss two national characteristics: high levels of individualism and low power distance between social groups. Other factors highlighted relate to Harding, Fox, and Mehta's model about influencers of school shootings, as well as notions of extreme masculinity which are often expressed via misogynistic behavior.

Characteristics of Schools in Which Fatal Shootings Occur

2012 ◽  
Vol 110 (2) ◽  
pp. 363-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Flores de Apodaca ◽  
Lauren M. Brighton ◽  
Ashley N. Perkins ◽  
Kiana N. Jackson ◽  
Jessica R. Steege
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Funding ◽  
The United States ◽  
School Shootings ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Universities And Colleges ◽  
School Based ◽  
Key Characteristics ◽  
The Media

School-based violence, and fatal school shootings in particular, have gained increased attention in the media and psychological literature. Most reports have focused on the characteristics of perpetrators, but there is a growing awareness that school-related factors may also influence the occurrence of fatal school shootings. The current study examined several key characteristics of all schools where random (38) and targeted (96) fatal shootings occurred in the United States between 1966 and 2009. These were compared with a group (138) of schools randomly selected to represent the population of all schools in the United States. The size of a school's enrollment, urban or suburban locale, public funding, and predominantly non-white enrollment were positively associated with fatal shootings. Universities and colleges were disproportionately associated with random shootings and high schools with targeted ones. It was proposed that characteristics of schools that allow feelings of anonymity or alienation among students may help create environmental conditions associated with fatal school shootings. Implications for future research and interventions are considered.

Killers on Campus

2020 ◽  
pp. 156-174
Author(s):  
Michele W. Covington ◽  
Tracey L. Woodard
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Colleges And Universities ◽  
School Shootings ◽  
Mass Shootings ◽  
Mass Public ◽  
The World ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Type Of School

More mass public shootings occur in the United States than anywhere else in the world, and these incidents occur in a variety of locations, including educational facilities. There is strong reason to separate elementary, middle, and high schools from institutes of higher education (such as colleges and universities) when studying mass school shootings. These incidents vary based on the type of school by the characteristics and motivations of the shooter as well as locational characteristics and appropriate prevention strategies. This chapter provides an overview of the differences between mass shootings at K-12 schools and those at IHEs. The authors also discuss the prevalence and characteristics of mass shootings at IHEs and introduce several prevention policies, along with relevant proposed and current legislation.

Violent Video Games as Scapegoat After School Shootings in the United States

2020 ◽  
pp. 243-266
Author(s):  
Allen Copenhaver
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Moral Panic ◽  
The United States ◽  
School Shootings ◽  
After School ◽  
Violent Video Games ◽  
History Of ◽  
Children And Young Adults ◽  
History Of Violence

The United States has a well-documented history of violence. School shootings are a contemporary social problem which raise much concern, as children and young adults are killed on school grounds. After such tragic events there is public debate as to what causes such horrible events to occur. When looking for a source of such shootings, violent video games are often named as a source of such unconscionable violence. However, it is argued here that blaming violent video games constitutes a moral panic when violent video games are unfairly scapegoated as the source of school shootings. This chapter also points to other sources of violence which may be identified as potential causes of school shootings once the scapegoating of violent video games is acknowledged.

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