scholarly journals Describing a “mass shooting”: the role of databases in understanding burden

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marisa Booty ◽  
Jayne O’Dwyer ◽  
Daniel Webster ◽  
Alex McCourt ◽  
Cassandra Crifasi
Keyword(s):  
Gun Violence ◽  
Active Shooter ◽  
Mass Shootings ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Mass Shooting ◽  
Federal Definition ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Nonfatal Injuries ◽  
Different Sources

Abstract Background The mass shooting phenomenon has gained much attention lately as this form of gun violence appears to increase in frequency. Although many organizations collect information on mass shootings (fatal and nonfatal injuries), no federal definition of this phrase exists. The purpose of this study was to highlight the different statistics that result among databases that define and track “mass shootings.” Establishing definitive guidelines for a mass shooting definition could improve research credibility when presenting evidence to policy makers. Methods We obtained data for mass shootings that occurred in 2017 from four sources: Gun Violence Archive, Mother Jones Investigation, Everytown for Gun Safety, and FBI’s Supplemental Homicide Report. We also examined FBI’s Active Shooter Report to compare the mass shootings datasets with active shooter situations, which have been federally defined. First, we examined the overlap among databases. Then, we applied the strictest fatal mass shooting definition to the mass shooting datasets to determine whether the differences in databases could be contributing to differences in fatalities and injuries recorded. Results Gun Violence Archive recorded the most mass shooting incidents at 346 incidents in 2017, while Mother Jones only recorded 11 cases. Only 2 events were found in all four mass shooting datasets. When the strictest definition – four or more individuals fatally shot – was applied to all datasets, the number of mass shootings in 2017 ranged from 24 (Gun Violence Archive) to 5 (Mother Jones), but incidents collected still varied. Conclusions There is much variety in statistics obtained from the different sources that have collected mass shooting information, with little overlap among databases. Researchers should advocate for a standard definition that considers both fatalities and nonfatalities to most appropriately convey the burden of mass shootings on gun violence.

Researching Trafficked Women

2011 ◽  
Vol 17 (9) ◽  
pp. 769-779 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Bosworth ◽  
Carolyn Hoyle ◽  
Michelle Madden Dempsey
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Research Participants ◽  
Building Trust ◽  
Feminist Methods ◽  
Trafficking Victims ◽  
Definition Of

This article exposes methodological barriers we encountered in a small research project on women trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation and our attempts, drawing on feminist and emergent methods, to resolve them. It critically assesses the role of institutional gatekeepers and the practical challenges faced in obtaining data directly from trafficking victims. Such difficulties, it suggests, spring at least in part from lingering disagreements within the feminist academic, legal, and advocacy communities regarding the nature, extent, and definition of trafficking. They also reveal concerns from policy makers and practitioners over the relevance and utility of academic research. Although feminist researchers have focused on building trust with vulnerable research participants, there has been far less discussion about how to persuade institutional elites to cooperate. Our experiences in this project, we suggest, reveal limitations in the emphasis on reflexivity in feminist methods, and point to the need for more strategic engagement with policy makers about the utility of academic research in general.

Why Collaborate? Issue-Linkage and International Regimes

1980 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 357-405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernst B. Haas
Keyword(s):  
International Regimes ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Complex Issue ◽  
Issue Linkage ◽  
The Face ◽  
Common Interests ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Changing Knowledge

Why do nations create institutionalized modes of multilateral collaboration? How can common interests develop in the face of inequalities in power and asymmetries in interdependence? The author explores the role of knowledge in the definition of political objectives and interests. The systematic interplay of changing knowledge and changing objectives results in the redefinition of “issues” and the practice of “issue linkage.” The dynamics of issue-linkage, in turn, tell us something about international regimes for the management of progressively more complex issue areas. An ideal-typical “regime” is described, theoretically applicable to all types of issues. Since the cognitive attributes of the actors who set up such a regime cannot be expected to remain stable, this concept of a “regime” can illuminate cliscussion and analysis, but cannot be expected to provide a clear model for desirable policy. However, it can illustrate the options open to policy makers wishing to choose a mode of collaboration. Regimes dealing with money, the oceans, and technology transfer are used for illustrative purposes.

scholarly journals Nature and determinants of social actions during a mass shooting

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0260392
Author(s):  
Guillaume Dezecache ◽  
Jean-Rémy Martin ◽  
Cédric Tessier ◽  
Lou Safra ◽  
Victor Pitron ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Strategies ◽  
Mass Shootings ◽  
Physical Constraints ◽  
Interpersonal Closeness ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Supportive Behaviors ◽  
The Social ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
Mass Shooting

Reactions to danger have been depicted as antisocial but research has shown that supportive behaviors (e.g., helping injured others, giving information or reassuring others) prevail in life-threatening circumstances. Why is it so? Previous accounts have put the emphasis on the role of psychosocial factors, such as the maintenance of social norms or the degree of identification between hostages. Other determinants, such as the possibility to escape and distance to danger may also greatly contribute to shaping people’s reactions to deadly danger. To examine the role of those specific physical constraints, we interviewed 32 survivors of the attacks at ‘Le Bataclan’ (on the evening of 13-11-2015 in Paris, France). Consistent with previous findings, supportive behaviors were frequently reported. We also found that impossibility to egress, minimal protection from danger and interpersonal closeness with other crowd members were associated with higher report of supportive behaviors. As we delved into the motives behind reported supportive behaviors, we found that they were mostly described as manifesting cooperative (benefits for both interactants) or altruistic (benefits for other(s) at cost for oneself) tendencies, rather than individualistic (benefits for oneself at cost for other(s)) ones. Our results show that supportive behaviors occur during mass shootings, particularly if people cannot escape, are under minimal protection from the danger, and feel interpersonal closeness with others. Crucially, supportive behaviors underpin a diversity of motives. This last finding calls for a clear-cut distinction between the social strategies people use when exposed to deadly danger, and the psychological motivations underlying them.

scholarly journals ESSENCE OF THE SERVICE CATEGORY IN FORENSIC MERCHANDISING

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 69-76
Author(s):  
I. Petrova ◽  
O. Dontsova
Keyword(s):  
Economic Value ◽  
Service Work ◽  
Structural Elements ◽  
Commercial Activity ◽  
Service Category ◽  
Direct Definition ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Different Sources ◽  
Essential Service

The article states that market of services, as a field of economic activity, plays the role of a leading sector of the national economy is not without certain problems, among which was the possibility of evaluating the service within the forensic merchandising. It is noted that researchers of the concept of service paid attention to its direct definition, description of the characteristics inherent in services and identify differences between the concepts: Goods, service, work. It is established the essence of the concept of service remains debatable and insufficiently researched regarding its application in forensic merchandising. In view of this, various structural elements of the concept of service were systematized into a single holistic definition by studying scientific approaches, terminological analysis and refining the definitions of this concept from different sources. It is established that uncertainty of services is that they are processes, not material objects and do not fall under the traditional definition of goods; identified a number of properties that distinguish services from tangible goods, and identified specific features of intangible services. It is emphasized that researching on category essence of service in forensic merchandising, one cannot ignore the interpretation of this term by legislators and scholars. Analysis of the service definition in regulations has established that the generalizing concept of service for these acts is a service as an action that has a certain beneficial effect, i.e. has benefits for consumer. Scientists argue that the service usually is an intangible product, process, and ownership of it for its sale to the consumer does not arise; ownership may arise as a result of the provision of the service. The essential service characteristic is defined by scientists as economic value, which makes it an object of commercial activity, a subject of trade and an object of purchase and sale; it turns it into an economic good. It is established that service concept is most often associated with the action or activity of the service provider aimed at meeting the needs of the consumer and is realized at the time of its provision.

Mass Killings Past, Present, and Future

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Sheri Jenkins Keenan ◽  
Jeffrey P. Rush
Keyword(s):  
Gun Control ◽  
Mass Shootings ◽  
Public Places ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Second Amendment ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Mass Shooting ◽  
Mass Killings ◽  
Double Digit ◽  
Health Experts

Mass shootings have been of interest and concern to a variety of experts including psychologists, sociologists, criminologists, public health experts, and policy makers. Journalists have tracked mass shooting events for a long time. Recently, mass shootings in public places have dominated the national dialogue about gun violence, gun control, and Second Amendment protections due to several mass pubic shootings in recent years that resulted in double-digit victim counts. Regardless of the why, it seems clear that the ability to identify and predict this behavior as early as possible is important, for the killer as well as the community.

Lockdown Drills in Kindergarten

2021 ◽  
pp. 77-94
Author(s):  
Karla Vermeulen
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Vicarious Trauma ◽  
School Shootings ◽  
Gun Violence ◽  
Childhood Experience ◽  
Mass Shootings ◽  
Media Attention ◽  
School Based ◽  
The Impact

This chapter, “Lockdown Drills in Kindergarten,” examines the primary childhood experience that sets Generation Disaster apart from previous cohorts: their early awareness of the threat of school shootings and other types of mass gun violence. It explores the impact of participating in school lockdown drills throughout primary and secondary school and how these security activities can increase distress and anxiety for some children. It describes how extremely rare school-based rampage attacks are relative to much more common forms of gun violence that receive less media attention. The chapter also discusses the role of social media in mass shootings, including as a motivator for copycat attacks and a source of vicarious trauma through exposing viewers to unfiltered images of violence.

scholarly journals Comparing Emergency Department Gunshot Wound Data with Mass Casualty Shooting Reports

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Walsh
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Emergency Department ◽  
Syndromic Surveillance ◽  
Gunshot Wound ◽  
Gunshot Wounds ◽  
Mass Casualty ◽  
Gun Violence ◽  
Mass Shootings ◽  
Mass Shooting ◽  
Zip Code

ObjectiveTo determine whether mass casualty shooting events are capturedvia syndromic surveillance data.IntroductionShootings with multiple victims are a concern for public safetyand public health. The precise impact of such events and the trendsassociated with them is dependent on which events are counted. Somereports only consider events with multiple deaths, typically four ormore, while other reports also include events with multiple victimsand at least one death.1Underreporting is also a concern. Somecommonly cited databases for these events are based on media reportsof shootings which may or may not capture the complete set of eventsthat meet whatever criteria are being considered.Many gunshot wounds are treated in the emergency departmentsetting. Emergency department registrations routinely collected forsyndromic surveillance will capture all of those visits. Analysis ofthat data may be useful as a supplement to mass shooting databases byidentifying unreported events. In addition, clusters of gunshot woundincidents which are not the result of a single shooting event but stillrepresent significant public safety and public health concerns mayalso be identified.MethodsEmergency department registration data was collected fromhospitals via the EpiCenter syndromic surveillance system. Gunshot-related visits were identified based on chief complaint contentsusing EpiCenter’s regular expression-based classification system.The gunshot wound classifier attempts to exclude patients with pre-existing wounds and shooting incidents involving weapon classes thatare lesser concerns for public safety, such as nail guns and toy guns.Gunshot-related visits were clustered by day of registration andseparately by facility, by patient home zip code, and by patienthome county. The largest clusters of each type were compared viamanual search against media reports of shootings and against the GunViolence Archive mass shooting database.ResultsA total of 23,132 gunshot-related visits were identified from 635healthcare facilities from 2013 to 2015. From these, the five largestclusters by facility, by zip code, and by county were identified. Theclusters included 112 gunshot wounds in total, ranging in size from4 to 12 with a median of 7.Of the 5 facility clusters, 5 had a corresponding media story and 2were located in the shooting database. Of the 5 zip code clusters, 1 hada corresponding media story and none were located in the shootingdatabase. Of the 5 county clusters, 4 had a corresponding media storyand 1 was located in the shooting database.ConclusionsMultiple gunshot wound patients being treated on the same daywere not necessarily all shot during the same incident or by the sameshooter. The information available in a syndromic surveillance feeddoes not allow for direct identification of the shooter or shooters.Given that limitation, a complete correspondence between clustersidentified in syndromic surveillance data and mass shootings was notexpected. The strong correlation between clusters and media coverageindicates that the news is a reasonable source for shooting data. Thesmaller overlap with the mass shooting database is likely due to themore stringent criteria required for an incident to qualify as a massshooting.It is still notable that the majority of gunshot clusters were notassociated with any particular mass shooting incident. This serves asa reminder that mass shootings represent only a small portion of thetotal gun violence in the United States. Healthcare data representsa significant additional data source for understanding the completeimpact of gun violence on public health and safety.Weekly time series of gunshot-related emergency department visits

Mass Shooting and Misogyny

2021 ◽  
pp. 48-73
Author(s):  
Perry L. Lyle ◽  
Ashraf Esmail ◽  
Lisa Eargle
Keyword(s):  
Gun Violence ◽  
Constitutional Rights ◽  
Gun Ownership ◽  
Mass Shootings ◽  
Self Defense ◽  
The World ◽  
Private Citizens ◽  
Mass Shooting ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
Privately Owned

It is the violent ideology Americans cannot ignore. This hate and extremism overwhelming reside in males. Disproportionately committed by males, gun violence, as shown by data, reveals that misogyny can be a precursor to other forms of extremism. Gun violence and particularly mass-shootings have once again seized Americans of all political stripes as the hot-topic debate of the day. American's fascination with gun ownership dates to the roots of independence from the British crown and why colonists insisted that protection to own and possess firearms be woven into the private citizens' constitutional rights. There are an estimated 393 million guns in America, almost one for each citizen but held by approximately 42% of the population. It makes America, per capita, the largest privately-owned gun-toting country in the world. Many of the population surveyed claim to own four or more weapons – hardly necessary for self-defense. This chapter explores mass shootings and misogyny.

The Role of Leakage and Warning Behaviors

2021 ◽  
pp. 67-83
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Threat Assessment ◽  
Warning Signs ◽  
Mass Shootings ◽  
Mass Shooting ◽  
Assessment Procedures ◽  
Eleven Case

This chapter considers ways to detect mass shootings before they occur. It focuses on the role of leakage in prevention, whereby the communication of an intention to do harm can be used to assess the nature and viability of a mass shooting occurring. Eleven case studies of mass shootings are used to assess leakage and other warning signs displayed prior to these attacks. Documented are possible types of leakages, audiences for leakages, ways leakages were communicated, and other types of warning behaviors. Findings from interviews with threat assessment experts are also discussed in relation to the role leakage plays. It is hoped this chapter will go some way to informing risk and threat assessment procedures, which will be discussed in more detail in the subsequent chapters.

Framing Gun Violence

2021 ◽  
pp. 165-177
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Gun Violence ◽  
Mass Shootings ◽  
Human Interest ◽  
The Right ◽  
Emotional Approach

This chapter builds upon the discussion that began in the previous chapter about possible gun-related legislative options to reduce mass shootings. Discussed here are the framing approaches that could be utilized to mobilize the movement. Prior to that, there will be a discussion about the role of mass shootings in prompting debates about gun policies. The role that interest groups play in the process will be detailed. The chapter then moves on to discuss a number of frames centering on gun violence that could persuade people to support tighter gun regulations: an emotional approach predicated on the human interest side of the issue; a public health angle, treating it as an illness; a rights and responsibilities frame, where the right to own a gun is coupled with a responsibility to use it safely.

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