Synthesis Essay/Literature Review on Mass Shootings in School

Rampage Shooting in Schools

Te Aqua T. Bailey

University of Maryland University College

WRTG 391 7360 Advanced Research Writing

03 March 2018

Borum, R., Cornell, D. G., Modzeleski, W., & Jimerson, S. R. (2010). What Can Be Done About School Shootings? A Review of the Evidence. Educational Researcher, 39(1), 27-37.

School shootings in the United States have engendered huge public apprehension and nurtured a pervasive impression that the learning institutions are not safe for a lot of students. The article counters those misconceptions by exploring empirical proof of school as well as trends in community violence and analyzing evidence on best solution for averting mass school shootings. According to the article, majority of the school safety and measures of security installed in reaction to the shootings have little investigative support, and approaches for instance zero-tolerance discipline as well as individual profiling have been broadly critiqued as unreliable practices. The recommendations from the article are practical because it points some weak points of the present measures and advocates for feasible changes. However, the weak points of the article are that some recommendations are a bit more theoretical.

Fox, J. A., & DeLateur, M. J. (2014). Mass Shootings in America: Moving Beyond Newtown. Homicide Studies, 18(1), 125-145.

The article explores various myths as well as fallacies concerning several homicide and mass shooters in learning institutions, citing some of the challenging facts in attempting to forestall these brutal rampages. The article cites that the Connecticut elementary school’s mass shootings, shootings at Colorado Movie Theater, as well as other places have provoked a reasonable amount of recommendations for change. Supporters of strict gun restrictions, for increasing mental health services and facilities, for enhancing of surveillance in public spaces, and, even, for monitoring violent entertainment have made particular suppositions regarding the kind of mass killing which are not essentially valid. The conclusion from the article is that while a substantial number of the policy proposals are generally valuable, their probabilities for decreasing the likelihood of mass murder are inadequate. Though the conclusions from the article are informed by previous actions, some of them are subjective and necessitate further assessment.

Graham, J., Shirm, S., Liggin, R., Aitken, M. E., & Dick, R. (2006). Mass-casualty Events at Shools: A National Preparedness Survey. Pediatrics, 117(1), e8-e15.

The article involves a survey get important data in regards to school’s preparation in case of mass shootings. According to the article, the school shootings as well as terrorist incidences have confirmed the necessity for well-organized planning for mass shooting in schools and other events. The purpose of the research was to document the readiness or preparation of public learning institutions in the United States for the deterrence of as well as the reaction to a mass-casualty event. The findings were that there are essential shortages in school emergency/crisis planning. Rural districts are in a significant way less well equipped compared to urban districts. The preparedness of schools proactively ought to be enhanced through concerted effort of school officials as well as the emergency officials. Though the recommendations are applicable, the nature of study conducted was not profound in relation to the gravity of the matter.

Harris, John M, Jr,M.D., M.B.A., & Harris, Robin B,PhD., M.P.H. (2012). Rampage Violence Requires a New Type of Research. American Journal of Public Health, 102(6), 1054-1057.

The article seeks to explore the existing approaches for doing research for recommending appropriate policies in averting mass shootings in schools and other places. The school shootings as well as the attack on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords have some features in common which describe them rampage violence actions. These kinds of events can bring about desolation concerning their predictability and randomness. To comprehend and avert rampage shootings, the article suggests that there is a need to recognize that existing research on discipline-based violence is well fitting to this particular challenge. The article concludes by pointing that it is essential to give consideration to a transdisciplinary method or strategy for this multifactorial challenge.

Kalish, R., & Kimmel, M. (2010). Suicide by Mass Murder: Masculinity, Aggrieved Entitlement, and Rampage School Shootings. Health Sociology Review, 19(4), 451-464.

The article seeks to hold a divergent view in issues surrounding mass shooting away from the common analysis. The researchers examine three different American cases that involve suicide, to explicate in what way the philosophy of dominance masculinity in the United States generates a sense of distressed prerogative encouraging the violence. This sense of masculine claim concurrently frames suicide as a suitable, influential conduct for these males to accentuate their riotous presentation of masculinity. Even though the conclusion from the study may be applicable because it highlights depictions of violence from the people and media which obscures an important point regarding male character, the gender perspective can stand to be critiqued.

Larkin, R. W. (2009). The Columbine Legacy: Rampage Shootings as Political Acts. American Behavioral Scientist, 52(9), 1309-1326.

The study was focused on exploring how the Columbine shootings which took place on April 20, 1999, influenced succeeding school riotous shootings. The study examined post-Columbine shootings as well as thwarted shootings in order to find out the extent to which they were influenced by Columbine. Different from previous rampage shooters, Klebold and Harris carried out their rampage shooting as an explicitly political action in the excuse of oppressed students ill-treated by their colleagues. Many post-Columbine mass shooters denoted unswervingly to Columbine as their motivation; other students tried to surpass the Columbine killings in body count. Following Columbine case, plots to bomb schools in addition to murdering their populations by outsider students were exposed by government and school authorities. School mass shootings, majority of which gave a reference back to the Columbine as their motivation, extended beyond North America to other places such as Australia, Europe, as well as Argentina; they became more on college campuses and extended to the non-school settings. The main strength about the article is its profound analysis of the relationships between various rampage shootings in America as inspired by the Columbine. In this regard, the author’s conclusions are quite applicable.

Metzl, Jonathan M,M.D., PhD., & MacLeish, K. T., PhD. (2015). Mental Illness, Mass Shootings, and the Politics of American Firearms. American Journal of Public Health, 105(2), 240-249.

The article seeks to examine the general assumptions concerning mass shootings in the United States. The assumptions examined in the study include: that psychological illness or problems results to gun violence, that mental diagnosis can forecast gun offence, that rampages characterize the unstable acts of mentally unwell loners, and also that the control of guns will not avert another mass shooting. The weakness is that the research is not backed by substantive quantitative data. The article also raises important issues relating to policies of gun use and trade with the argument that it is not the guns that kill people but the individuals possessing the guns. However, this position contradicts other studies advocating for robust gun control policies.

Muschert, G. W. (2007). Research in School Shootings. Sociology Compass, 1(1), 60-80.

The study seeks to explore deeply on the issues of school shooting especially in American learning institutions. Studies relating to school shootings have been carried out in a multiplicity of disciplines, comprising of psychology, sociology as well as media studies. Nevertheless, up to the present time there is no cohesive body of knowledge concerning such occasions. In a bid to blend previous studies, and to position future researches for shootings in schools, the article provides a typology for comprehending the multiplicities of school shooting occurrences, comprising rampages, mass killings, targeted assaults, as well as government shootings. The article explores the dynamic of mass media in reference to the school shootings; and also provides a fusion of the multitier grounds proposed in the study, comprising those on the person, community, as well as the social levels. Proposals for future researches in school shootings were also explored. Even though the study analyses various events and findings are well researched, the article fails to offer concrete recommendation of future orientation for studies in the same areas.

Newman, K., & Fox, C. (2009). Repeat Tragedy: Rampage Shootings in American High School and College Settings, 2002-2008. American Behavioral Scientist, 52(9), 1286-1308.

The study seeks to assess mass shootings in United States high schools after the year 2002 as well as determining whether reasons pointed out in their previous research on rampages between the years 1974 to 2002 constitute the more latest cases. From the study, the researcher identified that there are five factors which remain as the most important features. These factors include personal predisposing factors, social nonconformity, and failure of the security system, accessibility to guns as well as the cultural scripts. The researchers also compared these high school rampages with the current outbreak of college riot shootings which bear a resemblance to the high school incidences in several ways but vary in others. The shooters in the colleges are older and for that reason characteristically further along in the development of severe mental problem. The information is from a recognized sage publisher. The publisher supports the delivery of usable information thus the information in the article is authentic.

Rocque, M. (2012). Exploring School Rampage Shootings: Research, Theory, and Policy. The Social Science Journal, 49(3), 304-313.

This article explores United States school rampage shootings, concentrating on the period from the late twentieth century to the period when research was done. School mass shootings are assumed to be different from other kinds of violence as a result of the comparatively safe rural condition where majority of these events happen, the lack of stated distinct targets, as well as the total number of deaths in such situations. Whereas this kind of rampage appears to have rose in the middle of1990s, school violence in broad as well as school shootings to be specific have happened all through the history of formal education. The conclusion from the study is applicable from the fact most of the findings were consistent with other researchers conducted especially in matters of addressing mass shootings in schools.

Schildkraut, J., Elsass, H. J., & Stafford, M. C. (2015). Could it Happen Here? Moral Panic, School Shootings, and Fear of Crime Among College Students. Crime, Law and Social Change, 63(1-2), 91-110. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10611-015-9552-z

The article explores the moral dimension of individuals as the cause for increased mass shootings in the United States. Moral panic has been connected to familiar social issues, such as robberies, drugs, juvenile criminal behavior, gangs, as well as terrorism. The seeks to examine volatility, disproportionality, hostility, consensus, and concern as attributes of moral panic that can be identified to school shootings as well as fear of crime. Owing to the significant limitations identified, the applicability of the findings may be subjective, thus necessitating further analysis of the issue.

Wike, T. L., & Fraser, M. W. (2009). School Shootings: Making Sense of the Senseless. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 14(3), 162-169.

The article highlights the issues of mass shootings in American school associating such issues to behavior or conduct. The article cites that school shootings have changed the covering of seclusion as well as safety that were once the features of public and American education. The researchers placed prominence on public high school education with a particular focus on the shootings in the United States. The researchers also highlighted and assessed the individual dispositions of culprits as well as the weaknesses of the institutions in which shootings have occurred. Some of the recommendations for prevention strategies include reinforcing human and physical security, lessening social violence as well as enhancing communication within educational facilities.