A mass shooting is defined as a public shooting in which four or more people, not including the perpetrator, are killed. The epidemic of mass shootings in the United States over the past few years have been well documented in the news, social media, and even during the recent election cycle. Even with the prevalence of this heinous act in our society there is still a lot of confusion and mystery as to what causes people to commit this atrocious crime. According to Gun Violence Archive (2015), the reported number of mass shootings in the United States climbed as high as 333. When trying to explain the cause of these crimes there are a myriad of different factors that can be evaluated. Location, race, type of firearm, age, and mental conditions are only a few factors that can affect the cause of the crime. In this paper we will attempt to explain how these factors affect the occurrence of mass shootings in the United States. The rise in mass shootings over the years has created an increased need for research on this subject. Previous studies have examined mass shootings in order to apply this data to prospective studies. Taking this broad topic of mass shootings, we have narrowed our field of research to …show more content…
For example, we will analyze the victim’s location and compare them such as rural and suburban areas to see which one occurs most and how does it correlate to the number of fatalities due to mass shootings. Through research of this topic, we intend to find both positive and negative correlations between our independent and dependent variables that will give us further insight on what variables if any translate to the increase of mass shooting
Over the past years media has been overwhelmed with news about mass shootings happening around America and if mental illness is the primary cause of the violent act. On February 2014, Jonathan M. Metzl and Kenneth T. MacLeish published their article “Mental Illness, Mass Shootings, and the Politics of American Firearms” in the American Journal of Public Health that addresses the issue that mental illness has very little to do mass shootings which is commonly used on the aftermath of the shooting
Most of us learned when we were very young that we should not judge by appearances. But, in the aftermath of massacres in schools everywhere, a sane person has to take seriously what the material world shows - and pass judgment. After all, a lack of judgment and subsequent action may lead to further youth violence.
Crime manifests itself in various ways in society and oftentimes difficult to pinpoint what drives people to commit certain actions. The Columbine shooting was a particular incident that ended in tears and suffering which resulted in numerous research as to what was going through the minds of these young individuals at the time of the shooting. Therefore, this paper will analyze specifically the role of differential association- reinforcement as altered by Akers in propelling Dylan Klebold to commit such heinous act, while also giving credit to Edwin Sutherland for first formulating the framework of differential association.
As us Americans we are actually making the stereotype of we always carry guns around sound true to the rest of the world considering that, we are the “31% percent of all public mass shootings which at least four people are killed.” (TheWeek.com) But under a broader definition USA counted 346 mass shootings including shooting deaths of four or more victims in a 17- year period. The worst part about this information is this year we already have recorded 249 mass shootings in about 7 months close to the same amount USA counted over 17 years! This is a problem that must be solve for the safety in this country but also prevent more mass shooting from happening. “According to a Mother Jones study: Only 23 percent have been treated for mental illness.” ( Gallagher )
There have been many horror stories in the news about mass shootings at schools. The public, and even the president of the United States, is asking if anything can be done to prevent these tragedies. There are many theories on why students kill their peers at schools; these range from increased violence in video games and movies to bullying troubles at school. Almost always, the perpetrator suffers from some form of mental illness (Khadaroo). Because of this, motives for these crimes are extremely difficult to discern. Although the theories for the causes of this dilemma are tenuous at best, the effects are very perceptible. Can anything be done to prevent these massacres? School shootings are a complex problem that cannot always be prevented, but there are a number of actions we can take to reduce the frequency and extent of the damage caused. These actions include placing more restrictions on firearms, creating detection programs for shooters, hiring more counselors for unstable students, and placing guards or police in schools. School shootings are a serious problem, and a solution is needed in order to prevent these calamities.
Everything that happens in life tends to have a trend. A trend is a general tendency or inclination. Believe it or not, mass shootings can have trends. Some of the most deadly and popular mass shootings took place in the 21st century. Some cases can be dated all the way back to the 20th century or maybe even earlier. Based on a list of the most deadly shootings, in the 20th century the time span between the shootings ranges from one to seven years. Based on the same list, the mass shootings that occurred in the 21st century that are considered to be most deadly were only one to two years apart. The trend taking place ...
They suggested that not only mental illness but other factors such as social relationships, firearm access during emotional moments etc also lead to gun violence. However, they failed to cite this with strong facts, numbers etc. Reports suggest that up to 60% of executioners of mass shootings in the United States since 1970 displayed symptoms including acute paranoia, delusions, and depression before committing their crimes[4,5]. In another article “Rates of Household Firearm Ownership and Homicide Across US Regions and States, 1988–1997”[6], the authors emphasized on the “association between rates of household firearm ownership and homicide across the United States, by age group”. In this analysis, they failed to take gender, mental health and other factors into consideration which helps more to analyze that which type of people (mentally ill) and/ or which gender are doing these cruel
Preventing School Shootings From 1980’s till now, there are has been many school shootings. Many researchers have made many hypotheses as to why these occur. The most tragic shooting took place in Sandy Hook Elementary. 2.
Active shooters and terrorist attacks are happening more frequently not only in our nation, but across the globe. According to an FBI study released in 2014, in their website, the average of incidents that happened between 2007-2013 was 16.4 annually compared to the average numbers of incidents from 2000 to 2006 which were 6.4 annually. Active shooters can happen anywhere and at any given time such as at schools, churches, restaurants, etc. 70% of the time most active shooters happen in businesses or educational buildings. The objective of most active shooters is vengeance. The shooters want specific people to pay for any physical or emotional damages caused to them, but to make their point clear they organize mass murders. For example, the
There are many different types of school violence. The one that gets the most public attention is school shootings. The term school shooting is basically defined as an act where a student, school staff member, or intruder from the outside commits an act on the school campus. One of the most well known school shootings took place at Columbine High School near Littleton, Colorado. On a Tuesday April 20,1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, students at Columbine High School, took the lives of thirteen other students before taking the lives of their own. When we think of events like this, we have many questions that go through our mind. Thoughts like why did this happen, could it have been prevented, and how did impact the individuals involved just to name a few. There are probably several more thoughts that go through the minds of a nation when we hear about traumatic evens such as a school shooting.
Mass shootings have become a common occurrence in the United States society and have brought our society's safety debate to the attention of American politics. Both sides of the debate agree that we need more safety precautions but neither side can officially agree on what is to be done. What can we do about the raging number of mass shootings? There is no definite solution for mass shootings but there are precautions the United States can take to try to overcome the overwhelming number of mass shootings occurring. Gun Control is a major topic in the debate of how we can keep our society safer but how is what remains a mystery but we can start with altering the second amendment, and having stronger gun laws and background checks.
Agnich’s study finds that the clear majority of mass murders happened in the North America, with the United States accounting for over half the mass murders in the entire study (2014). Mass shootings took an extremely large spike in and continued to grow after the 1970’s, which could be related to evolving styles of law enforcement. The study found that mass murders were less likely in the summer months. The fact that schools in North America are not in session over the summer months most likely created unclear results, although it can be thought that in any
Eighty-nine people die from gun violence in the United States every day according to the Brady Campaign , from school children to victims of domestic violence to people going about their daily lives. As we mourn the lives of those killed in incidents of gun violence across the country, we need to take action. We should all do everything in our power to keep tragedies like this from happening again. When it comes to addressing mass shootings, we need new answers
“The more energy they have to gin up to execute their plan, the harder it will be to do so” (Newman). When “Would be shooters” are faced with a challenge they most likely don’t go through with their plan. The dedicated shooters are those who intend on finding guns and shooting people, those who have the drive. “Totally dedicated shooters” are the type of people who wont give up whether the guns are accessible to them legally or illegally. Dedicated shooters have a plan of action and intend on going through with it. These types of people likely suffer from mental illnesses. “The abnormally high level of school shootings in America is not solely a gun issue a mental health issue, or a media issue, but rather a problem caused by a combination of mental illness problems, social inequality, gun control policies, and the structure of schools”(Gupta, 2016). Structural inequalities in the United States cause stress, which lead people to turn to radical measures. Factors such as economic change, racism and social changes cause constraints on behavior. Mental health is also a leading factor to school shootings. “Metzl and MacLeish’s research shows that up to 60 percent of mass shootings in the United States since 1970 involved shooters displaying symptoms of mental illnesses—including paranoia, depression, and delusions—and the evidence suggests that
Each year in the United States over 31,000 people die from gun violence. If this figure seems high for such a wealthy nation, that’s because it is. In fact the U.S. has a higher homicide rate than the combined rate of twenty two other wealthy nations. (National Centre for Injury Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012)