1 / 36

School Shootings

School Shootings. Why Terrible Things Happen in ‘Perfect’ Places Katherine Newman Johns Hopkins University. Definitional dilemmas. What is a rampage shooting? Refining the problem Multiple victims On school property Committed by a member or former member of the institution

lilika
Download Presentation

School Shootings

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. School Shootings Why Terrible Things Happen in ‘Perfect’ Places Katherine Newman Johns Hopkins University

  2. Definitional dilemmas • What is a rampage shooting? • Refining the problem • Multiple victims • On school property • Committed by a member or former member of the institution • Random selection of targets or radiating circle

  3. Figure 10.1: Location of Rampage School Shootings, 1974-2002 Moses Lake, WA * * Lewiston, MT Springfield, OR * * Notus, ID Great Barrington, MA Olean, NY * * Olivehurst, CA * Edinboro, PA * * Manchester, MO Grayson, KY Littleton, CO * * * Las Vegas, NV Goddard, KS * Virginia Beach, VA * Paducah, KY * Jonesboro, AR Lynnville, TN * * Santee, CA * * Fort Gibson, OK * El Cajon, CA * Blackville, SC * Stamps, AR Conyers, GA * * Pearl, MS * Bethel, AK

  4. Two case studies: Westside, Arkansas and Heath, Kentucky • Three sociological questions: • What motivates the shooter? • Why was the school unable to see the catastrophe coming? • Why was the community in the dark?

  5. Jonesboro, Arkansas Population: 55,000

  6. The Bible Belt

  7. Bono, Arkansas Population: 1000+

  8. Cash,Arkansas Population: 280

  9. Egypt, Arkansas Population: 112

  10. The Shooting

  11. Westside Middle School • 6th and 7th grades • 250 students • Middle Class, Christian and white • No background violence • Excellent reputation • 1/3 of students qualify for free lunch

  12. March 24, 1998 • Johnson steals family car • Johnson and Golden steal guns • Firing position on hillside • Andrew pulls fire alarm • Students and teachers file out • Shooters kill 5 and wound 10 • Police arrest Andrew and Mitchell

  13. The Shooters

  14. Mitchell Johnson • Father verbally abusive • Sexually assaulted • Tense divorce • Frequent moves, but Jonesboro was positive • Good student (As and Bs) • Model child, swaggering bully

  15. Andrew Golden • 11 years old, 6th grade • “Solid Family” • “Golden Child” • Avid hunters and gun enthusiasts • Average to good student (As and Bs) • No real disciplinary history • Unnoticed at school; menace in the ‘hood

  16. Heath, Kentucky • Rural and west of Paducah, KY • Farming economy gives way to services • Rural working class old timers • New professionals and managers • Small and “tightly knit” • Economically diverse, racially homogenous • Bible Belt

  17. The Shooting

  18. Heath High School • Center of small town life • 60% college bound • No major discipline issues • No violence prevention in place

  19. The Shooting: Dec 1, 1997 • Shooter: Michael Carneal • Locale: prayer group in school lobby • Eight shots, eight victims • Shooter drops gun and surrenders to principal

  20. The Shooter

  21. Michael Carneal • Age 14, freshman • Stable family • Jokester; prankster • High IQ • Minor Discipline Problems • Schitzotypal personality disorder

  22. Mitchell Past events -- Molestation Proximate events -- Left stranded in Chicago -- Sex-talk phone calls -- Father threatens to take him from his mother -- Kicked off basketball team -- Dumped by girlfriend Andrew -- No evidence of precipitating events -- Threatens suicide or to harm others Background events

  23. Mystery #1: What motivates the shooters? • Failing at manhood • Frictional marginality • Magnification of slights • Problem solving • Reputational reversal • Escalating commitments

  24. Mystery #2: Why Schools are in the Dark • Structural secrecy • The Clean Slate • The Perils of Confidentiality • Mixed Signals • The Jekyll-and-Hyde problem • Information Fragmentation • The liabilities of loosely coupled systems • Squeaky wheels • Why kids don’t tell

  25. Mystery #3: Why the community did not see this coming… • Residential stability • Inter-generational closure • High levels of social capital • Gossip and reputation • Below the radar

  26. The Underbelly of Social Capital:Why Terrible Things Happen in ‘Perfect’ Places • Consequences: • Concealment games • False confidence in surveillance systems • Misinterpreting signals • Conflict avoidance & information restriction • Blame the messenger

  27. Conclusions -- Why the sociological perspective matters -- Adolescent problem solving -- Organizational deviance -- Liabilities of social capital -- Necessary, but not sufficient conditions -- Prediction impossible -- Tipping the odds via interdiction

  28. Michael Carneal, Age 19Kentucky State Reformatory

  29. The Westside Victims 5 dead 10 injured

More Related