School Shootings by Adults and Juveniles: Causes and Prevention

Introduction

The increased number of school shooting incidents in America during the last two decades has gained significant public attention. Authorities are deeply concerned about how to control these tragic events across schools in different states. Shootings carried out by adults or juveniles have created the impression that schools are not safe places for students.

In reality, the situation is not as dangerous as the public perceives, and most schools have been largely successful in keeping their students safe. Nevertheless, many schools do face serious problems related to school shootings and need to adopt effective, evidence-based strategies to keep their campuses safe and free from violence.

Why would an adult or juvenile bring a weapon to school or open fire on classmates and teachers? Are these individuals angry, or do they have psychiatric problems? Do they seek attention? Are they frustrated, or do they simply want revenge? These questions are complex and difficult to answer. Psychologists and sociologists have offered many different explanations, but no single cause can account for all school shootings. A committee of the National Research Council conducted a case study in 2001 examining six school shooting incidents and concluded that it is impossible to "reach firm scientific conclusions" (Moore, Petrie, Braga, & McLaughlin, 2003, p. 3).

Statistics show that in recent years there have been many deadly shooting incidents in schools in Colorado, California, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, resulting in deaths and injuries among students and teachers. This problem has therefore become an important issue for rural, urban, and suburban communities across the United States. Since 1992, more than 40 schools have experienced multiple shooting incidents — most of which never anticipated such events could occur there.

Looking at the history of school shootings, several cases stand out in which adults and juveniles behaved violently on school grounds. For instance, in 1997 the United States was shaken when a 16-year-old student in Mississippi killed his mother, then went to school and targeted nine other students. Two students died in that incident and others were badly injured. That same year, a 14-year-old boy opened fire in a student prayer area, killing three students and severely injuring five others. These are just two incidents in a long list of tragic events in U.S. schools resulting from the delinquent and violent behavior of adults and juveniles.

Looking at more recent figures, school shootings and multiple-victim homicides have declined in number as overall violence decreased over the past decade. Threats, harassment, and conflicts still occur, but school shootings by adults and juveniles have been brought under greater control. However, many students and teachers still feel fear when entering school, and that fear makes it difficult for school administrators to foster a positive learning environment.

Given this context, it is important to explore and understand the school shootings problem as a serious issue requiring resolution. This paper reviews the causes of shootings by adults and juveniles in U.S. schools, explores relevant criminological theories, examines empirical evidence on school violence, and suggests evidence-based practices for addressing the problem.

Extent of School Shootings in the United States

Rates of school-associated student homicides decreased between 1992 and 2006 but have remained relatively stable in recent years. Rates were significantly higher for males, students in secondary schools, and students in central cities. The following are key findings listed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in their 2010 fact sheet (CDC, 2010):

Understanding the School Shooting Problem

As noted above, shootings and killings in schools by adults and juvenile offenders have become an increasingly important issue. Many people believe that homicides committed by adults and juveniles are rising. According to the National School Safety and Security Services, however, the rate of deaths due to school violence actually declined from 1999 to the time of their report, with the exception of 2003–2004, when the rate showed a temporary increase (National School Safety and Security Services, 2009).

The trend of violence and shootings declined during the last decade but has remained stable in recent years. It is therefore important to identify the factors that lead to such violent acts in schools and communicate findings to schools and families who may be at elevated risk.

According to the National Center for Children Exposed to Violence (2006), school crime, violence, and shootings should not be treated as a single, unified problem. Although these events are interrelated, they cannot be viewed as one problem with identical causes and solutions. Zimring and Hawkins (1997) similarly argued that crime and violence in communities are two separate problems, and understanding the distinctions between them is essential. It is therefore important to investigate where school-age students learn criminal behavior. To address this, three criminal sociology theories are relevant:

Proposed by Edwin Sutherland, this theory holds that criminal behavior is not innate but is learned through social environments (Sutherland, 1939). This means that adults or juveniles who commit school shootings acquire this behavior from the groups with which they associate. The theory therefore implies that criminal behavior leading to school shootings can be socially transmitted.

Social Control Theory holds that sociological variables such as family structure, schooling, and peer groups are primary causes of delinquency and criminal behavior. Travis Hirschi explained that unusual and harmful behavior can be restrained by a range of social bonds (Hirschi, 1969). Hirschi further argued that a key reason behind juvenile shootings is an unstable relationship with family, which can lead to the formation of distorted attachments to society at large.

Heckle and Shumaker (2001) identified eight familial factors associated with the profile of juvenile killers: sexual abuse, physical abuse, parental drug or alcohol abuse, absence of a father, an unstable caretaker, parental criminal background, domestic violence, and parental psychiatric history.

Introduced by Émile Durkheim, Anomie Theory holds that people can lose sight of society's general rules of conduct and become uncertain about what to expect from one another (Durkheim, 1983). Applied to school violence, this theory suggests that juveniles who commit shootings experience a sense of normlessness within their society, which drives them toward acts of violence.

Conclusion

Shootings in schools by juveniles and adults is a critical issue. Due to its seriousness, it has gained public as well as authorities' attention, and several steps have been taken to resolve this issue. These steps include revising school-related legislation, studying criminological theories to identify the roots of violent behavior, identifying malleable risk factors, and designing strategies to prevent such incidents.

Despite all these efforts, U.S. schools have not been able to entirely eliminate these incidents, and the rate of school-related killings has remained stable in recent years. Experts believe, however, that if adults and juveniles in schools are given opportunities to express and share their concerns, they are less likely to escalate to the extreme violent behavior that results in school shootings.

References

American Psychological Association Zero Tolerance Task Force. (2008). Are zero tolerance policies effective in the schools? An evidentiary review and recommendations. American Psychologist, 63, 852–862.

Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. (2010). Fact sheet: Understanding school violence. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

Dinkes, C., & Kelly, W. (2007). Indicators of school crime and safety. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, and Bureau of Justice Statistics, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.

Federal Bureau of Investigation. (1994–2000). Uniform crime reports: Crime in the United States. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Heckel, V., & Shumaker, M. (2001). Children who murder: A psychological perspective. Westport, CT: Praeger.

Hirschi, T. (1969). Causes of delinquency. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Mayer, M. J., & Leone, P. E. (2007). School violence and disruption revisited: Equity and safety in the schoolhouse. Focus on Exceptional Children, 40(1), 1–28.

McGee, J., & DeBernardo, C. (1999). The classroom avenger: A behavioral profile of school-based shootings. Forensic Examiner, 8, 16–18.

Meloy, J. R., Hempel, A., Mohandie, K., Shive, A., & Gray, B. T. (2001). Offender and offense characteristics of a nonrandom sample of adolescent mass murderers. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 40, 719–728.

Moore, M., Petrie, C., Braga, A., & McLaughlin, B. (2003). Deadly lessons: Understanding lethal school violence. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

National Center for Children Exposed to Violence. (2006). School violence. Retrieved November 10, 2012, from http://www.nccev.org/violence/school.html

National School Safety and Security Services. (2009). School associated violent deaths and school shootings.

O'Toole, M. E. (2000). The school shooter: A threat assessment perspective. Quantico, VA: National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime, Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Redding, R., & Shalf, S. (2001). Legal context of school violence: The effectiveness of federal, state, and local law enforcement efforts to reduce gun violence in schools. Law and Policy, 23, 297–343.

Sutherland, E. H. (1939). Principles of criminology (3rd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott.

Vossekuil, B., Fein, R. A., Reddy, M., Borum, R., & Modzeleski, W. (2002). The final report and findings of the Safe School Initiative: Implications for the prevention of school attacks in the United States. Washington, DC: U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Department of Education.

Wike, T., & Fraser, M. (2009). School shootings: Making sense of the senseless. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 14, 162–169.

Zimring, F., & Hawkins, G. (1997). Crime is not the problem: Lethal violence in America. New York: Oxford University Press.