Literature Review on Mass shooting

Literature Review

Part 1: Literature Review

A series of both current and previous literature has tried to explain the issue of mass shootings in the United States. Schildkraut and Elsass (2016) defined mass shootings as incidents of embattled violence conducted by a single or many shooters at a single person or populated locations. More researchers further argued that mass shooting incidents have been associated with many victims and are often conducted within a time frame of 24 hours (Lankford & Madfis, 2018; Meltz & MacLeish, 2015). The prevailing incidents of mass shootings in the United States has prompted many researchers to determine its underlying cause. A research conducted by Meindl and Ivy (2017) indicates that mass shooting crimes are related to social media coverage and a heavy amount of traditional news. In another study Almeida (2016) states that most of the shooters engage in copycat behaviors, which are mostly influenced by media sources such as social media. Most of the media platforms extensively cover mass shootings allowing potential criminals to discover new criminal acts that lead them to fulfill their calling.

According to Murray (2017), there are seven diverse phases of mass shooting coverage which sensationalize a potential shooter. Murray (2017) provides examples of shooting, such as Sandy Hook and Virginia Tech, to demonstrate how the Columbine shootings in 1999 inspired the acts. Furthermore, shooters including Seung-Hui Chuo andAdam Lanza demonstrated signs of obsession with the Columbine using photos, self-recordings, and notes (Dsuna, 2019; Santili et al., 2017). In his study, Murray explains how contemporary mass shootings are portrayed in the news allowing the growth of copycat crimes. In a similar study conducted by Studdert et al. (2017), the media plays a major role in portraying the incidents of mass murder, especially those involving the use of assault weapons. Towers et al. (2015) also argue that throughout the period of 1900 and 1999, out of all mass shootings reported by the media, at least 18% involved the use of assault weapons. Despite the fact that the media might have exaggerated the percentages, the issue of the mass shooting remains a major challenge in the United States.

There is empirical evidence to indicate the increase of mass shooting in the United States. Blair and Schweit (2014) highlight a report disclosed by the FBI in 2014, indicating that the average rate of mass shootings increases by 16% every year. In the FBI analysis, 7% of the 160 active-shooter incidents caused zero casualties, while 20 cased zero fatalities. Krouse and Richardson (2015) conducted similar research and distinguished homicides, mass public shooting, and other felony mass shooting. In their study, there was a common trend in all the types of mass shootings showing an increase every year. Two studies extended the data from the 1970s and discovered proof of a small rise in mass public shootings over the past 30 years ( Krouse & Richardson, 2015; Cohen, Azrael & Miller, 2014). Nonetheless, there was little evidence suggesting an increase in fatalities using an expanded definition (Wallace, 2015; Webster, 2017; Wallace, 2020). Therefore, the prevalence of mass shootings at a particular time and how their occurrence changes with time come as a result of different definition choices.

The increase of mass shooting in the United States has also been associated with income inequality. Over the past few years, a number of criminologists and sociologists explored the overall rates of homicide at the population level, providing a comprehensive understanding of how income inequality contributes to mass shootings (Wombacher et al.,2018). According to Osuna (2019), low-income communities tend to hold resentments, anger, frustration, and hostility, which is majorly contributed by their inability to achieve socioeconomic status and success. There is concrete evidence from epidemiology and public health, indicating how income inequality promotes a hostile and unstable social environment. Santil et al. (2017) argue that equality is a significant predictor of anxiety and stress due to its strong relationship with feelings of insecurity. Furthermore, unequal environments provide skeptical notions of fairness and justice, which may lead to hostility and violence. Other researchers suggest that most individuals from low-income communities feel the urge of salience competition, which leads to mass shootings (Osuna,2019, Wallace, 2015). There is little evidence indicating the prevalence, impacts, and causes of mass shootings in the United States. Thus, further research should be conducted to provide more and comprehensive information on mass shootings in the United States.

Part 2: Literature Review Synopsis

With the rising rate of mass shootings in the United States, it is important for individuals to understand and be aware of the trends to tackle the problem. This literature review provides data from both previous and current literature as well as different opinions from criminologists, sociologists, psychologists, and scholars on the issue of mass shootings. Statistics from the past decades on the rates of mass shootings in the United States are also provided. To bring how the problem of mass shootings affects the society, the author provides its definition, phases, evidence of its rise, and income inequality as one of its causes. A definition of a mass shooting provided by Schildkraut and Elsass is highlighted at the start of the literature to provide an understanding of what is going to be discussed in the whole paper. It also provides the reader with an easier way to grasp the concepts that will be discussed in the paper.

There is an underlying notion that the media is the main perpetrator of mass shootings in the United States. This review of literature presents how the media influences mass shooters to engage in their activities through copycat behavior. Information about mass shootings and its relationship with the media was gathered from a study conducted by Meindl and Ivy (2017), providing a better platform to explain how the mass shooting occurs. Previous studies on mass shootings have included several different phases, along with several instances that sensationalized the potential shooters. Some examples of these shootings include the Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook, which inspired the potential shooters through the 1999 Columbine Shooting. This indicates how the media has played a significant role in portraying the incidents of murders that can be directly copied by criminals.

This literature also examines comprehensively the major mass shootings which have occurred in the United States for the past thirty decades. Specifically, it addresses opinions from different scholars of the general trends of mass shooting incidents, the use of weapons, and offenses characteristics. The authors indicate that they have been increasing, with about half of all the mass shooting incidents that have occurred with the last eight years. When presenting the annual trend of mass shootings from the FBI study, the author indicates that there have been zero fatalities and casualties from approximately 160 active shooter incidents. However, the incidents have been accelerating from the past 30 decades. The trends of mass shooting events provided by findings from different authors are important in framing the knowledge available, the subject area, and the research methods that will be used in the entire research. Furthermore, it adds justification on the subject of study, which is mass shootings.

There is plenty of evidence from Krouse & Richardson ( 2015), Cohen, Azrael, & Miller (2014) and Fox and Fidel (2015) to indicate there is little evidence to indicate the increase of fatalities using an expanded definition. The researchers in-depth explain how mass shootings in the United States have been changing over time and explain which expanded definitions do not provide enough evidence on the issue. The reason being this is due to the different choices of definitions. While there are different choices of calculating the trends of mass shootings and defining the, there have been several disagreements on whether the occurrence of mass shootings in the United States has increased. There is also clear evidences indicating that the use of the term ‘mass shooting’ by the media has been increasing tremendously over the past few years. This has created ambiguity about how mass shootings are defined. Due to such ambiguities, the public is left without a proper understanding of mass shootings prevalence, trends, determinants, policy implications, and costs. Thus, a review of literature from both current and previous literature provides a better understanding of the problem of mass shootings.

Literature also indicates that income inequality is a contributing factor to the increase in mass shootings in the United States. This study will provide evidences from different authors that communities with rising levels of income inequality are likely to encounter more mass shootings. The scholars indicate how the social, economic problem experienced by low-income communities leads to stress and the urge for competition. A number of sociologists and criminologists present their views on the overall rates of homicides in the country to provide an understanding of how income equality has led to mass shootings. From their studies, it is evident that communities with large household income differences live in environments full of hostility, anger frustrations, and resentments. As a result, these communities find it difficult to attain status an economic success.

This literature review also provides research from epidemiology and public health, which indicates some concrete evidence on how income inequality produces a hostile and unstable social environment. From Wallace's (2015) thoughts, the author articulates that income inequality is strongly related to insecurity feelings, which are significant predictors of anxiety and stress. The researchers also indicate that individuals exposed to environments with income inequality are likely to possess' greater levels of stress. Santil et al. (2017) provide the reasons which such cases of stress can lead to aggression and the urge to seek fairness and justice. This promotes violence and hostility and is the reason why most unequal communities report the highest rates of mass shootings in United States. This literature review concludes with reasons for more research on the issue of mass shootings in the United States. There is little evidence to indicate its causes, implications, and trends. Thus, more research is needed.  

References

Almeida, P. D. (2016). The role of threats in popular mobilization in Central America. In  Social Movement Dynamics  (pp. 115-136). Routledge.

Cohen, A.P., Azrael, D., & Miller, M. (2014, October 15). The rate of mass shootings has tripled since 2011, Harvard research shows. Retrieved from https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/10/massshootings-increasing-harvard-research/

Krouse, W. J., & Richardson, D. J. (2015). Mass murder with firearms: Incidents and victims, 1999-2013.

Lankford, A., & Madfis, E. (2018). Do not name them, don’t show them, but report everything else: A pragmatic proposal for denying mass killers the attention they seek and deterring future offenders.  American behavioral scientist ,  62 (2), 260-279.

Meindl, J.N., & Ivy, J.W. (2017). Mass shootings: the role of the media in promoting generalized imitation. American Journal of Public Health, 107, 368-370. Retrieved from http://ajph.aphapublications.org/ doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2016.303611?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori%3Arid%3Acrossref.org&rfr_ dat=cr_pub%3Dpubmed

Metzl, J. M., & MacLeish, K. T. (2015). Mental illness, mass shootings, and the politics of American firearms.  American journal of public health ,  105 (2), 240-249.

Murray, J.L. (2017). Mass media reporting and enabling of mass shootings. Cultural Studies – Critical Methodologies, 17, 114-124. doi:10.1177/1532708616679144

Osuna, M. J. R. (2019).  Mass Shootings and Gun Sales: A Study on the Influence of Red and Blue Power  (Doctoral dissertation, University of South Florida).

Santilli, A., O’Connor Duffany, K., Carroll-Scott, A., Thomas, J., Greene, A., Arora, A., & Ickovics, J. (2017). Bridging the response to mass shootings and urban violence: exposure to violence in New Haven, Connecticut.  American journal of public health ,  107 (3), 374-379.

Schildkraut, J., & Elsass, H.J. (2016). Mass shootings: Media, myths, and realities. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.

Studdert, D. M., Zhang, Y., Rodden, J. A., Hyndman, R. J., & Wintemute, G. J. (2017). Handgun acquisitions in California after two mass shootings.  Annals of internal medicine ,  166 (10), 698-706 Chicago

Towers, S., Gomez-Lievano, A., Khan, M., Mubayi, A., & Castillo-Chavez, C. (2015). Contagion in mass killings and school shootings.  PLoS One ,  10 (7), e0117259.

Wallace, L. N. (2015). Responding to violence with guns: Mass shootings and gun acquisition.  The Social Science Journal ,  52 (2), 156-167.

Wallace, L. N. (2020). Gun Ownership and Gun Purchasing: Before and After Mass Shootings. In  Handbook of Research on Mass Shootings and Multiple Victim Violence  (pp. 339-356). IGI Global.

Webster, D. W. (2017). The true effect of mass shootings on Americans.  Annals of internal medicine ,  166 (10), 749-750.

Wombacher, K., Herovic, E., Sellnow, T. L., & Seeger, M. W. (2018). The complexities of place in crisis renewal discourse: A case study of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.  Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management ,  26 (1), 164-172.