[01] Michael Eskey, Criminal Justice Administration, Park University, Parkville, MO USA. [02] Tom O’Connor, Criminal Justice, Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, TN USA. [03] Jeff Rush, Criminal Justice, Troy University, Troy, AL USA. [04] Frank Schmalleger, Criminal Justice, University of NC at Pembroke, Pembroke, NC USA.

There have been a number of mass shootings in the U.S. These may be addressed from different contributing and causal aspects that address the gamut of mass shootings. The paper is restricted to those shooting that comply with the FBI definition of mass shooting as an attack in which a minimum of four victims are killed and the murders take place in a relatively close proximity. The current paper will provide a short history of mass shootings, applicable theories related to mass shooting, detection and warning signs and mental health as well as media / press limitations and effects, and the effects of the internet, movies, and violent games.

Mass Shooting, Mental Health, Criminology, Bullying, Gun Control

[01] Agnew, R. (1992) Foundation for a general strain theory of crime and delinquency. Criminology, 30(1), 47-87. [02] Agnew, R. 2007 Pressured Into Crime: An Overview of General Strain Theory, New York, NY: Oxford. [03] Anderson, C. and K. Anderson (1196) Violent crime rate studies in philosophical context: A Destructive testing approach to heart and Southern Culture of Violence effects, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 70 (4), April, 1996, pp. 740–756. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.70.4.740 [04] Annear, S. (2013), Harvard Publication on Gun Laws Resurfaces as Talks About Firearms Continue, Boston Daily, August 30, 2013. [05] Baldry, A. C., & D.P. Farrington (1999). Brief report: types of bullying among Italian school children. Journal of Adolescence, 22(3), 423-426. [06] Bjelopera, J.P., E. Bagalman, S.W. Caldwell, K.M. Finklear, and G. McCallion (2013) Public Mass Shootings in the United States: Selected Implications for public health and safety policy. Washington DC: Congressional Research service http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43004.pdf [07] Christensen, J. (2015) Why U.S. Leads World in Mass Shootings, WCVB5 News: Boston, MA, August 27, 2015. [08] Cooke, C. (2015) Shooter’s Manifesto Shows Focus on Charleston Shooting, Columbine, and Virginia Tech, The Corner, August 26, 2015. [09] DeLongis, A., Folkman, S., and Lazarus, R. (1988). The impact of daily stress on health and mood: Psychological and social resources as mediators. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54,486–495. [10] Dodrill, T. (2014), Gun Control: Why Passing More Laws Will Not Stop Mass Shooting, Inquisitor, June 17, 2014. [11] Ehrenfreund, M. and Z. A. Goldfarb (2015), 11 essential facts about guns and mass shootings in the United States, Washington Post, June 19, 2015. [12] Eslea, M., E. Menesini, Y. Morita, M. O’Moore, J.A. Mora-Merchán, B. Pereira, and P.K. Smith. 2004. Friendship and loneliness among bullies and victims: Data from seven countries. Aggressive Behavior 30: 71–83. [13] Ensley, G. (2014) Stop the Insanity: Ban the Guns, Tallahassee Democrat, January 7, 2015. [14] Fox, J.A. and M.J. DeLateur (2014) Mass Shootings in America: Moving Beyond Newtown, Sage Publications, XVIII (1), pp. 121-145, DOI: 10: 11771088767913510297. [15] Fox, J. A. & J. Levin (2005). Extreme killing: Understanding serial and mass murder. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. [16] Frick P.J., B. O’Brien, J. Wootton, and K. McBurnett. Psychopathy and conduct problems in children. Journal of Abnormal Psychology. 1994; 103: 700–707. [PubMed] [17] Fuller, J. (2014) After Mass Shooting, the Status Quo Reigns Supreme in Congress, The Fix, May 27, 2014. [18] Ghose, T. (2012) Mass Shooting Psychology: Spree Killers Have Consistent Profile, Research Shows, Huffington Post, December 18, 2012. [19] Goode, E. (2015) The Mind of Those Who Kill and Kill Themselves, The New York Times, April 6, 2015. [20] Healy, J. (2012) Suspect Bought Large Stockpile of Rounds Online, New York Times, July 26, 2012. [21] Herek, G. M. (1986). On Heterosexual Masculinity, Some Psychical Consequences of the Social Construction of Gender and Sexuality, American Behavioral Scientist, 29 (5), 563-577. [22] Holpuch, A. (2015) FBI Chief admits gun background check system failure over Dylann Roof, the guardian, July 10, 2015. Retrieved July 31, 2015 at http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jul/10/dylann-roof-gun-fbi-background-check-failed-charleston-shooting [23] Hsu, C. (2012), Adam Lanza’s Asperger’s Autism Cannot be Blamed for CT School Shootings, Experts, Medical Daily, December 17, 2012. [24] Johnson, T. (2914) NRA Finally Responds to UCSB Murders: Blame Gun Control, Media Matters for America, June 4, 2014. [25] Junod, T. (2014), Why Mass Shooting Keep Happening, Esquire, October 24, 2014. [26] K12 academics (n.d.) History of School Shootings in the United States. Retrieved online from http://www.k12academics.com/school-shootings/history-school-shootings-united-states#.VipLGn6rS71 [27] Kates, D.B and G. Mauser (2007), Would Banning Firearms Reduce Murder and Suicide? Harvard Journal of Public Law and Policy. [28] Keefe, P.R. (2013), “A Loaded Gun” A Mass Shooter’s Tragic Past,” The New Yorker, February 11, 2013. [29] Lankford, A. (2015a) Mass Shooters, Firearms, and Social Strains: A Global Analysis of an Exceptionally American Problem. Paper presented at the American Sociological Association annual meeting in Chicago, IL, August 2015. [30] Lankford, A. (forthcoming, 2015) (2015b). Public Mass Shooters and Firearms: A Cross-National Study of 171 Countries. Violence and Victims. [31] Lankford, A. (2015c)). Mass Murderers in the United States: Predictors of Offender Deaths. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology, doi: 10.1080/14789949.2015.1054858 [32] Lankford, A. (2015). Mass Shooters in the USA, 1966-2010: Differences Between Attackers Who Live and Die. Justice Quarterly, 32(2), 360-379. [33] Lazurus, R.S. (1980) The stress and coping paradigm, In Eisodorfer, C., D. Cohen and A. Kleinman (eds.), Conceptual Models for Psychopathology, Spectrum, New York, pp. 173–209. [34] Lee, M.W., T. Bankin, T. Hays, and S. Thomas (2007) Revisiting the Southern Culture of violence, The Sociological Quarterly, Vo. 48, 2, Spring 2007, pp. 253–275. [35] Leghorn, N. (2013) National Academy Study: Obama, Dems Wrong on AWB, Gun Control, the Truth about Guns.Com, June 27, 2013. Retrieved August 4, 2015 at https://gunculture2point0.wordpress.com/2014/03/11/did-the-1994-federal-assault-weapons-ban-affect-mass-shootings/ [36] Lemieux, F. (2014). Effect of Gun Culture and Firearm Laws on Gun Violence and Mass Shootings in the United States: A Multi-Level Quantitative Analysis. International Journal of Criminal Justice Vol. 9 (1), 74-93. [37] {37} Levin, J. and Madfis, E. (2009) Mass Murder at School and Cumulative Strain: A Sequential Model, American Behavioral Scientist 2009; 52; 1227, DOI: 10.1177/0002764209332543. [38] Lott, J.R. (2013) What Motivates Mass Murderers, National Review, March 5, 2013. [39] Macinnis, L (2007) U.S. most armed country with 90 guns per 100 people, Reuters, August 28, 2007. [40] McDonnel, S. (2014) China train Station Attack: 33 Killed in Mass Stabbin in Yunnan Province, ABC News, March 2, 2014. [41] Metzl, J.M. and K.T. MacLeish, (2015) Mental Illness, Mass Shootings, and the Politics of American Firearms, American Journal of Public Health, m 105 (2), doj: 10.2105/AJPH.2014.302242 pp. 140–149. [42] Miller, J., S. Reynolds, S., and P. Pilkonis (2004). The validity of the five -factor model prototypes for personality disorders in two clinical samples. Psychological Assessment, 16 (3), 310-322. [43] Morton, R.J., editor (n.d.) Serial Murder: A Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives for Investigators, Federal Bureau of Investigation, retrieved July 1, 2015 from https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/serial-murder/serial-murder-1#two [44] O’Brien BS, Frick PJ. Reward dominance: associations with anxiety, conduct problems, and psychopathy in children. J Abnormal Psychol. 1996; 24: 223–240. doi: 10.1007/BF01441486. [PubMed] [Cross Ref] [45] O’Toole, M.S. (2012) Injustice Collectors and Leakage, Psychology Today, May 22, 2012. [46] Pappas, S. (2015) Guns Don’t Deter Crime, Study Finds, Life Science, July 6, 2015. [47] Pappas, S. (2012) Mass Shootings: Why It’s so hard to Predict Who Will Snap, Live Science, July 23, 2012. [48] Pappas, S. (2014) 5 Milestones in Gun Control History, Life Science, January 14, 2013. [49] Patchin, J. W. and H. Sameer (2011). Traditional and Nontraditional Bullying Among Youth: A Test of General Strain Theory, Youth & Society. Jun2011, Vol. 43 Issue 2, p727-751. 25p. DOI: 10.1177/0044118X10366951. [50] Pearlman, J. (2014) Eight Children Murdered in Mass Stabbin in Australia, The Telegraph, December 19, 2014. [51] Peters, J. (2013) Everything You Think That You Know That Mass Murder Is Wrong, Slate, December 19, 2013. [52] Rogers, S. (2015) Gun Homicides and Gun Ownership Listed by Country, The Guardian, July 22, 2012. [53] Salentan, W. (2013) Rethinking Gun Control: Surprising Finding from a Comprehensive Report on gun Violence, Slat, June 25, 2013. Retrieved August, 5, 2015 at http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/human_nature/2013/06/handguns_suicides_mass_shootings_deaths_and_self_defense_findings_from_a.html [54] Schmalleger, F. (2015) Criminology (7^th edition), Prentice Hall, Saddle River, New Jersey. [55] Sichel, M (n.d.) Injustice Collectors, Psyber Square. [56] Smith, R.A., Levine, T.R., Lachlan, K.A., & Fediuk, T.A. (2002). The high cost of complexity in experimental design and data analysis: Type I and type II error rates in multi-way ANOVA. Human Communications Research, 28(4), 515-529. [57] Smith, T., “How to Stop Mass Shootings – WSJ,” The Right Coast, August 9, 2015, http://rightcoast.typepad.com/rightcoast/2015/08/how-to-stop-mass-shootings-wsj.html (accessed September 21, 2015). [58] Schulman, A.N. (2013) What Mass Shooter Want –and How to Stop The, Wall Street Journal, November 8, 2013, http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303309504579181702252120052 (accessed September 21, 2015). [59] Singal, J. (2014) Why You Shouldn’t Fear the Rise in Mass Shootings, Science of Us, March 24, 2014. retrieved, Jul 20, 2015 at http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2014/09/why-you-shouldnt-fear-the-mass-shooting-rise.html [60] Timberg, S. (2015) Mass Shootings and the Dark Side of American Exceptionalism, Solon, August 27, 2015. [61] Twenge, J.M. (2012) Keep Calling Him a Coward, Psychology Today, July 20, 2012. [62] Van Brussel, J. (2012) U.S. Gun: Statistics Show America an Outlier among Developed Nations, Huffington Post, December 12, 2012. [63] “Video Games,” The TV Project, retrieved August 28, 2015 at http://www.tvp.org/video_ga,es/html [64] Walkup, J. T. and Rubin, D. H. (2013). Social withdrawal and violence—Newtown, Connecticut. The New England Journal of Medicine, 368, pp. 399-401. [65] Washington Post (2014) Gun homicides and gun ownership by country, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/nation/gun-homicides-ownership/table/ [66] Yamana, D. (2014) did the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban Affect Mass Shooting, Gun Culture 2.0, February 11, 2014 https://gunculture2point0.wordpress.com/2014/02/11/did-the-1994-federal-assault-weapons-ban-affect-mass-shootings/