Problem
Many people refer to young people born after 1999 as the "mass shooting generation" since 1999 was the year of the Columbine school shooting and there have been mass shootings every year since then including Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook Elementary School, the Aurora, CO movie theater, Pulse nightclub, Las Vegas, Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School (MSD) in Parkland, Florida and many more.
Mass shooters are not born as such; they develop. Let's utilize what you've learned throughout this term about cognition, brain development and emotional and social development to ponder what is happening and what we might do to reduce the occurrence of mass shootings.
We can examine the case of NIkolas Cruz, who killed students at MSD in Parkland or Dylan Roof who killed a pastor and others in a Charleston church, or you may pick another mass shooter on whom you can gather enough information; be sure to indicate whom you are discussing.
Note: Review these questions first. If you cannot answer these questions regarding a specific shooter, select another one.
1. Discuss basic characteristics including the shooter's age, gender and ethnicity.
2. What was the shooter's family situation?
3. Did the shooter have siblings? Parents at home?
4. Had s/he experienced any trauma?
Let's revisit some prior discussions. Respond to the following:
1. Consider the shooter's cognitive abilities: is there evidence that the shooter might not have had fully developed hypothetico-deductive and propositional thinking?
2. Revisit the characteristics that the National School Safety Center described in Module 12; which of those did the shooter have? How might that have impacted his/her behavior?
3. Recall our discussion in Module 13 regarding how drugs change the brain. Was there evidence of drug use (legal or illegal) or abuse?
4. In Module 14, we discussed dropping out of school. Was the shooter enrolled in school? What was his/her educational status? Explain. How might those consequences have been related to his/her situation?
5. Discuss any evidence of the shooter's identity status. Is there evidence that the shooter had been diagnosed with a psychological disorder? Many people who commit mass shootings are also suicidal; is there any evidence that the shooter was suicidal? Which suicidal risk factors did s/he exhibit?
In addition to the prompts above, you will also need to provide your thoughts on the following:
1. Discuss at least six kinds of support that might have been helpful to mitigate the shooter's behavior and explain why. Be sure to include strategies that address cognitive, biological, emotional and social factors.
2. In terms of mass shooter events in general, what societal factors might be involved in the prevalence of mass shootings in the US? (Don't blindly hypothesize here, think about the resources you've used thus far.)