Mass Shootings
Research papers on mass shootings can cover the concept of what a mass shooting is and what drives the shooter or the research can be on one specific mass shooting. You can have the writers at Paper Masters cover any one of the following mass shootings in a custom written project.
Mass shootings typically covered in research today include the following:
- Columbine
- Sandy Hook
- Colorado Theater shooting
- Las Vegas Hotel Shooter
Although no one would have expected that the tragedy that occurred at Columbine High School was the last case of a mass shooting to occur in the United States. Nevertheless, the number of mass shootings that have occurred over the last decade are a disturbing sign that such tragedies to not work as a deterrent for similar acts of violence. Mass shootings are differentiated from other crimes by its definition as the killing of more than 4 people in a single day by an individual or groups of individuals. One of the most notable examples of a mass shooting after Columbine occurred at Virginia Tech University. In 2007, a young man described as an anxiety-ridden loner went on a rampage across the UT campus, killing 32 people and injuring others before commuting suicide.
One examples of a mass shooting occurred on January 8, 2011, in an Arizona suburb where Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was preparing to meet her constituents for an update on her agenda for the new years. Before Giffords had even begun, she was shot in the head at point blank range by a disgruntled young man, Jared Loughner. Although Giffords was not killed, Loughner's shooting rampage ended in the deaths of 6 people including a 9-year old girl and a federal judge. Many experts are concerned about the increase in mass shootings like these, with some blaming the availability of gun ownership as the cause and others blaming the breakdown of the nation's communities as the cause.
What is perhaps most interesting about the literature on school shootings is that while these events began to take place in 1992, it was not until the Columbine massacre that psychologists began looking at the profile of the shooters. After the Columbine massacre, social scientists came together to develop a profile of a typical shooter. This information was developed to help schools and communities identify potential shooters before they become murderers. Specifically, the profile of the school shooter, accentuated the following elements:
- "The mass killers tend to come from suburban or rural, upper-middle-class to upper-class neighborhoods and don't tend to be drug or alcohol abusers.
- Their age tends to be that of their school grade level they kill their own classmates.
- Often the killers are the targets of taunting by school athletes that may have acquired elitist status from staff and fellow students. The school killer will passionately resent this apparent elevated status for physical ability over mental capacity.
- These are not gun nuts. They're not your avid sportsmen"