A LOOK AT THE FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO MASS VIOLENCE
It’s not good news!
My brother, an ardent gun-rights advocate, and I had an ongoing debate for years. This debate encouraged me to do a deep dive into the research on gun-control and mass shootings. Many of these debates became essays on the Mad Sociologist Blog under the Gun Control Category. By the end of 2015 I was approaching a general theory of mass shootings and mass violence in general. The first step was getting past the parameters of the debate involving Good Guys vs. Bad Guys with Guns. In 2016 I wrote a summary of my observations on the cause of mass shootings. These four factors, Transcendent Values, Anomie and Isolation, Troubled Masculinity, and Access to Guns have been consistent contributors to mass violence ever since.
In January, journalist Nick Turse published a piece that might extend my analysis. Turse elaborates the correlation between perpetrators of mass violence and military service. This adds a new element that I think incorporates well into the theory.
Sources
The Great American Gun Addiction – The Mad Sociologist Blog
Getting Past the Mass Shooting Carousel – The Mad Sociologist Blog
Countering organized violence in the United States
The Escalating Terrorism Problem in the United States
23_0724_opa_strategic-intelligence-assessment-data-domestic-terrorism.pdf
The Mental Health Effects of Social Isolation
Social isolation and mental health: Evidence from adults with serious mental illness – PubMed
Social connectedness as a determinant of mental health: A scoping review – PMC
5 Things We’ve Learned About Men, Anger, and Aggression | Psychology Today
Chart: Mass shootings: US the worst in the world by far | Statista
US vs the world: Gun culture, laws and mass shootings | CNN
Rate of gun violence deaths In U.S. is higher than much of the world : Goats and Soda : NPR
5 killed, 200 injured in German Christmas market attack – ABC News
Who is Magdeburg market attack suspect Taleb al-Abdulmohsen? What we know
What we know about Shamsud-Din Jabbar, New Orleans truck attack suspect – The Washington Post
Tracing the New Orleans Attacker’s Secret Radicalization – The New York Times
1 Dead After a Cybertruck Explodes Outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas – The New York Times
Suspect in Las Vegas Cybertruck explosion was Army member on leave – ABC News
Matthew Livelsberger’s possible explosion motive revealed | News | gazette.com
Matthew Livelsberger Alleged Manifesto: Read Full Email Sent to Retired Soldier
Details on Las Vegas Cybertruck explosion suspect Matthew Livelsberger emerge – The Washington Post
U.S. Military Service Is Strongest Predictor of Carrying Out Extremist Violence
PIRUS-Mass Casualty Extremist Offenders with Military Background-Final (4).pdf
How ISIS Really Recruits its Members | Columbia Magazine
Coser, Lewis A. 1956. The Functions of Social Conflict. New York: Free Press.
Dahrendorf, R. (1959). Class and class conflict in industrial society. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
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