School shootings are a topic of research in a variety of different disciplines—from psychology, to sociology to criminology, pedagogy, and public health—each with their own set of theories. The result is a comprehensive source for current research on school shootings, and will provide a direction for future research.

The expert research of School Shootings: International Research, Case Studies, and Concepts for Prevention goes beyond simple "violent teen culture creates violent students" constructs to present current theories and findings, a diverse range of case studies, and examples of successful prevention programs. (Instructive cases that fall outside the general template, such as an early female shooter and a Samurai sword attack, are also included for additional insights.) Contributors from a variety of disciplines thoughtfully explore the role of media in conceptualizing school shootings and shooters for the public, the social nuances of "cool kids" versus outsiders, and the construction of male socialization for multifaceted coverage of this growing phenomenon. Among the featured topics:

The relevance of fantasy in school shootings.
Thirty-five school shootings: trends, patterns, typology.
Legitimated adolescent violence: lessons from Columbine.
School shooters and their followers on the Web.
The Virginia Student Threat Assessment Guidelines: a science-based prevention strategy.
School-level crisis management when a shooting incident occurs.
A groundbreaking work that opens up possibilities for future studies and interdisciplinary and cross-cultural collaboration, School Shootings is imperative reading for researchers in criminology and criminal justice, especially with an interest in lifecourse studies and violence prevention/intervention. It will also be of considerable interest to researchers in youth-related fields, including child and school psychology, and education.



School shootings are a topic of research in a variety of different disciplines—from psychology, to sociology to criminology, pedagogy, and public health—each with their own set of theories. Many of these theories are logically interconnected, while some differ widely and seem incompatible with each other, leading to divergent results about potential means of prevention. In this innovative work, leading researchers on the topic of school shootings introduce their findings and theoretical concepts in one combined systematic volume. The contributions to this work highlight both the complementary findings from different fields, as well as cases where they diverge or contradict each other. The work is divided into four main sections: an overview of current theoretical approaches and empirical models; application of these theories to international cases, including Columbine (USA), Emsdetten (Germany), and Tuusula (Finland); a critique of the influence of the media, both in the portrayals of past events and its effect on future events; and finally an overview of existing models for prevention and intervention, and measures of their success. The result is a comprehensive source for current research on school shootings, and will provide a direction for future research.