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From Suicide and Strain to Mass Murder

  • Social Science and Public Policy
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Abstract

Mass media explanations and criminological profiles of mass shootings focus on the perpetrator’s individual psychological traits in their search for motive and meaning behind such horrific events. We consider the broader social context to better understand mass shootings. We focus on three recent high profile mass shootings in the United States – Aurora, CO, Newtown, CT, and Santa Barbara, CA as examples of people responding to various experienced strains with violence, and conclude with some ideas to help prevent such occurrences from happening again.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of California, Riverside, 1206 Watkins Hall, 900 University Ave, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA

    Dinur Blum & Christian Gonzalez Jaworski

Authors
  1. Dinur Blum
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  2. Christian Gonzalez Jaworski
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Correspondence to Dinur Blum.

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Blum, D., Jaworski, C.G. From Suicide and Strain to Mass Murder. Soc 53, 408–413 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-016-0035-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-016-0035-3

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