As fear of mass and rampage shootings spread with each new incident, the American public continues to debate many of the key issues surrounding such events. In both research and popular media, shooters are often classified and examined separately based on the location of the attack with more attention paid to those with the highest victim count. Using the New York Police Department’s Active Shooter Database and the Stanford Geospatial Center’s Mass Shooter Database, this research examines active and mass shooters from 1966 to 2012 and seeks to outline differences in the descriptive statistics about the shooters and the events using multiple thresholds. The data indicate that regardless of thresholds, incidents of mass and active shooting events have been increasing steadily. This exploratory study then identifies strains and other information about the shooters and their backgrounds, relationships, and development using data gathered from public media sources, books, and academic journal articles. Of the various themes and multilevel factors that emerged among the data, mental illness and failure affected more than half of the shooters, thus justifying their use in the Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). Using a QCA framework, the dissertation then uses these two factors—failure and mental illness—with radicalization to compare event characteristics and outcomes. This method evaluates the presence or absence of these factors for each shooter and uses the combinatorial conjunctions to highlight emergent patterns of outcomes. It also examines these patterns and combinations in a temporal context. Such a method highlights the rates of increase in incidents, deaths, and injuries over time, with greater rates of increase post-Columbine, suggesting a shift in cultural scripts for those who experience failure and mental illness. Additionally, these two motivations—both independently and in combination—produce the greatest means per year and rates of increase of incidents, deaths, and injuries warranting further concern and research about their interaction and outcomes. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by offering methodological insight about the use of thresholds in active shooter research; examining multi-level biographical factors that may have influenced decisions and behavior; relating motivational factors and event characteristics and outcomes; and identifying driving factors behind means and rates of increase of incidents, deaths, and injuries over time. Continued research in this area can inform public policy, correct misconceptions and conflict about rates of increase of active and mass shootings, and identify prevention and intervention methods to increase public safety.
Subject (authority = RUETD)
Topic
Criminal Justice
Subject (authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Mass shootings
Subject (authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Mass murder
Subject (authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Public safety
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Rutgers University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier (type = RULIB)
ETD
Identifier
ETD_8126
PhysicalDescription
Form (authority = gmd)
electronic resource
InternetMediaType
application/pdf
InternetMediaType
text/xml
Extent
1 online resource (xiii, 387 p. : ill.)
Note (type = degree)
Ph.D.
Note (type = bibliography)
Includes bibliographical references
Note (type = statement of responsibility)
by Sarah E. Daly
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Graduate School - Newark Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier (type = local)
rucore10002600001
Location
PhysicalLocation (authority = marcorg); (displayLabel = Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey)
I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.