Abstract
It is the violent ideology Americans cannot ignore. This hate and extremism overwhelming reside in males. Disproportionately committed by males, gun violence, as shown by data, reveals that misogyny can be a precursor to other forms of extremism. Gun violence and particularly mass-shootings have once again seized Americans of all political stripes as the hot-topic debate of the day. American's fascination with gun ownership dates to the roots of independence from the British crown and why colonists insisted that protection to own and possess firearms be woven into the private citizens' constitutional rights. There are an estimated 393 million guns in America, almost one for each citizen but held by approximately 42% of the population. It makes America, per capita, the largest privately-owned gun-toting country in the world. Many of the population surveyed claim to own four or more weapons – hardly necessary for self-defense. This chapter explores mass shootings and misogyny.
TopIntroduction
New Orleans police reported that three people were shot and killed in a mass-murder incident on South Claiborne Avenue. Two suspects are at-large in what police are saying may be gang related. The episode on Saturday night, July 28th, left seven other injured victims. Whether gang related or not, people feel the pain of innocent family members that must bear the loss of wasted lives due to guns. Dr. Ashraf Esmail interviewed by Fox8News.com said that people are hurting and trying to grasp why the violence gets happening.
According to Ashraf Esmail, Ph.D., noted criminologist and a member of the Department of Sociology, Dillard University, New Orleans, sees the “break down in societal values, and family. The breakup of the family I think is the massive problem”. Young people are growing up in very unstable homes, said Esmail” (Esmail, A., 30, July 2018). The millennials or Gen X have weak family ties and stronger technology ties making them a loss generation – (1981-1996).
Michael Gottfredson and Travis Hirschi, nationally recognized criminology professors put forth their second rendition of a crime control theory in 1990 that is direct toward a more directed self-control theory of criminal behavior. According to their general theory of crime, it is the means of obtaining immediate gratification. Thus, desires are linked to immediacy vs self-control. This may be: “(1) an impulsive personality to (2) lack of self-control to (3) the withering of social bonds to (4) the opportunity to commit crime and delinquency to (5) deviant behavior” – (Siegel and McCormick, 2006: 286). According to Lyle, the sustaining of social bonds, particularly; the family, is one key for approaching solutions to deal with criminal behavior. Turmoil in homes and families has led to turmoil in America’s streets. Loneliness spiked up with the advent of the Internet and has steadily increase each year. Many of our kids are growing up with artificial relationships formed by the Internet, Social Media, and Smartphones. These kids just do not have positive relationships.
If you want a data point that stands out, consider the fact that more people have died on America’s streets due to gun violence from 1968 to date than all the wars fought by America since the Revolutionary War, including Iraq and Afghanistan. These tragic events have a correlation that politicians and the media want to avoid. That is, the mental capacity of those that are getting their hands-on firearms and pulling the trigger. Mental illness is conveniently used to cover more deep-seated root causes [trauma] such as: abandonment, extreme bullying, family violence, witnessed parental suicides, sexual abuse, and other forms of trauma. Recent evidence points to those planning their one ups-men-ship events in advance are for some deep-seated and dark reality. SSDIs and anxiety treatment drugs are increasingly seen as a possible catalyst that may be pushing the assailants over the edge. Anti-depressants and anxiety drugs are often prescribed at increase dosage to make usage more effective until their use in maxed-out. According to Corsi, J. (2012, December 12), the overuse is not professionally managed by many physicians.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Red Flag Laws: A law allowing courts to prevent people who show signs of being a danger to themselves or to others from having access to firearms (as by courts ordering the seizure of weapons; Merriam-Webster, n.d.).
Misogyny: Cornell philosophy professor Kate Manne has answers. She argues that misogyny is not about male hostility or hatred toward women — instead, it is about controlling and punishing women who challenge male dominance. Misogyny rewards women who reinforce the status quo and punishes those who do not as cited by Illing, S (2018, February 7).
International Relations: A branch of political science concerned with relations between nations and primarily with foreign policies. Theory- s a set of ideas that explains how the international system works. Unlike an ideology, a theory of international relations is (at least in principle) backed up with concrete evidence. The two major theories of international relations are realism, conservatism, and liberalism – Sparknotes.com (n.d.) .
Incels: A member of a group of people on the Internet who are unable to find sexual partners despite wanting them, and who express hate toward people whom they blame for this cause. Cambridge.org (n.d.).
Mass-Shooting – Congressional Research Report: It defines a mass-shooting as “a multiple homicide incident in which four or more victims are murdered, (excluding the shooter) with firearms, within one event, and in one or more locations in close proximity.” The report has been frequently cited by some criminologists and gun rights advocates. ( CRR, 2013 , January 13). Some other reporting sites define a mass-shooting as (3 or more) victims with no cooling off period between the active shooting. Until the government makes a definitive declaration, statistical reporting may be skewed.