The current study goal was to examine the impact of routine activities theory (RAT) on school shooting injuries and fatalities to propose theoretically grounded policies. The current study involves a negative binomial analysis of 932 school shooting incidents from the K-12 school shooting database (K-12 SSDB). The results suggest that pre-planned attacks and firearm types were significantly related to the number of school shooting causalities. The findings suggest policy development and implementation should concentrate on the motivated offender and target suitability component of routine activities theory to reduce school shooting casualties. Specifically, policies should concentrate on limiting access to firearms, and specific types (i.e., rifles), and fostering a welcoming and inclusive environment for students.
TopIntroduction
Disproportionate media coverage of rampage school shootings (i.e., indiscriminate shooting events unrelated to any other crime or incident, with at least four victims) has influenced citizen perceptions, perpetuated moral panic, and fueled empirical inquiry over the topic of school shootings (Elsass et al., 2016; Pane, 2019; Rocque & Duwe, 2019). Increased attention to comprehending perpetrators and factors involved in school shootings has led to increased fear of school gun violence and safeguarding schools (Gammel et al., 2021; Pane, 2019). These factors have partly fueled disagreement in the academic community and relevant organizations on developing a universal definition of school shootings and indirectly contribute to the under-reporting of school shooting incidents (Elsass et al., 2016; Riedman & O’Neill, 2020; Rocque, 2012). Much empirical inquiry has concentrated on comprehending and developing preventative strategies to combat rampage school shootings (Gammel et al., 2021; Rocque, 2012). Considering that school shootings (i.e., any incident involving the discharge of a firearm on K-12 school grounds) are rare and most school shooting incidents would not qualify as a rampage school shooting (Fridel, 2019; Gammel et al., 2021; Holland et al., 2019; Madfis, 2017; Paradice, 2017; Rocque & Duwe, 2019), it is essential to investigate some of the structural and social factors that may be related to school shooting incidents, in order to develop theoretically-based policies.
Following rampage school shootings, numerous policy suggestions are disseminated through media outlets, such as arming teachers, increasing school resource officer presence, implementing target hardening measures (e.g., metal detectors, access control measures), school climate measures (e.g., bullying prevention), and banning firearms (i.e., a certain type of firearms and firearms in general) (Klarevas et al., 2019). These suggestions and conversations have led the public to focus on using gun regulation and legislation to solve school shootings and prevent gun violence on school campuses. However, rampage school shootings are extremely rare (Rocque & Duwe, 2019). Previous work has concluded that school shootings and community violence share similar causal factors (e.g., gang presence, student disputes, teacher-student disputes); thus, current strategies combating the issue may prove ineffective (Shultz et al., 2013). Empirical examination of rampage school shootings provides an incomplete understanding of school shooting incidents and may help contribute to the expenditure of resources focused on school safety while neglecting school personnel and programs that may effectively prevent violence escalation in students (Cornell, 2020; Livingston et al., 2019). Although research identifying characteristics of school shootings is burgeoning (Fridel, 2019; Gammell et al., 2021; Livingston et al., 2019), no study has examined the impact of routine activities theory on school shootings severity which is the objective of the current study.