Four Causes Of Mass Shootings

Yesterday, we were shocked by the news of yet another mass shooting in the United States, this time at a high school in Florida where seventeen people were killed. Families have lost children. Communities have lost citizens. Our country has lost promising young talent because of the actions of one vengeful individual.

According to news outlets, this was the eighteenth time that a weapon was discharged at a school this year, a years that was only 45 days old at the time of the incident. This raises important questions that we all need to address. Why do these shootings continue to happened, and what can be done to prevent them.

I believe that mass shootings of innocent people - which, by the way, do not happen only in the USA - are caused by four factors. A viable approach to resolving the problem will need to address all four.

Factor 1 - A failure to identify and address emotional problems

The Florida shooter showed clear signs of emotional distress, violent tendencies, and a lust for violence. The red flags were there. His fellow students actually joked that he was the one who would be most likely to come back and shoot people one day. Their predictions came true. The shooter allegedly returned to the school from which he had been expelled to exact revenge. 

If children recognized that this young man had emotional issues, where were the professionals? Was he receiving counseling? Was he recognized officially as a potential threat to the community? If so, what was being done to address those concerns? Whatshould have been done?

Factor 2 - Glorification of violence

Violence is glorified in entertainment. In movies and on television, violence is frequently shown as the solution to a problem or a way to gain respect. In many video games, violence is the only way to reach a successful outcome (i.e. a high score). This relentless conditioning may not affect all viewers and gamers equally, but it can serve as motivation and validation for those who, like the Florida shooter, have a predisposition for anti-social behavior.

Factor 3 - Easy access to powerful weapons

Despite the aforementioned red flags, the Florida shooter owned several powerful firearms and reportedly enjoyed talking about them and showing them to people. This was a worst case scenario, the extreme danger of which any thoughtful observer would have recognized. Yet, it was allowed to persist.

At one point, the United States banned assault rifles. The ban was signed into law, not by a Democrat, not by a champion of gun control, but by conservative icon Ronald Reagan. 

Factor 4 - Individualism

American culture focuses on the individual and the expression and fulfillment of the individual’s wants. If the individual wants something, he or she pursues it regardless of what the group thinks about that pursuit. Daring, rebellious behavior is often celebrated.

Some societies place a higher importance on the group or the community than on the individual. Incidents of mass violence tend to be lower in these societies. Group dynamics are not always peaceful, however. Group against group violence can be devastating, as was the case with tribal clashes in Rwanda or continued sectarian violence in the Muslim world.

Copyright © 2018 Daniel R. South 

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