Mass Shootings - Dr. Adam Shniderman PDF

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Dr. Adam Shniderman...

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Ashlyn Holliday Dr. Adam Shniderman Critical Issues in Crime and Justice September 28, 2016 Mass Shootings  

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Biology does NOT equal behavior FBI Definition o More than 4 people get killed by one shooter in a single event o Does not include gang violence Federal Statute Definition o Beginning in 2013, THREE or more people killed in a single event o Does NOT include the killer if they are killed by police or commits suicide o Does not include gang violence Mass Shooting Tracker Definition o Crowdsourced information of incidents in which four or more people are INJURED or KILLED by GUNFIRE not including the shooter o Does not parse the definition to exclude any type of gun violence such as gang shooting or domestic violence Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut (Democrat) o 372 mass shootings in 2015 o Used shooting tracker definition o Showed that in 42% of the 353 shootings, nobody was killed o Says we should focus on mass shootings rather than everyday gun violence Mother Jones’ Mark Follman o 4 mass shootings in 2015 o Used Federal Statute definition o Says we should focus on everyday gun violence rather than mass shootings USA Today o 22 Mass shootings in 2015 o Used FBI definition o Says we should focus on everyday gun violence rather than mass shootings Mass shooting tracker findings o 33% of mass shootings under shooting tracker criteria results in no fatalities o Only 5% are mass killings o Says we should focus on everyday gun violence rather than mass shootings Harvard study o Says mass shootings are increasing o Mass shooting every 172 days since 1982 o Since Sept 6, 2011  14 public mass shootings  Average interval of less than 172 days between shootings  Happening closer together

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James Alan Fox o Incorrect approach o All homicides in which four or more people were murdered with a gun  Includes domestic violence o Skews the numbers Focus on mental health o What we think  Want to be able to explain WHY mass shootings happen  Might help with prediction  Psychotic disorders seem to increase risk of violence  Separates shooters from “normal” people  Shooters become “others”  Comforting to general population o Reality  Mental health is a problem in the US  But it’s NOT the cause of mass shootings  People with mental disorders are more likely to be a victim than the perpetrator  More likely to hurt themselves before hurting others  Individuals with mental diseases and disorders are no more likely to be violent than the general population  Substance abuse COULD increase chance of violence  But is NOT proven to ALWAYS increase risk Brief comment on prediction o Correlation does NOT prove causation  Possessing a gene or neurological trait does NOT cause violence  Is the cause-effect reversed?  Does B actually cause A?  Is there a third common factor that causes A and B?  Does an unknown C cause A and B?  Is there no causal relationship?  Does A not equal B at all? o Best predictors are still actuarial tables, which rely on past behavior  Created and used by insurance companies  Accountants created it  Use tables to calculate risks...