Sociological research about school shootings indicate that in the majority of the cases, the violence is in retaliation to bullying and harassment perpetrated by the school elite on the school outcasts (Larkin, 2012). This blog will look at adolescent bullying and violence, and then conclude with interventions that might help prevent devastating incidents of school shootings like Columbine.
If we take the case of Columbine, Larkin (2007) observes that the school was pervaded by a sort of “cult of the athlete,” revolving in particular around football, such that athletes or “jocks” ruled the school and perpetrated violence and harassment upon outcasts. This bullying was tolerated and even encouraged by peer bystanders, who claimed that the outcasts were morally disgusting to the entire school.
Bullying increases beginning in middle school (Pellegrini, 2001), when peer relationships become unstable, such as during the transition from middle school to high school. Social hierarchies are in the midst of being established, and given the long-standing tradition of athleticism and physical domination as being signs of the elite, hierarchies are established through violence and intimidation, especially in the case of male students. Adolescent peer groups can be grouped into the jock elite, burnout outcasts, and the rest in the middle (Larkin, 2007). In Columbine, the jock elite was composed of members of the Columbine Sports Association, whereas the burnouts were called “goths,” some of whom went around in trench coats and called themselves “The Trenchcoat Mafia.”
Milner (2006) observes that peer groups can be unforgiving, in that though everyone knows who falls in what peer group, the wrong word or association can lead to an immediate fall in status. The formation of peer groups in the beginning of junior high or high school is therefore a conflict-fueled process, as social status begins in flux and then slowly crystalizes.
Bullying exists in an environment where it leads to rewards from peers and tolerance from school authorities. Brown and Merritt (2002) observed that in Columbine, the teachers would look upon bullying as “boys will be boys” and then look the other way. Bullies establish their higher social status and power by intimidating their victims, and thus are rewarded by rises in self-esteem and social competence.
What does bullying have to do with school shootings? Everything. Of 38 school shootings analyzed by Larkin (2009), at least 20 were in retaliation for bullying. Bullying and harassment ranged from small cruelties to near torture, with incidents of being burned by cigarette lighters. Prevention of school shootings therefore naturally ties into prevention of bullying.
Suggestions for prevention of school shootings have been compiled by Bondü and Scheithauer (2009). At the school level, the researchers recommend the development of a positive school climate, with a zero tolerance policy towards bullying, prevention and response procedures for bullying, and an increase in the number of mental health service providers like school counselors on campus. At the individual level, the researchers recommend concentrating on developing social and emotional competencies, limiting violent media consumption, implementing conflict resolution/mediation programs, and fostering social integration to prevent social exclusion.
References:
Böckler, N. (2013;2012;). School shootings: International research, case studies, and concepts for prevention (1. Aufl.;1; ed.). New York: Springer.
Bondü, R., & Scheithauer, H. (2009). Aktuelle Ansätze zur Prävention von School Shootings in Deutschland. Praxis der Kinderpsychologie und Kinderpsychiatrie, 58, 685–701.
Brown, B., & Merritt, R. (2002). No easy answers: The truth behind death at Columbine. New York: Lantern.
Larkin, R. W. (2007). Comprehending columbine. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
Larkin, R. W. (2009). The Columbine legacy: Rampage shootings as political acts. The American Behavioral Scientist, 52(9), 1309–1326.
Milner, M., Jr. (2006). Freaks, geeks, and cool kids: American teenagers, schools, and the culture of consumption. New York: Routledge.
Pellegrini, A. D. (2001). The roles of dominance and bullying in the development of early heterosexual relationships. Journal of Emotional Abuse, 2(2/3), 63–73.
