Mass Shooting Typologies: An Analysis using the Gun Violence Archive
Location
CALS
Publication Date
June 2024
Start Date
1-6-2024 9:00 AM
Description
Events such as the Uvalde school shooting and the mass shooting event at the Las Vegas concert has garnered much attention in the media and research on how these events can be prevented. Termed as “public mass shootings” these events specifically exclude mass shooting events associated with criminal felony behavior and family mass shooting events (Krouse & Richardson, 2015). The criticism of this limited research is that public mass shootings comprise a much smaller percentage of mass murder events compared to family or criminal mass murder. A potential reason for the paucity of research in family and felony mass shooting events is a lack of clarity and consensus in defining mass shooting events. As opposed to the three categories (family, felony, and public mass shootings) usually discussed in the literature, we argue that these categories are not mutually exclusive- Mass shooting events should be labeled to reflect the combination of subtypes, resulting in 5 typologies. The purpose of this study is to determine the applicability of the five proposed typologies in mass shooting events. Using the Gun Violence Archives, a database was formed of mass shooting events in 2018 and 2019. Information about each mass shooting event from these two years was collected from online media sources. Based on descriptions from media sources, each mass shooting incident was classified based on the proposed five mass shooting typologies. Results from this study will determine if the three-category system currently used is sufficient for describing mass shooting events or if a five-category system may be more appropriate. Implications for the results of this study will be discussed as it relates to the development of research in mass shooting events.
Recommended Citation
Barker, Chikira H.; Sacco, Victoria; Walsh, Hannah; and Jackson, Alricka, "Mass Shooting Typologies: An Analysis using the Gun Violence Archive" (2024). Dept. of Psychiatry Research Symposium. 3.
https://digitalscholar.lsuhsc.edu/psych_rd/2024/posters/3
Mass Shooting Typologies: An Analysis using the Gun Violence Archive
CALS
Events such as the Uvalde school shooting and the mass shooting event at the Las Vegas concert has garnered much attention in the media and research on how these events can be prevented. Termed as “public mass shootings” these events specifically exclude mass shooting events associated with criminal felony behavior and family mass shooting events (Krouse & Richardson, 2015). The criticism of this limited research is that public mass shootings comprise a much smaller percentage of mass murder events compared to family or criminal mass murder. A potential reason for the paucity of research in family and felony mass shooting events is a lack of clarity and consensus in defining mass shooting events. As opposed to the three categories (family, felony, and public mass shootings) usually discussed in the literature, we argue that these categories are not mutually exclusive- Mass shooting events should be labeled to reflect the combination of subtypes, resulting in 5 typologies. The purpose of this study is to determine the applicability of the five proposed typologies in mass shooting events. Using the Gun Violence Archives, a database was formed of mass shooting events in 2018 and 2019. Information about each mass shooting event from these two years was collected from online media sources. Based on descriptions from media sources, each mass shooting incident was classified based on the proposed five mass shooting typologies. Results from this study will determine if the three-category system currently used is sufficient for describing mass shooting events or if a five-category system may be more appropriate. Implications for the results of this study will be discussed as it relates to the development of research in mass shooting events.