Mass Shootings and Routine Activities Theory: The Impact of Motivation, Target Suitability, and Capable Guardianship on Fatalities and Injuries

This study uses the routine activities framework to identify motivation, target, and guardian characteristics influencing the severity of mass shooting fatalities and injuries. Significant findings indicate media-driven motivations, particularly fame-seeking perpetrators, produced more casualties. O...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Silva, Jason R. (Author)
Contributors: Greene-Colozzi, Emily Ann
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2021
In: Victims & offenders
Year: 2021, Volume: 16, Issue: 4, Pages: 565-586
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Keywords:
harm mitigation
Gun violence
Victims
Routine Activities Theory
Mass shooting
Description
Summary:This study uses the routine activities framework to identify motivation, target, and guardian characteristics influencing the severity of mass shooting fatalities and injuries. Significant findings indicate media-driven motivations, particularly fame-seeking perpetrators, produced more casualties. Open-spaces and schools provided more suitable targets, with open-spaces incurring more fatalities and schools incurring more injuries. Guardianship variables indicated perpetrators with a history of mental illness, as well as incidents involving rifles, more than one gun, and ending in the perpetrator’s death, all resulted in higher rates of victimization. A discussion of findings highlights targeted policy and security strategies aimed at reducing the victim-counts attributed to mass shooting attacks.
ISSN:1556-4991
DOI:10.1080/15564886.2020.1823919