08-27-2015, 03:19 PM
Why all the public mass shootings in America?
Here's what one expert has to say.
![[Image: 2BB1476500000578-0-image-a-2_1440631862083.jpg]](http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/08/27/00/2BB1476500000578-0-image-a-2_1440631862083.jpg)
University of Alabama criminologist ^ Adam Lankford discovered The United States has experienced five times the number of mass shootings in the last 50 years than any other country - and says the 'cultural propensity for violence' is to blame.
The reality is that very few people achieve the wealth, fame and prestige that Americans are socialized to believe is our destiny. When the socially sanctioned path toward success doesn’t take people where they want to go, some resort to other means. Negative social interactions — lack of friends and mentors, failures in school — and mental illness can exacerbate the problem, making them believe that “their dreams are hopeless,” Lankford said.
The strain theory framework has traditionally been used to explain high rates of crime, particularly in poor and marginalized communities, but Lankford says it’s particularly apt to describe mass killings. Unlike most other offenders, shooters are likely to leave behind memos or manifestos purporting to explain their actions. And most of them, including Flanagan, cite negative social interactions and blocked goals as their primary motives. “They are in real pain, but they’re eager to blame that pain on those around them,” Lankford said.
America has the highest rate of mass shootings in the world. There were 291 documented mass shootings in the world between 1966 and 2012, with 90 (31 per cent) occurring in the United States (which has only 5% of the world's population). American mass shooters are also 3.6 times more likely to arm themselves with multiple weapons than mass shooters in other countries.
The Philippines, with 18 mass shootings between 1966 and 2012, was second, followed by Russia (15), Yemen (11), and France (10). America has had five times more mass shootings than any other country in the world in the last 50 years.
Lankford outlined several factors that he believes have caused this, including:
• America's high rate of gun ownership
• The idolization of fame among U.S. mass shooters
• And what Lankford calls the 'the dark side of American exceptionalism'
Lankford also believes the failure of the US health care system to treat mental illness is partly to blame, but is not a entirely a factor in itself.
'Because of its world-leading firearm ownership rate, America does stand apart and this appears connected to its high percentage of mass shootings.'
He added: 'Increasingly in America — perhaps more than in any other country on the globe — fame is revered as an end unto itself, some mass shooters succumb to terrible delusions of grandeur and seek fame and glory through killing.
'They accurately recognize that the only way they can guarantee that their names and faces adorn magazines, newspapers, and television is by slaughtering unarmed men, women, or children.'
Lankford concludes: 'Unfortunately, the most obvious step the United States could take to reduce mass shootings may also be the most politically challenging. Reduce firearms availability.'
Sources:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morni...shootings/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...alism.html
Here's what one expert has to say.
University of Alabama criminologist ^ Adam Lankford discovered The United States has experienced five times the number of mass shootings in the last 50 years than any other country - and says the 'cultural propensity for violence' is to blame.
The reality is that very few people achieve the wealth, fame and prestige that Americans are socialized to believe is our destiny. When the socially sanctioned path toward success doesn’t take people where they want to go, some resort to other means. Negative social interactions — lack of friends and mentors, failures in school — and mental illness can exacerbate the problem, making them believe that “their dreams are hopeless,” Lankford said.
The strain theory framework has traditionally been used to explain high rates of crime, particularly in poor and marginalized communities, but Lankford says it’s particularly apt to describe mass killings. Unlike most other offenders, shooters are likely to leave behind memos or manifestos purporting to explain their actions. And most of them, including Flanagan, cite negative social interactions and blocked goals as their primary motives. “They are in real pain, but they’re eager to blame that pain on those around them,” Lankford said.
America has the highest rate of mass shootings in the world. There were 291 documented mass shootings in the world between 1966 and 2012, with 90 (31 per cent) occurring in the United States (which has only 5% of the world's population). American mass shooters are also 3.6 times more likely to arm themselves with multiple weapons than mass shooters in other countries.
The Philippines, with 18 mass shootings between 1966 and 2012, was second, followed by Russia (15), Yemen (11), and France (10). America has had five times more mass shootings than any other country in the world in the last 50 years.
Lankford outlined several factors that he believes have caused this, including:
• America's high rate of gun ownership
• The idolization of fame among U.S. mass shooters
• And what Lankford calls the 'the dark side of American exceptionalism'
Lankford also believes the failure of the US health care system to treat mental illness is partly to blame, but is not a entirely a factor in itself.
'Because of its world-leading firearm ownership rate, America does stand apart and this appears connected to its high percentage of mass shootings.'
He added: 'Increasingly in America — perhaps more than in any other country on the globe — fame is revered as an end unto itself, some mass shooters succumb to terrible delusions of grandeur and seek fame and glory through killing.
'They accurately recognize that the only way they can guarantee that their names and faces adorn magazines, newspapers, and television is by slaughtering unarmed men, women, or children.'
Lankford concludes: 'Unfortunately, the most obvious step the United States could take to reduce mass shootings may also be the most politically challenging. Reduce firearms availability.'
Sources:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morni...shootings/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...alism.html