Bullying, Romantic Rejection, and Conflicts with Teachers: The Crucial Role of Social Dynamics in the Development of School Shootings – A Systematic Review

Abstract

A plethora of studies have appeared which argue that, prior to their attack, the perpetrators of school shootings had experienced intense conflicts and problematic relations (e.g. bullying) with peers and teachers, and were on the periphery of the schools' social life. This in turn resulted in the perpetrators' view of themselves as marginalized victims. However, methodological problems and inconsistencies mark many studies, and findings vary. In an attempt to clarify the role of perpetrators' negative social experiences with peers and teachers prior to their attack, we have undertaken a systematic search of the literature, including 35 international primary studies on school shootings. In selecting the studies we limited ourselves to ones which deal with at least two (Range: 2-39) cases in which a violent targeted attack was carried out by a current or former student who chose their school or university as the site of the attack. A total of 126 cases (128 perpetrators) from 13 countries (USA,

Prevention of Targeted School Violence by Responding to Students' Psychosocial Crises: The NETWASS Program

“…Rather, complex interactions of psychological, sociocultural, structural, and situational risk factors (e.g., peer rejection, lack of parental control, mental problems, easy access to weapons, fantasies of violence and revenge) must be taken into account (Rocque, ). None of these factors can be seen as sufficient conditions for school shootings, but in retrospect can be found in various combinations (Sommer, Leuschner, & Scheithauer, ). Although there is no consistent perpetrator profile, identification of these risk factors in combination with leakage and other forms of warning behavior offers a promising approach.…”

Student Crisis Prevention in Schools: The NETWorks Against School Shootings Program (NETWASS) – An Approach Suitable for the Prevention of Violent Extremism?

“…Analyses of international cases suggest that the execution of the violent act is preceded by a psychosocial crisis of the adolescent, facilitated by long-term social strains and acute stressful events, such as the loss of attachment figures or disappointment in future plans (Levin & Madfis, 2009). In most cases a significant loss of status within the school setting was identified, resulting from bullying, peer or romantic rejection, and unfair teacher behavior (Bondü & Scheithauer, 2014c;Leary et al, 2003; for a systematic review see Sommer, Leuschner, & Scheithauer, 2014).…”

“…Cornell, Allen, & Fan, 2012;Cornell & Sheras, 2006) would not have adequately taken into account for country-specific legal restrictions, emergency guidelines, and community services, as well as differential offense patterns (e.g. German cases revealed a higher casualty rate for teachers than for students (Bondü & Scheithauer, 2015;Sommer et al, 2014). As opposed to most US schools, German schools lack a multidisciplinary student support staff (i.e.…”

Editorial

“…The target article "Bullying, Romantic Rejection, and Conflicts with Teachers: The Crucial Role of Social Dynamics in the Development of School Shootings -A Systematic Review" by Sommer, Leuschner, and Scheithauer (2014) in this issue of IJDS presents readers with an opportunity to find out, whether the argument that perpetrators of school shootings had experienced intense conflicts and problematic relations with peers and teachers on their developmental pathway towards committing a violent act at their respective school turns out to be true. In a further manuscript, Bondü and Scheithauer (2014) analyze the peer and teacher relationships in German school shooting cases.…”