2025/10/03 by Anne Nassauer · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Crime Patterns and Interventions #Education Discipline and Inequality #Gun Ownership and Violence Research
paper · pdf · doi:10.1080/01419870.2025.2558988
openalex publication_date 2025/10/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/15
School shootings are a growing public health concern, yet research has largely overlooked race as a factor. This study examines racialized dynamics in school shootings using a mixed-methods design. It combines an in-depth case study with cross-case analyses and descriptive statistics on a full sample of shootings. Findings show school shootings are not racially neutral events. First, situational analyses of how victims are killed suggest racialized differences marked by dehumanization when the victim was Black. Second, while shooters are not disproportionately White, different racial groups show distinct patterns in their context factors for school shootings: Numerous non-Black shooters showed racist convictions. In contrast, racialized bullying was a driving dynamic for Black shooters before 2000, and untreated schizophrenia was central for all Black shooters since 2000. By integrating race into the study of school shootings, findings contribute to broader debates on the intersections of race, political violence, and hate crimes.