School Shootings

Many disciplines have examined the dynamics of school shootings such as Columbine. Consensus has come to the conclusion that such a school shooting is not the result of deranged individuals. Social psychology suggests that school shootings are a result of hostile aggression. Hostile aggression is defined as feelings of anger to inflict pain. Many support the opinions that hostile aggression can mostly be attributed to anger. In a school shooting situation feelings of anger can build up over time. The causes of aggression can be multifaceted in nature. As already noted anger is just one of the facets but there can be many other causes such as being bullied, feelings of belonging to the out group, observation of excessive violence in media, learned behavior, viewing pornography and violence against women. Freud’s hydraulic theory can come into play with social situations such as a school shooting. Freud’s theory stated that unless energy is released it will produce some sort of explosion. In situations such as school shootings it is obvious that the energy released is negative in nature and the energy has not been turned into an acceptable or useful behavior.

So how can the problem of aggression be addressed? Again, not only is the cause multifaceted but also the management. One example of how to dissipate aggression could be called clearing the air. This is a situation where key players sit down and discuss issues that are causing dissention. Another approach might be to simply apologize. Many times human nature accepts apologies when there is a perception that one has been slighted, insulted, or harmed in some manner. Modeling non-aggressive behavior is a positive step in the right direction. Socializing others on how to constructively handle frustration, insults, or painful situations can prevent negative consequences. Research has clearly indicated that redirecting aggression should never be done by punishing others with acts of aggression. Another method that has been utilized and found to be success is teaching others empathy. When members of society are able to identify with the pain and the suffering of others it can produce feelings of empathy toward others. Empathizing doesn’t give the person the ability to fully understand the pain and suffering of others but it does humanize them so that others can identify with the other person and therefore react in a more positive way.

Currently society has to come to grips with the societal viewpoint of egocentric thoughts and behaviors, in other words known as it’s all about me. Consequently a large amount of aggression that in the past has been exhibited on historical battlefields is now being found even among society’s youngest members. School yards used to be a place where minor turf issues occurred but now it has escalated to extremes such as Columbine. Society as a whole needs to contemplate social psychologist’s concerns about the cause of aggression and management of aggression to produce more positive outcomes.