shrinkrants:Mass Shootings: From Grief and Outrage to Activism and Action by Kaethe Weingarten
shrinkrants:Mass Shootings: From Grief and Outrage to Activism and Action by Kaethe Weingarten On May 14th and 28th, two eighteen-year-old males massacred 31 people and injured many more. I am referring to the events in Buffalo and Uvalde, the two mass shootings that have received the most attention in the month of May. However, between May 14th and June 6th, there have been at least four dozen more mass shootings. Experts tell us that these horrific events fit a pattern, that the sequence that preceded these events unfolded as most do, and that the data clearly tell us what will solve the problem of mass killings and what will not. The only question now is whether the sequence that follows will also follow a predictable pattern: doing nothing that will make a positive difference in decreasing civilian homicide.There is another important aspect to the pattern that research has documented: despite extensive media coverage of mass shootings and school shootings in particular, the actual effect on individuals’ emotional state fades after about one week unless a person lives in the vicinity where the events have taken place. Given how intense the immediate emotional response is to murdered children and caring adults who tried to protect them, the window of public pressure to create political action closes remarkably fast.In this statement, I am going to highlight a few areas that relate to mass killings, but I am not trying to cover all the meaningful angles that converge on this topic. I am focusing on aspects that relate to what might be broadly considered the psychological arena since that is my area of expertise.1 The topics I am addressing are not presented in order of importance.Othering and RacismLoneliness and Feeling OtheredLeaking Plans BeforehandThe Criminalization of Mental IllnessGun AvailabilityHardening Classrooms (as a contributor to violence)[ A thoughtful and beyond-what’s-in-mainstream-media analysis, with suggestions follows. Well worth a complete read.] Reading this article was healing medicine! -- source link
#reasonalble hope#gun violence