A Sequence Analysis of the Behaviors and Experiences of the Deadliest Public Mass Shooters.

Researchers of public mass shooters are increasingly focusing on the pre-attack behaviors and experiences of these offenders. Varying in scope from consideration of individual factors to more generalized life course and threat assessment analyses, their scholarship has identified behavioral and experiential factors associated with public mass shooters. However, what is generally missing from this body of research is consideration of in which the offender encounters these factors, and prior related research has shown that analyzing sequences allows for insights not available from a catalogue of common characteristics.

The timing of opportunities to prevent mass shootings: a study of mental health contacts, work and school problems, and firearms acquisition.

Although it is important to know public mass shooters have in common, it is also helpful to understand different variables were present on their pathways to violence. This study explored the timing of key life events for the deadliest public mass shooters in the United States since Columbine ( = 14). Using data from official reports and supplementary sources, we found perpetrators' mental health contacts often began more than a decade before their mass shootings, and often ended more than a year before their attacks.

Gender-Based Mass Shootings: An Examination of Attacks Motivated by Grievances Against Women.

This study provides a quantitative examination of gender-based mass shootings in America from 1966-2018. Gender-based mass shootings refer to attacks motivated by grievances against women, divided into four categories based on a specific woman or women in general, as well as whether they directly target the source of their grievances. Findings indicate that specific woman-targeted shooters were the most common and significantly different from their counterparts in their domestic violence history, racial diversity, and engagement in spree attacks.

Cognitive Interviewing to Improve Questionnaires for Justice-Involved Youth.

This study demonstrates the utility of cognitive interviewing for survey and scale development in criminal justice research and identifies common comprehension problems with survey items for justice-involved youth. A cognitive interviewing strategy was utilized with a sample of youth who completed a survey examining risk factors for recidivism. A content analysis of interviews was used to identify patterns and to classify the nature and type of comprehension issues youth experienced.