This research considers the role of romantic rejections in rampage school shootings by adolescent males. Examined were the arguments that these young shooters understand such rejections as one of many undeserved humiliations that have damaged their gender credibility and thus their school social status; and that the norms of a traditional masculinity insisting on the repudiation of feminine emotionality constrain them from expressing sadness or vulnerability over the rejection. Fifteen of the 29 adolescent shooters in the study sample had experienced romantic rejection in the period leading up to their rampage. Overall, their reactions to such rejection affirmed the above arguments. The rejected shooters reacted with growing anger to what they perceived as these gendered injustices; at the same time, they typically suppressed any public display of feminine emotionality in response to the hurtful experience of rejection. While they commonly threatened and derided their rejecter(s), with the exception of one case, they reserved their physical violence, including shooting, for male peers whom they thought were a factor in their breakup or who had emasculated them through bullying. Suggestions for intervention and prevention based on the study findings are offered.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BomanP. (2003). Gender differences in school anger. Int Educ J. 4, 71–77.
2.
CastilloA. (n.d.). Life's fantasies. J Alvaro Castillo. Retrieved from Langman P (2008–2018), www.schoolshooters.info (accessed March21, 2013).
3.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1992-2015. School-Associated Violent Death Surveillance System (partially funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Safe and Healthy Students), unpublished tabulation.
4.
CoxDL, StabbSD, HulgusJS. (2000). Anger and depression in girls and boys: A study of gender differences. Psychol Women Q. 24, 110–112.
5.
DedmanB. (2000, October 15–16). Exclusive report: Deadly lessons: Shooters tell why. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved from files.eric.ed.gov/full-text/ED448359.pdf (accessed October27, 2015).
6.
DeJongW, EpsteinJC, HartTE. (2003). Bad things happen in good communities: The rampage shooting in Edinboro, Pennsylvania, and its aftermath. In Deadly Lessons: Understanding Lethal School Violence. MH Moore, CV Petrie, AA Braga, et al., eds. (National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, The National Academies Press, Washington DC) pp. 70–100.
7.
DonovanK. (2004). Witness statement. In An Incident of School Violence in East Greenbush. WB Patrick, ed. p. 167. Retrieved from www.schoolshooters.info (accessed December14, 2014).
8.
DumitriuC. (2013). School violence around the world: A social phenomenon. Procedia Soc Behav Sci. 92, 299–308.
9.
DuttonDG, WhiteKR, FogartyD. (2013). Paranoid thinking in mass shooters. Aggress Violent Behav. 18, 548–553.
10.
FainruS. (1998, October 29). Killing in the classroom: A tragedy was preceded by many overlooked signals. Boston Globe. Quoted in Langman P. (2009), p. 117.
11.
FarrK. (2018). Adolescent rampage school shootings: Responses to failing masculinity performances by already-troubled boys. Gender Issues. 35, 73–97.
12.
FastJ. (2008). Luke Woodham: Socialization into extreme violence. Ceremonial Violence: A Psychological Explanation of School Shootings. (The Overlook Press, Woodstock, NY) pp. 138–171.
13.
FurmanW, McDunnC, YoungBJ. (2009). The role of peer and romantic relationships in adolescent affective development. In Forthcoming in Adolescent Emotional Development and the Emergence of Depressive Disorders. NB Allen, L Sheeber, eds. (Cambridge University Press, New York, NY).
14.
GalambosNL, AlmeidaDM, PetersenAC. (1990). Masculinity, femininity, and sex role attitudes in early adolescence: Exploring gender intensification. Child Dev. 61, 1905–1914.
15.
GordonG, DaltonS, KolbertJ, et al. (2014). Proactive and reactive aggression and cognitive and affective empathy among students in middle childhood. Int J Sch Cog Psychol. 1, 105.
Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. (n.d.). Columbine Documents. Golden, CO. Quoted in Langman P. (2009), pp. 40–41.
18.
KalishR, KimmelM. (2010). Suicide by mass murder: Masculinity, aggrieved entitlement, and rampage school shootings. Health Sociol Rev. 19, 451–464.
19.
KimmelM. (2008). Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men. (Harper, New York, NY.)
20.
KinkelK. (n.d.). Kip Kinkel's writings. Quoted in Langman P (2014). Retrieved from www.schoolshooters.info (accessed February25, 2016).
21.
LangmanP. (2008–2018). School Shooters. Info-Resources on school shootings, perpetrators, and prevention. Langman Psychological Association. Retrieved from http://www.schoolshooters.info (accessed October30, 2018).
22.
LangmanP. (2009). Why Kids Kill: Inside the Minds of School Shooters. (Palgrave Macmillan, New York, NY.)
23.
LangmanP. (2014). Luke Woodham: The search for justification. Retrieved from www.schoolshooters.info (accessed January23, 2016).
24.
LangmanP. (2016). Karl Pierson: A psychopath with a superiority complex. Retrieved from www.schoolshooters.info (accessed February5, 2017).
25.
LearyMR, KowalskiRM, SmithL, et al. (2003). Teasing, rejection, and violence: Case studies of the school shootings. Aggress Behav. 9, 202–214.
26.
LiebermanD, NgC. (2012, March 2). Ohio school shooter allegedly killed ex-girlfriend s new boyfriend, students tell ABC News. ABC News Network. Retrieved from preview.abcnews.go.com/US/ohio-school-shooting (accessed May7, 2016).
27.
LiebermanJA. (2008). School Shootings (2nd edition.). (Citadel Press, New York, NY.)
LondonB, DowneyD, BonicaC, et al. (2007). Social causes and consequences of rejection sensitivity. J Res Adolesc. 17, 481–506.
30.
MooreMH, PetrieCV, BragaAA, et al. (2003). Deadly Lessons: Understanding Lethal School Violence. (National Research Council & Institute of Medicine, The National Academies Press, Washington DC.)
31.
MurphyAM, RussellG. (2018). Rejection sensitivity, jealousy, and the relationship to interpersonal aggression. J Interpers Violence. 33, 2118–2129.
32.
National School Safety and Security Services. (2010). School shootings and school violence incidents: 2000–2010. Retrieved from www.schoolsecurity.org
33.
NewmanK, FoxC, HardingDJ, et al. (2004). Rampage: The Social Roots of School Shootings. (Basic Books, New York, NY.)
PascoeCJ. (2007). Dude, You're a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School (2nd edition.). (University of California Press, Berkeley, CA.)
36.
Romero-CanyasR, DowneyG, BerensonK, et al. (2010). Rejection sensitivity and the rejection-hostility link in romantic relationships. J Pers. 78, 119–148.
37.
SchuttRK. (2015). Investigating the Social World: The Process and Practice of Research (8th edition.). (Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.)
38.
SommerF, LeuschnerV, ScheithauerH. (2014). Bullying, romantic rejection and conflict with teachers: The crucial role of social dynamics in the development of school shootings—A systematic review. Int J Dev Sci. 8, 3–24.
39.
SpencerL, RitchieJ, LewisJ, DillonL. (2003). Qualitative Evaluation: A Framework for Assessing Research Evidence. (Government Chief Social Researcher's Office, London.)
Testimony by Mitchell Johnson. (2007, April 2). Mitchell K. Wright et al., v. Andrew Golden, et al. Circuit Court of Craighead County, Fayetteville, AR, p. 79.
42.
WernerNE, CrickNR. (2004). Maladaptive peer relationships and the development of relational and physical aggression during middle childhood. Soc Dev. 13, 495–514.
