A Scoping Review of the Literature on School Shooting From 1990 to 2023

Abstract

School shootings represent a critical area of research in the context of violence in educational settings, especially in the United States. Despite increasing studies on this topic, there remains a need for a systematic scoping review to consolidate findings across various dimensions of school shootings. This study applies the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews framework to analyze the literature on school shootings published between 1990 and 2023, identifying patterns across four primary themes: risk factors, consequences, prevention strategies, and specific high-profile school shootings. Data were gathered from the Web of Science and Google Scholar, resulting in a dataset of 601 articles. The findings reveal a dominant focus on psychological risk factors, while studies on the aftermath and prevention of school shootings, particularly concerning physical security, are comparatively less explored. Interest in examining individual incidents remains high, underscoring the field’s emphasis on understanding specific high-profile shootings within broader patterns of violence. This review thus offers a comprehensive synthesis of the literature on school shootings, focusing on areas that require further research to improve safety and preventive measures in educational settings.