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The Violence Project: How to Stop a Mass Shooting Epidemic
"Groundbreaking." ―Rachel Louise Snyder, bestselling author of No Visible Bruises
An examination of the phenomenon of mass shootings in America and an urgent call to implement evidence-based strategies to stop these tragedies
Winner of the 2022 Minnesota Book Award
Using data from the writers’ groundbreaking research on mass shooters, including first-person accounts from the perpetrators themselves, The Violence Project charts new pathways to prevention and innovative ways to stop the social contagion of violence. Frustrated by reactionary policy conversations that never seemed to convert into meaningful action, special investigator and psychologist Jill Peterson and sociologist James Densley built The Violence Project, the first comprehensive database of mass shooters. Their goal was to establish the root causes of mass shootings and figure out how to stop them by examining hundreds of data points in the life histories of more than 170 mass shooters—from their childhood and adolescence to their mental health and motives. They’ve also interviewed the living perpetrators of mass shootings and people who knew them, shooting survivors, victims’ families, first responders, and leading experts to gain a comprehensive firsthand understanding of the real stories behind them, rather than the sensationalized media narratives that too often prevail. For the first time, instead of offering thoughts and prayers for the victims of these crimes, Peterson and Densley share their data-driven solutions for exactly what we must do, at the individual level, in our communities, and as a country, to put an end to these tragedies that have defined our modern era.
An examination of the phenomenon of mass shootings in America and an urgent call to implement evidence-based strategies to stop these tragedies
Winner of the 2022 Minnesota Book Award
Using data from the writers’ groundbreaking research on mass shooters, including first-person accounts from the perpetrators themselves, The Violence Project charts new pathways to prevention and innovative ways to stop the social contagion of violence. Frustrated by reactionary policy conversations that never seemed to convert into meaningful action, special investigator and psychologist Jill Peterson and sociologist James Densley built The Violence Project, the first comprehensive database of mass shooters. Their goal was to establish the root causes of mass shootings and figure out how to stop them by examining hundreds of data points in the life histories of more than 170 mass shooters—from their childhood and adolescence to their mental health and motives. They’ve also interviewed the living perpetrators of mass shootings and people who knew them, shooting survivors, victims’ families, first responders, and leading experts to gain a comprehensive firsthand understanding of the real stories behind them, rather than the sensationalized media narratives that too often prevail. For the first time, instead of offering thoughts and prayers for the victims of these crimes, Peterson and Densley share their data-driven solutions for exactly what we must do, at the individual level, in our communities, and as a country, to put an end to these tragedies that have defined our modern era.
240 pages, Paperback
First published September 7, 2021
238 people are currently reading
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 240 reviews
May 28, 2022
Some brief notes:
- I read this/heard about it because it's up for the Minnesota Book Award.
- I don't want to diminish the actual research and outreach the authors are working on, because it sounds more complex, but the book itself gave me Ted Talk vibes.
- The reason I cannot fathom giving this more than three stars (and tbh I think three stars is being generous) is that the authors refuse to discuss the fact that well over 90% of mass shooters are men. They are aware of it of course, but they just handwave it away by saying this component is too mysteriously complex. Like, they can get all granular about ACEs and medication and whatever else, but when it comes to gender we get a big shrug. I believe this choice obscures the problem and naturalizes male violence, the opposite of what the authors want to do with this book. Likewise, that mass shooters almost always hit their wives, stalk their ex girlfriends, or otherwise perpetrate intimate partner and/or domestic violence prior to mass shooting is glossed over.
- I read this/heard about it because it's up for the Minnesota Book Award.
- I don't want to diminish the actual research and outreach the authors are working on, because it sounds more complex, but the book itself gave me Ted Talk vibes.
- The reason I cannot fathom giving this more than three stars (and tbh I think three stars is being generous) is that the authors refuse to discuss the fact that well over 90% of mass shooters are men. They are aware of it of course, but they just handwave it away by saying this component is too mysteriously complex. Like, they can get all granular about ACEs and medication and whatever else, but when it comes to gender we get a big shrug. I believe this choice obscures the problem and naturalizes male violence, the opposite of what the authors want to do with this book. Likewise, that mass shooters almost always hit their wives, stalk their ex girlfriends, or otherwise perpetrate intimate partner and/or domestic violence prior to mass shooting is glossed over.
May 30, 2021
'The Violence Project: How to Stop a Mass Shooting Epidemic' is not an entertaining read on a cozy couch after a hard workday. Started as psychological research by Jillian Peterson and James Densley in 2018, it grew into a unique research center that contains the one and only whole database of American mass shooters till the present day. Travels and interviews across America enabled the researchers to collect stories from perpetrators and survivors, victims' families, and law enforcement workers. Stories, in their turn, were analyzed from the mathematical and statistical viewpoints, explaining the origins of mass violence and creating a pathway to solutions on multiple levels: individual, institutional, and societal.
To learn more, please visit the project's website www.theviolenceproject.org or Twitter/Instagram accounts @theviolencepro The database is free for download and substantive analysis.
The site also contains downloadable protocols for building a crisis team at a workplace and a list of organizations that dedicate themselves to preventing mass violence.
The book is a summary of a three-year research. Chapter by chapter, the researchers debunk myths, created by social and mass media. Monsters, as they are conventionally called, are not born overnight but had been shaped during a long period of time by causes inside and outside their families. People around them might have sensed that something bad was about to happen, yet they didn’t possess techniques to avoid the disaster. The perpetrators needed guidance, yet they were not able to reach the resources that could provide help.
Despite the growing numbers of victims of mass shootings, the researchers see the light at the end of the tunnel. It's a hope that through their findings, people would be able to prevent mass violence using kindness instead of prosecution and isolation.
I'd recommend the book (and the website) for people who would like to learn about the psychological causes of violence. However, due to the mathematical approach, a mass reader could find himself/herself struggling with reading.
To learn more, please visit the project's website www.theviolenceproject.org or Twitter/Instagram accounts @theviolencepro The database is free for download and substantive analysis.
The site also contains downloadable protocols for building a crisis team at a workplace and a list of organizations that dedicate themselves to preventing mass violence.
The book is a summary of a three-year research. Chapter by chapter, the researchers debunk myths, created by social and mass media. Monsters, as they are conventionally called, are not born overnight but had been shaped during a long period of time by causes inside and outside their families. People around them might have sensed that something bad was about to happen, yet they didn’t possess techniques to avoid the disaster. The perpetrators needed guidance, yet they were not able to reach the resources that could provide help.
Despite the growing numbers of victims of mass shootings, the researchers see the light at the end of the tunnel. It's a hope that through their findings, people would be able to prevent mass violence using kindness instead of prosecution and isolation.
I'd recommend the book (and the website) for people who would like to learn about the psychological causes of violence. However, due to the mathematical approach, a mass reader could find himself/herself struggling with reading.
May 26, 2022
I began this book less than 24 hours after the Uvalde shooting and I would like to write a proper report when I have collected myself later. All I can say for now is that there is hope, with this book giving you opportunities at both the individual and institutional level to prevent mass shootings.
November 27, 2021
Interesting book about mass shootings but I didn’t come away thinking I’d learned how to stop them.
August 23, 2023
An easy to read and thoughtful, but not surprising or particularly innovative, exploration of shared risk factors among mass shooters. I'm glad I read this, but don't know if I would recommend the full book. If you were a busy person who didn't read often, but wanted a book recommendation on this topic, I would say, "Check out The Violence Project: How to Stop a Mass Shooting Epidemic, but just read the opening scene and then the last two chapters."
As an example of science communication, the prose and the opening of the book in particular are easy to read. But also as an example of science communication, I think the figure titles could be updated to be more descriptive of findings, and I think the helpful table at the end of the book could be created throughout the chapters (e.g., the table, as covered so far, summarized at the end of each chapter). There also just felt like a few holes/missing pieces that were distracting - I imagine this happens because the authors want to cover so much in a popular-press-length book. Some of these holes included having only brief shout-outs to the connection between mass shooting and domestic violence, introducing the idea that many mass shooters intend to die and then, in discussing social proof, suggesting that cadievers of shooters be shown as their popular image on the news (isn't that social proof for suicide by police/suicide by mass shooting?), and emphasizing that a sizable minority of shooters has a given trauma concern (isn't it interesting that a majority did not? Wow! Tell us about that). I should note that this book never felt like "trauma porn," which I imagine is tricky to achieve while telling many stories of shootings.
"Opportunity" was the most convincing chapter for me, and I wonder how the book's vast focus on the individual-level might have read if the authors have started with the chapter that more clearly and consistently spoke about gun laws. The comparisons to suicide prevention were excellent and convincing.
The title oversells the book, but I suppose that's publishing. I think a title that gets more at the descriptive and interview method of the study, or a title that emphasizes the storytelling in this book would do the content more justice.
As an example of science communication, the prose and the opening of the book in particular are easy to read. But also as an example of science communication, I think the figure titles could be updated to be more descriptive of findings, and I think the helpful table at the end of the book could be created throughout the chapters (e.g., the table, as covered so far, summarized at the end of each chapter). There also just felt like a few holes/missing pieces that were distracting - I imagine this happens because the authors want to cover so much in a popular-press-length book. Some of these holes included having only brief shout-outs to the connection between mass shooting and domestic violence, introducing the idea that many mass shooters intend to die and then, in discussing social proof, suggesting that cadievers of shooters be shown as their popular image on the news (isn't that social proof for suicide by police/suicide by mass shooting?), and emphasizing that a sizable minority of shooters has a given trauma concern (isn't it interesting that a majority did not? Wow! Tell us about that). I should note that this book never felt like "trauma porn," which I imagine is tricky to achieve while telling many stories of shootings.
"Opportunity" was the most convincing chapter for me, and I wonder how the book's vast focus on the individual-level might have read if the authors have started with the chapter that more clearly and consistently spoke about gun laws. The comparisons to suicide prevention were excellent and convincing.
The title oversells the book, but I suppose that's publishing. I think a title that gets more at the descriptive and interview method of the study, or a title that emphasizes the storytelling in this book would do the content more justice.
December 12, 2024
Heavy, but important. Even surprisingly hopeful. This book was extensively researched. I appreciated the different angles that were presented here... childhood trauma, the role of the internet and social media, crisis intervention, gun laws and statistics about gun ownership, mental health resources and treatment, and the No-Notoriety movement, among many other things.
I appreciated that the lives of the perpetrators were heavily researched, yet their names were never used. The stories of survivors and heroes were highlighted well. I also liked the few stories about violence that never occurred because someone intervened.
When it comes to solutions, there isn't a simple one, but I took away a lot of new thoughts from this book. This quote toward the end summed up my thoughts pretty well:
“I’ve been trying to solve this—but this is fuzzy. It’s complex. There are no quick fixes to systemic social problems. For too long, America has either: viewed possible solutions in isolation or created false dichotomies that are pitted against each other, from gun safety measures to mental health treatment. Even when solutions have merit, they are then wrongly dismissed for being imperfect. The reality is that imperfections do not render solutions completely useless. There’s no one solution to rule them all. Layering imperfect solutions holistically is the only way to prevent mass violence.”
Lastly, in the section on childhood trauma, I found it interesting that people who answer yes to all of the following questions tend to live with less psychological distress despite their high ACE (adverse childhood experiences) scores:
- During the first 18 years of life, did you have:
- at least one caregiver you felt safe with
- One good friend
- Beliefs that gave you comfort
- Did you like school?
- One teacher who cared about you
- Good neighbors
- Was there an adult (outside of the ones mentioned above) that could give you support or advice?
- Opportunities for fun
- Did you like/feel comfortable with yourself
- A predictable home routine (regular dinner time, bed time, etc)
I thought that those were pretty interesting markers for resilience.
I appreciated that the lives of the perpetrators were heavily researched, yet their names were never used. The stories of survivors and heroes were highlighted well. I also liked the few stories about violence that never occurred because someone intervened.
When it comes to solutions, there isn't a simple one, but I took away a lot of new thoughts from this book. This quote toward the end summed up my thoughts pretty well:
“I’ve been trying to solve this—but this is fuzzy. It’s complex. There are no quick fixes to systemic social problems. For too long, America has either: viewed possible solutions in isolation or created false dichotomies that are pitted against each other, from gun safety measures to mental health treatment. Even when solutions have merit, they are then wrongly dismissed for being imperfect. The reality is that imperfections do not render solutions completely useless. There’s no one solution to rule them all. Layering imperfect solutions holistically is the only way to prevent mass violence.”
Lastly, in the section on childhood trauma, I found it interesting that people who answer yes to all of the following questions tend to live with less psychological distress despite their high ACE (adverse childhood experiences) scores:
- During the first 18 years of life, did you have:
- at least one caregiver you felt safe with
- One good friend
- Beliefs that gave you comfort
- Did you like school?
- One teacher who cared about you
- Good neighbors
- Was there an adult (outside of the ones mentioned above) that could give you support or advice?
- Opportunities for fun
- Did you like/feel comfortable with yourself
- A predictable home routine (regular dinner time, bed time, etc)
I thought that those were pretty interesting markers for resilience.
September 12, 2024
The information presented is valuable, but the authors did a metric ton of research that had to be condensed into one short book, and it made everything seem scattered and disjointed. At the end, it has actionable steps for individuals, institutions, and as a society to prevent mass shootings. I'll leave the individual steps here:
- Build relationships and mentor young people.
- Develop strong skills in crisis intervention and suicide prevention.
- Monitor our own media consumption.
- Safe storage of firearms.
- If you see something, say something.
- Build relationships and mentor young people.
- Develop strong skills in crisis intervention and suicide prevention.
- Monitor our own media consumption.
- Safe storage of firearms.
- If you see something, say something.
May 22, 2021
There's really no question that I am the desired market for Jillian Peterson and James Densley's engaging and informative "The Violence Project: How to Stop a Mass Shooting Epidemic."
"The Violence Project" is borne out of the frustration both Peterson and Densley felt over the reactionary policies and actions often birthed out of yet another mass shooting. These policies and actions never really were converted into meaningful action and, of course, inevitably we would be having the same discussions after the next mass shooting.
As a book, "The Violence Project" is a refreshingly engaging and well-informed journey toward charting new pathways to prevention and innovative ways to stop the contagion of violence.
Peterson is a professor of criminology and criminal justice at Hamline University. She has led large-scale studies on mental illness and crime, school shootings, and mass violence.
Densley is a professor of criminal justice at Metropolitan State University who is known for his international work on gangs, criminal networks, violent extremism, and policing.
Together, they created The Violence Project. The Violence Project is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research center known worldwide for its work on mass shooting prevention.
This points, perhaps, to the reason that "The Violence Project" reads so beautifully yet powerfully. While it is not what I'd call apolitical, it is unquestionably nonpartisan. There is a tendency in even the best books around the subject of violence to end up taking sides. Perhaps because they are researchers, Peterson and Densley instead focus squarely on the issue itself and avoid the taking of sides. In fact, many of the ideas and solutions presented in "The Violence Project" are surprisingly devoid of political angles or preachiness. In place of partisanship, Peterson and Densley infuse "The Violence Project" with research, interviews with perpetrators themselves (many of whom were surprisingly cooperative with the research), and extensive studies regarding the impact of certain preventative measures.
In many ways, I was delighted by how incredibly matter-of-fact is the writing in "The Violence Project." At times, I could picture Peterson and Densley before me with this look of "No, really. This works and we can prove it."
It's not often that I read a book about violence or gun violence or mass shootings and end up feeling empowered, but such is the case here. I felt empowered after reading "The Violence Project."
I've spent a good majority of my life as an activist in the area of violence prevention having started out in the area of child abuse prevention before broadening into domestic violence and having a strong focus on violence involving children. The rhetoric is hot and heavy - especially if one brings in issues such as gun law reform. "The Violence Project" is well-researched and it's also accessible in terms of its language and literary style. As a project, The Violence Project is the first comprehensive database of mass shooters. The project has moved Peterson and Densley closer toward their vision of establishing the root causes of mass shootings and figuring out how to stop them by examining the data points in the lives of perpetrators. In "The Violence Project," they interview perpetrators, those who knew/know the perpetrators, victims' families, first responders, and recognized experts to gain an understanding of the real stories underneath the sensationalized media. Rather than "thoughts and prayers," Peterson and Densley have come up with data-driven solutions.
Both intellectually challenging and emotionally resonant, "The Violence Project" is a mandatory read for those concerned about the cycle of violence, and in this case mass shootings, and those who consider them to be inevitable.
Mass shootings are not inevitable. Peterson and Densley have proven it.
"The Violence Project" is borne out of the frustration both Peterson and Densley felt over the reactionary policies and actions often birthed out of yet another mass shooting. These policies and actions never really were converted into meaningful action and, of course, inevitably we would be having the same discussions after the next mass shooting.
As a book, "The Violence Project" is a refreshingly engaging and well-informed journey toward charting new pathways to prevention and innovative ways to stop the contagion of violence.
Peterson is a professor of criminology and criminal justice at Hamline University. She has led large-scale studies on mental illness and crime, school shootings, and mass violence.
Densley is a professor of criminal justice at Metropolitan State University who is known for his international work on gangs, criminal networks, violent extremism, and policing.
Together, they created The Violence Project. The Violence Project is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research center known worldwide for its work on mass shooting prevention.
This points, perhaps, to the reason that "The Violence Project" reads so beautifully yet powerfully. While it is not what I'd call apolitical, it is unquestionably nonpartisan. There is a tendency in even the best books around the subject of violence to end up taking sides. Perhaps because they are researchers, Peterson and Densley instead focus squarely on the issue itself and avoid the taking of sides. In fact, many of the ideas and solutions presented in "The Violence Project" are surprisingly devoid of political angles or preachiness. In place of partisanship, Peterson and Densley infuse "The Violence Project" with research, interviews with perpetrators themselves (many of whom were surprisingly cooperative with the research), and extensive studies regarding the impact of certain preventative measures.
In many ways, I was delighted by how incredibly matter-of-fact is the writing in "The Violence Project." At times, I could picture Peterson and Densley before me with this look of "No, really. This works and we can prove it."
It's not often that I read a book about violence or gun violence or mass shootings and end up feeling empowered, but such is the case here. I felt empowered after reading "The Violence Project."
I've spent a good majority of my life as an activist in the area of violence prevention having started out in the area of child abuse prevention before broadening into domestic violence and having a strong focus on violence involving children. The rhetoric is hot and heavy - especially if one brings in issues such as gun law reform. "The Violence Project" is well-researched and it's also accessible in terms of its language and literary style. As a project, The Violence Project is the first comprehensive database of mass shooters. The project has moved Peterson and Densley closer toward their vision of establishing the root causes of mass shootings and figuring out how to stop them by examining the data points in the lives of perpetrators. In "The Violence Project," they interview perpetrators, those who knew/know the perpetrators, victims' families, first responders, and recognized experts to gain an understanding of the real stories underneath the sensationalized media. Rather than "thoughts and prayers," Peterson and Densley have come up with data-driven solutions.
Both intellectually challenging and emotionally resonant, "The Violence Project" is a mandatory read for those concerned about the cycle of violence, and in this case mass shootings, and those who consider them to be inevitable.
Mass shootings are not inevitable. Peterson and Densley have proven it.
March 12, 2023
It’s 190 some pages so there’s zero excuse not to read it. You have kids in public schools? Read it. You regularly in public settings? Read it. You live in America? Read it.
Before this book I would have said I was moderately educated on the topic of gun violence in the US. Wow was I wrong. I have learned so much and look forward to using the resources the book provided to learn more.
This book was incredibly thoughtful and respectful on multiple levels. It is so important for people to read this so hopefully we can adjust some of our personal behaviors and better navigate this regular American experience.
Before this book I would have said I was moderately educated on the topic of gun violence in the US. Wow was I wrong. I have learned so much and look forward to using the resources the book provided to learn more.
This book was incredibly thoughtful and respectful on multiple levels. It is so important for people to read this so hopefully we can adjust some of our personal behaviors and better navigate this regular American experience.
May 30, 2022
If you’re like me, you’re feeling enraged, exhausted, helpless, hopeless, and totally fed up with yet another mass shooting in this country. I cannot wrap my mind around this horrific pattern that keeps cycling through our towns and cities. I was especially devastated by the recent racially motivated shooting in my beloved hometown of Buffalo. Like many, I never, ever thought it would happen “at home”.
I decided to search for books on the subject of mass shootings/gun violence to educate myself and give my brain something concrete to process while I attempt to cope with this never-ending epidemic plaguing our country.
Together, Peterson and Densley created The Violence Project: a nonpartisan nonprofit research center dedicated to reducing gun violence and prevention of mass shootings. They have done extensive research and created the only database of all mass shooters in the U.S.
The authors cover a gamut of information and topics in an easy to follow and reader-friendly way. They review some of the mass shootings that have taken place, and the childhoods and family lives of the perpetrators. A lot of emphasis is put on the importance of mental health, crisis intervention, providing adequate resources for mental health, support for children and teens in schools, recognizing warning signs, and getting kids the help they need. They also touch on gun laws, accessibility to guns, and the changes that can be made in regards to firearms to avoid future mass shootings.
Peterson and Densley outline a roadmap of sorts that if followed, has great potential in preventing these shootings from continuing. I couldn’t argue with anything proposed in this book. It was enlightening, informative, and oddly enough, hopeful. I will say though- it all sounds amazing in theory; if only their pathways and solutions could fully come to fruition. This country would be a much better place!
For more information, go to www.theviolenceproject.org/
I decided to search for books on the subject of mass shootings/gun violence to educate myself and give my brain something concrete to process while I attempt to cope with this never-ending epidemic plaguing our country.
Together, Peterson and Densley created The Violence Project: a nonpartisan nonprofit research center dedicated to reducing gun violence and prevention of mass shootings. They have done extensive research and created the only database of all mass shooters in the U.S.
The authors cover a gamut of information and topics in an easy to follow and reader-friendly way. They review some of the mass shootings that have taken place, and the childhoods and family lives of the perpetrators. A lot of emphasis is put on the importance of mental health, crisis intervention, providing adequate resources for mental health, support for children and teens in schools, recognizing warning signs, and getting kids the help they need. They also touch on gun laws, accessibility to guns, and the changes that can be made in regards to firearms to avoid future mass shootings.
Peterson and Densley outline a roadmap of sorts that if followed, has great potential in preventing these shootings from continuing. I couldn’t argue with anything proposed in this book. It was enlightening, informative, and oddly enough, hopeful. I will say though- it all sounds amazing in theory; if only their pathways and solutions could fully come to fruition. This country would be a much better place!
For more information, go to www.theviolenceproject.org/
September 26, 2022
If you are concerned with mass shootings, gun violence, school violence, the intersection of mental health and guns, please read this book.
Based on extensive data and research, this book de-escalates the political discourse around guns to show the common components of mass shootings, and importantly, offers concrete, research-based, steps to stop them. They freely share their data.
The researchers also conducted interviews with a handful of mass shooters, to dig into their past and learn what brought them to that point.
I learned so much from this book, and it corrected some misperceptions I had been carrying. It reinforced the importance of media literacy, of building a caring community, of having some crisis response strategies in place, and of the need to implement consistent, enforced gun laws. The shared image of releasing just a little air from the balloon to avert the crisis is one I will always carry with me.
This is a readable, important book. Their website is also excellent and offers violence prevention training modules for both school and the workplace.
Based on extensive data and research, this book de-escalates the political discourse around guns to show the common components of mass shootings, and importantly, offers concrete, research-based, steps to stop them. They freely share their data.
The researchers also conducted interviews with a handful of mass shooters, to dig into their past and learn what brought them to that point.
I learned so much from this book, and it corrected some misperceptions I had been carrying. It reinforced the importance of media literacy, of building a caring community, of having some crisis response strategies in place, and of the need to implement consistent, enforced gun laws. The shared image of releasing just a little air from the balloon to avert the crisis is one I will always carry with me.
This is a readable, important book. Their website is also excellent and offers violence prevention training modules for both school and the workplace.
September 2, 2021
The book explores a wide gamut of topics in helping its readers see what make someone decide to be a shooter, but tbh 1/3 of the research could have been cut without taking from the book's essence. Too many times, there were moments where I had to stop and ask myself -- why is this paragraph here? Why was this anecdote included? I found myself able to breeze through pages in some chapters because the point had already been made early on.
Despite my structural complaints of this book, the information it offers is worth knowing. It just depends on what type of prior knowledge you have (trauma, history of shootings in America, etc.) when going in to read it.
Despite my structural complaints of this book, the information it offers is worth knowing. It just depends on what type of prior knowledge you have (trauma, history of shootings in America, etc.) when going in to read it.
January 9, 2022
A devastating and absolutely necessary read. A true punch in the gut novel-- remarkably emotional, unflinchingly informative, and deeply urgent.
Take notes, and take action. Learn more at https://www.theviolenceproject.org/
Take notes, and take action. Learn more at https://www.theviolenceproject.org/
September 2, 2022
The Violence Project was started by Dr. Jillian Peterson and Dr. James Densley in an effort to understand what drives mass shootings. This book reflects their research after interviewing many mass shooters and their community, asking about their past and what led to the shooting event.
As a teacher, this book was personal. I keep my classroom doors locked in fear that a shooter could come into the school any day. On a weekly basis, I strategize what i will do if we have a shooting lockdown, how I will protect the children. It is important for our society to face the issues below head on or nothing will change.
Cultural Factors:
1. Availability of Guns in America
2. Individualism and Patriarchy - If you’re a white male who is supposedly given everything by right but doesn’t end up where you want to be, violence is the option for many. “America’s mythical code of self-reliance is implicated in high suicide rates, because there is a point where self-reliance becomes isolation. Our research shows that mass shootings are linked to suicides and may even be a form of them.”
3. Lack of Institutional Trust - To me, one of the most worrying quotes in this book was “If people feel society is unfair, then they are less inclined to play by the rules.” They went on to show that anytime there is less trust in the government as an institution, murder rates go up.
4. Icel/Misogynistic Online Hate Groups - In these online groups, lonely young men find an echo chamber for their own feelings of hopelessness and become radicalized to the idea of violence against perceived threats.
Personal Factors:
1. Trauma - many violent tendencies start with abuse (physical, emotional, sexual) in childhood. Long term “toxic stress” changes the brains of children and gives them a warped view of the world.
2. A State of Crisis close to the time of the shooting - debt, firing, end of a relationship, psychotic break…
Solutions:
1. Crisis Centers and School Intervention - Research has shown that “Social Emotional Learning” in schools can help alleviate some of the trauma. Unfortunately, some states are intentionally targeting SEL for cuts.
2. Personal Interventions - a single person or intervention can change the course of a life spinning out of control.
3. Take away the “Opportunity” - making guns, targets and opportunities less “available” can stop an attack.
Sadly, this seems to have become a political issue. People on the political right tend to defend gun rights and say things like President Tromp after mass shootings in 2019 - “Mental Illness and hatred pull the trigger. Not the gun.” While on the other side, the focus is largely on gun control. This is a complex issue that needs a complex answer.
Even though this book was dark, there were parts that were also inspiring. It only takes one person intervening positively to stop a mass shooting. It’s a good reminder to check in with people and make sure that YOU can have a positive impact. This stood out to me, “The problems in the lives of mass shooters feel so massive and overwhelming, but sometimes it’s the smallest act that can get someone through a moment, let enough air out of the balloon so they can breathe again.”
I recommend that everyone read this book. There is so much valuable information that I had to leave out of the book review. It is vitally important that we all begin to take in this information so that we can be the change.
Rating: 5/5
Genre: Non-Fiction
For more information check out the Violence Project Website
As a teacher, this book was personal. I keep my classroom doors locked in fear that a shooter could come into the school any day. On a weekly basis, I strategize what i will do if we have a shooting lockdown, how I will protect the children. It is important for our society to face the issues below head on or nothing will change.
Cultural Factors:
1. Availability of Guns in America
2. Individualism and Patriarchy - If you’re a white male who is supposedly given everything by right but doesn’t end up where you want to be, violence is the option for many. “America’s mythical code of self-reliance is implicated in high suicide rates, because there is a point where self-reliance becomes isolation. Our research shows that mass shootings are linked to suicides and may even be a form of them.”
3. Lack of Institutional Trust - To me, one of the most worrying quotes in this book was “If people feel society is unfair, then they are less inclined to play by the rules.” They went on to show that anytime there is less trust in the government as an institution, murder rates go up.
4. Icel/Misogynistic Online Hate Groups - In these online groups, lonely young men find an echo chamber for their own feelings of hopelessness and become radicalized to the idea of violence against perceived threats.
Personal Factors:
1. Trauma - many violent tendencies start with abuse (physical, emotional, sexual) in childhood. Long term “toxic stress” changes the brains of children and gives them a warped view of the world.
2. A State of Crisis close to the time of the shooting - debt, firing, end of a relationship, psychotic break…
Solutions:
1. Crisis Centers and School Intervention - Research has shown that “Social Emotional Learning” in schools can help alleviate some of the trauma. Unfortunately, some states are intentionally targeting SEL for cuts.
2. Personal Interventions - a single person or intervention can change the course of a life spinning out of control.
3. Take away the “Opportunity” - making guns, targets and opportunities less “available” can stop an attack.
Sadly, this seems to have become a political issue. People on the political right tend to defend gun rights and say things like President Tromp after mass shootings in 2019 - “Mental Illness and hatred pull the trigger. Not the gun.” While on the other side, the focus is largely on gun control. This is a complex issue that needs a complex answer.
Even though this book was dark, there were parts that were also inspiring. It only takes one person intervening positively to stop a mass shooting. It’s a good reminder to check in with people and make sure that YOU can have a positive impact. This stood out to me, “The problems in the lives of mass shooters feel so massive and overwhelming, but sometimes it’s the smallest act that can get someone through a moment, let enough air out of the balloon so they can breathe again.”
I recommend that everyone read this book. There is so much valuable information that I had to leave out of the book review. It is vitally important that we all begin to take in this information so that we can be the change.
Rating: 5/5
Genre: Non-Fiction
For more information check out the Violence Project Website
May 4, 2023
“Mass shootings are not an inevitable fact of American life; they’re preventable. Mass shooters are people who can be stopped before they do monstrous things.” (p. 18)
The Violence Project is a very important book, directly addressing the causes and solutions to the worsening problem of mass shootings in the United States. My biggest takeaway from Jillian Petersen and James Densley's work is that this problem is very male. I kept on thinking about issues of gender through the text, and what we as a society can do to specifically address the problems experienced by boys and men before they become radicalized. The fact is that:
“96 percent of all homicides, and this extends to mass shootings—98 percent of mass shooters are male. The reasons men commit ten times more violence than women, both in America and around the world, are many and could fill an additional book.” (p. 28)
Biology certainly plays a role, but larger societal factors do too:
“[The sociologist] Michael Kimmel suggests that the relationship between violence and masculinity is particularly acute among the group he labels “angry white men,” because they can no longer “do” gender in traditional ways, such as economically providing for their households.” (p. 29)
The economy and society of the US are very different than they used to be, and in most respects for the better. Women’s rights movements have been successful in many respects and we should applaud that. But the traditionally privileged demographic of males, especially boys and young men, are disproportionately struggling in this new world. Author Richard Reeves does an outstanding, data-driven analysis of the problems (and associated violence) of males in the modern Western world in his book Of Boys and Men . For one thing, men are still rarely taught to express their emotions in healthy ways, helping to lead them to act out with violence:
“...for mass shooters in our database, murder was rarely their first violent act—63 percent had a previous violent history. Over a quarter of our sample, 28 percent, had a history of domestic violence, with engaging in physical or sexual violence and coercive control against their wives and families as a precursor to committing a public mass shooting.” (p. 29)
So, a warning sign for a mass shooter is their gender, along with a history of violence. Race also plays a role: most of these male mass shooters are white. Peterson and Densely write that:
“Demographic change, increasing racial and ethnic diversity coupled with rising numbers of refugees and asylum seekers, has created a sense of threat for these men.” (p. 128)
White American men have not been taught to change their views of masculinity and roles in this changing society:
“When American men lose their jobs, they lose more than their income; they lose their sense of self. It cuts to the core. In America, we admire winners, and winning in America is counted in dollars and social standing. A series of humbling cultural and economic shifts has left some of the long-standing winners in American society feeling humiliated and victimized, unsure of exactly where they fit in, longing to win again.” (p. 29)
“For many [mass shooters], this is a suicidal crisis. The rise in mass shootings in the United States over the past decade maps onto the dramatic rise among white men of 'deaths of despair'—deaths by suicide, drug overdose, and alcohol-related conditions.” (p. 16)
“Raised to expect unparalleled social and economic privilege, white men are suffering today from what Kimmel calls 'aggrieved entitlement,' a sense that those benefits that they believed were their due have been snatched away from them.” (p. 29)
And if someone perceives themselves as a victim, they are more likely to act out against the society that they believe is victimizing them:
“A mass shooting is a matter of restoration: Although they are the ones who raise the gun and pull the trigger, mass shooters very often see themselves as the victims; they feel some great injustice has been done to them.” Retired senior FBI profiler Mary Ellen O’Toole describes mass shooters as “wound” or ��injustice collectors,” people who stew in their anger. They never forget, never forgive, and never let go, nursing resentment over real or perceived injustices until, eventually, they strike back.” (p. 30)
Many people in the US, especially men, feel powerless. As Peterson & Densley (2021) write, “a gun and the will to murder are two of the purest forms of temporary, situational power.” (p. 103).
All this is only one takeaway from The Violence Project, of course. The authors look at many aspects of the problem. Their recommended solutions are perhaps the most important part of the book. These suggestions are summarized here:
To recap, here’s what we all can do to stop the mass shooting epidemic:
As Individuals:
Trauma: Build relationships and mentor young people
Crisis: Develop strong skills in crisis intervention and suicide prevention
Social proof: Monitor our own media consumption
Opportunity: Safe storage of firearms; if you see or hear something, say something.
As Institutions:
Trauma: Create warm environments; trauma-informed practices; universal trauma screening
Crisis: Build care teams and referral processes; train staff
Social proof: Teach media literacy; limit active shooter drills for children
Opportunity: Situational crime prevention; anonymous reporting systems
As a Society:
Trauma: Teach social emotional learning in schools. Build a strong social safety net with adequate jobs, childcare, maternity leave, health insurance, and access to higher education
Crisis: Reduce stigma and increase knowledge of mental health; open access to high quality mental health treatment; fund counselors in schools
Social proof: No Notoriety protocol; hold media and social media companies accountable for their content
Opportunity: Universal background checks, red flag laws, permit-to-purchase, magazine limits, wait periods, assault rifle ban
(pp. 186-187)
These are progressive improvements for the most part to help build a more just and caring society in the United States. We need to provide support for people who have experienced trauma and are experiencing trauma in our society, including boys and men. As a student named Lacy is quoted as saying, “What can we do to reconnect the disconnected to our community? We can’t brush off brokenness.” (p. 76).
Title: The Violence Project: How to Stop a Mass Shooting Epidemic
Authors: Jillian Peterson & James Densley
Year: 2021
Genre: Nonfiction - Social science
Page count: 242 pages
Date(s) read: 3/28/23 - 4/1/23
Reading journal entry #81 in 2023
Peterson, J., & Densley, J. A. (2021). The violence project: How to stop a mass shooting epidemic. Abrams Press. https://www.theviolenceproject.org/ab...
July 26, 2022
“Mass shootings are not an inevitable fact of American life; they’re preventable. Mass shooters are people who can be stopped before they do monstrous things (p. 18).”
I'm so glad I read this book and I think EVERYONE should read this book.
Of course there is not a quick fix for mass shootings, but if we all did our part, we could significantly decrease Mass Shootings. Sometimes, it's as simple as having a Greater to welcome everyone into the space. Some things need to be more significant like a database that knows who has purchased ALL the guns and keeps track of the mental/health checks. Schools and businesses need to have enough social workers and psychologists to help everyone. We need to reduce stigma and increase knowledge of mental health. And maybe health insurance should NOT be tied to your job?!?! Also, everyone should be trained in crisis intervention, “Like CPR, crisis intervention is a skill anyone can learn—you don’t have to be a doctor or psychologist. And, like CPR, crisis intervention can save people’s lives. If a person in crisis is a balloon ready to pop, think of crisis intervention as the art of letting a little bit of the air out (p. 65).”
Mass shootings are "complex." "There are no quick fixes to systematic social problems..." Some solutions are imperfect and that is better than nothing. "The reality is that imperfections do not render solutions completely useless. There is no one solution to rule them all. As with Swiss cheese, there are holes—but if you layer the slices, one on top of the other, the holes start to get covered up. And layering imperfect solutions, holistically, is the only way to prevent mass violence (p. 186)"
I think this book is very accessible and also hopeful. You and I can make the world a safer and better place. It's been a hard couple of years, let's start taking care of each other a little more.
I'm so glad I read this book and I think EVERYONE should read this book.
Of course there is not a quick fix for mass shootings, but if we all did our part, we could significantly decrease Mass Shootings. Sometimes, it's as simple as having a Greater to welcome everyone into the space. Some things need to be more significant like a database that knows who has purchased ALL the guns and keeps track of the mental/health checks. Schools and businesses need to have enough social workers and psychologists to help everyone. We need to reduce stigma and increase knowledge of mental health. And maybe health insurance should NOT be tied to your job?!?! Also, everyone should be trained in crisis intervention, “Like CPR, crisis intervention is a skill anyone can learn—you don’t have to be a doctor or psychologist. And, like CPR, crisis intervention can save people’s lives. If a person in crisis is a balloon ready to pop, think of crisis intervention as the art of letting a little bit of the air out (p. 65).”
Mass shootings are "complex." "There are no quick fixes to systematic social problems..." Some solutions are imperfect and that is better than nothing. "The reality is that imperfections do not render solutions completely useless. There is no one solution to rule them all. As with Swiss cheese, there are holes—but if you layer the slices, one on top of the other, the holes start to get covered up. And layering imperfect solutions, holistically, is the only way to prevent mass violence (p. 186)"
I think this book is very accessible and also hopeful. You and I can make the world a safer and better place. It's been a hard couple of years, let's start taking care of each other a little more.
December 7, 2023
This book is based on extensive and in-depth research and still remains highly readable and accessible. I love that it does not propose a one-stop-shopping sort of solution to mass shootings, but rather offers many different actions that we can take on a societal and individual level. The authors compare the layering of actions to layering Swiss cheese: yes, any one layer will have some holes, but if you put on enough slices there will be cheese covering every bit of bread. If we can work on mental health access, community building, safe gun storage, an assault rifle ban, universal background checks, and other measures, then their research points to a reduction in mass shootings. Additionally, investing in some of these policis and practices will likely reduce other deaths (such as suicides).
I want to buy a copy of this book for our school board members, superintendent, and the principals at my children's schools in addition to my elected officials. There are actionable items based on good evidence that could improve the safety of our schools without further traumatizing our children with active shooter drills.
It's time to make some changes in this country, and I believe this book provides a great roadmap. Read it.
I want to buy a copy of this book for our school board members, superintendent, and the principals at my children's schools in addition to my elected officials. There are actionable items based on good evidence that could improve the safety of our schools without further traumatizing our children with active shooter drills.
It's time to make some changes in this country, and I believe this book provides a great roadmap. Read it.
July 7, 2023
I received an arc of "The Violence Project" a really long time ago, but I just got around to read it now and I found it to be a fascinating read. The book is packed with data and research, and the interviews with the shooters, the survivors, and the family of the victims were particularly interesting. Some of the interviews were heartbreaking and difficult to read, but they gave me a unique insight into the minds of these individuals, and how the events have affected them.
The authors did an excellent job of presenting the information in a well-organized and easy-to-understand manner. However, I did find that the book was a little repetitive at times.
One of the things that struck me the most was the insights into America's gun laws. As someone who lives outside of the United States, I found it concerning to read about the ease with which people can obtain firearms. The book certainly gave me a lot to think about in this regard and I am honestly scared for the school children in the US.
Overall, I would definitely recommend "The Violence Project" to anyone interested in the topic. The book is well-written, well-researched, and offers a unique perspective on the subject.
The authors did an excellent job of presenting the information in a well-organized and easy-to-understand manner. However, I did find that the book was a little repetitive at times.
One of the things that struck me the most was the insights into America's gun laws. As someone who lives outside of the United States, I found it concerning to read about the ease with which people can obtain firearms. The book certainly gave me a lot to think about in this regard and I am honestly scared for the school children in the US.
Overall, I would definitely recommend "The Violence Project" to anyone interested in the topic. The book is well-written, well-researched, and offers a unique perspective on the subject.
January 4, 2023
Dear Jillian and Joaquin,
This book was very informative and gave actionable steps to take. They made the research and info very easy to follow and summarized a lot. One book down, more to go!
Sincerely,
Megan
This book was very informative and gave actionable steps to take. They made the research and info very easy to follow and summarized a lot. One book down, more to go!
Sincerely,
Megan
May 7, 2023
The book everyone should be reading right now. Tragic, honest, and based in research. We need to hold our lawmakers, government and each other accountable. We need to invest in mental health and social resources. We need to invest in our youth.
Do your part, take action, and listen to the research!
Do your part, take action, and listen to the research!
July 5, 2022
This is an important book to read. I always want to ask people, especially ones who own guns and are hard core MY GUNS ARE MY RIGHT people, Ok, but what are you willing to do to stop the violence?
To stop the violence, you have to know WHY people commit the act, how they go about the process of preparing (and they do prepare), and where points of intervention are.
This authors of this book actually interviewed several mass shooting perpetrators. Studied their history, and truly tried to get the full story. They spoke with survivors, relatives, friends, coworkers. They covered school shootings, work space shootings, church and public gatherings. Gang violence was excluded as it has different roots and pathways.
The reality is, there are many many opportunities, we as individuals and as a nation, can do to intervene and start the process of limiting mass shootings. It will take courage and a ton of resources, both human and financial. Far more than thoughts and prayers, there is a way, there are paths, to end the mass shooting epidemic. We need to take them, advocate for them, enact them.
While this book gave me hope that those paths exists, I don't feel like it gave a concrete guidepost, or even a call to action, to say, go here, do this, this is how. So I struggle to be able to say, beyond a few things such as media consumption, this I can do. And already do quite honestly.
So 3 stars instead of 5, for the lack of fiery call to action that will get people motivated to get off their ass and get moving.
To stop the violence, you have to know WHY people commit the act, how they go about the process of preparing (and they do prepare), and where points of intervention are.
This authors of this book actually interviewed several mass shooting perpetrators. Studied their history, and truly tried to get the full story. They spoke with survivors, relatives, friends, coworkers. They covered school shootings, work space shootings, church and public gatherings. Gang violence was excluded as it has different roots and pathways.
The reality is, there are many many opportunities, we as individuals and as a nation, can do to intervene and start the process of limiting mass shootings. It will take courage and a ton of resources, both human and financial. Far more than thoughts and prayers, there is a way, there are paths, to end the mass shooting epidemic. We need to take them, advocate for them, enact them.
While this book gave me hope that those paths exists, I don't feel like it gave a concrete guidepost, or even a call to action, to say, go here, do this, this is how. So I struggle to be able to say, beyond a few things such as media consumption, this I can do. And already do quite honestly.
So 3 stars instead of 5, for the lack of fiery call to action that will get people motivated to get off their ass and get moving.
May 24, 2021
Let me first start off saying that I am horrified that we need a book on how to end gun violence/mass shootings. On the other hand FINALLY there is a book on mass shootings and what can be done about them.
This book is so emotional, clinical, and very thorough.
My hometown is Bemidji, MN.......my best friend lives on the Red Lake Reservation. Her mom was a teacher at the time of the Red Lake shooting. The chaos, the fear, the anxiety of waiting for word to see if my friends survived was enormous.
I felt this book like a punch in the gut.
The greatest thing that this book does is say THERE IS HOPE to end mass shootings. WE ALL NEED TO WORK to end them.
I love that the book says we can always do more. We can start engaging with each other again. We gain really focus on mental illness and VOTE to enhance and get more mental health services, we can do more for gun laws.
This book is a MUST Read for everyone in society.
The one part of the book that will stay with me, is when the authors talked about hard targets and designing schools with more curves to prevent straight line of sight.
The authors counter.....the school mass shooter will go to that school, will know the drills, they are part of the school.
I had never thought of it like that.
Thank you to the publisher and to netgalley for allowing me this ARC for this honest review.
This book is so emotional, clinical, and very thorough.
My hometown is Bemidji, MN.......my best friend lives on the Red Lake Reservation. Her mom was a teacher at the time of the Red Lake shooting. The chaos, the fear, the anxiety of waiting for word to see if my friends survived was enormous.
I felt this book like a punch in the gut.
The greatest thing that this book does is say THERE IS HOPE to end mass shootings. WE ALL NEED TO WORK to end them.
I love that the book says we can always do more. We can start engaging with each other again. We gain really focus on mental illness and VOTE to enhance and get more mental health services, we can do more for gun laws.
This book is a MUST Read for everyone in society.
The one part of the book that will stay with me, is when the authors talked about hard targets and designing schools with more curves to prevent straight line of sight.
The authors counter.....the school mass shooter will go to that school, will know the drills, they are part of the school.
I had never thought of it like that.
Thank you to the publisher and to netgalley for allowing me this ARC for this honest review.
March 28, 2022
Words cannot even express how great this book is. Not only does it give a fantastic overview into some of the (many) contributing factors of mass shootings in America, but the authors do so with grace, empathy, and compassion. And, on top of going in depth on statitics and contirbuting factors, they also overview solutions on individual, institutional, and societal levels. Overall, they took a really depressing and complex topic and somehow interwove everything involved and instilled a sense of hope and agency.
July 7, 2024
Understandably, not an easy read. But, I feel this is a book people should add to their lists. This book does a great job of laying out evidence that there are things we can do as individuals and as a society to reduce the odds of mass shootings.
If you feel this will be too heavy of a read, here’s my best take on a summary of action items below.
Things you can do as an individual:
-Build Relationships and mentor young people
-Develop basic crisis intervention and suicide prevention skills
-Monitor your negative media consumption
-Follow safe storage of firearms if you have any
Bigger things as institutions and a society:
-Limit active shooter drills for children (these don’t help and create more harm than good).
-Reduce mental health care stigmas
-Improve access to high quality mental health: Fund counselors in schools
-Media and social media companies should limit naming and showing mass shooters. No notoriety to inspire others.
-Universal background checks for guns, red flag laws, magazine limits and wait periods. Build layers to create obstacles for easy shootings
If you feel this will be too heavy of a read, here’s my best take on a summary of action items below.
Things you can do as an individual:
-Build Relationships and mentor young people
-Develop basic crisis intervention and suicide prevention skills
-Monitor your negative media consumption
-Follow safe storage of firearms if you have any
Bigger things as institutions and a society:
-Limit active shooter drills for children (these don’t help and create more harm than good).
-Reduce mental health care stigmas
-Improve access to high quality mental health: Fund counselors in schools
-Media and social media companies should limit naming and showing mass shooters. No notoriety to inspire others.
-Universal background checks for guns, red flag laws, magazine limits and wait periods. Build layers to create obstacles for easy shootings
January 9, 2022
Great. Excellent, thorough research. This is important work. Reminds me of the trauma I felt as a teacher while we did lockdown drills all the time. Answering questions (and changing the subject when appropriate) from students who are wondering what to do if a killer enters the school. So messed up. Their charts on pp. 186-187 are succinct - showing how to stop mass shootings. A huge part of these are societal ills like no guaranteed paid leave, $7.25 minimum wage, people falling into medical and student debt forever, the individualism and isolation of suburban sprawl where most people are just by themselves all the time... It's just really sad. My heart goes out to the victims of mass shooters. And my heart goes out to the shooters themselves, who - almost exclusively - suffered from adverse childhood experiences and mental health issues for a long time. Thanks to the authors for their great work. I hope it will reduce the frequency and severity of these nightmarish events.
August 7, 2023
I like the Swiss cheese analogy in this book because there is no one solution to gun violence. Any one fix is going to have holes, but layer those on top of each other and you start to make a difference. They discuss gun restrictions like red flag laws, magazine size restrictions, etc, but the majority of the book looks at the path a mass shooter takes to get to that point in the first place. Better mental health access, childhood trauma, and even going down to societal problems that contribute to childhood like affordable healthcare, paid maternity leave, childcare. Developing mental health and school systems that speak to each other so providers and schools know when a child needs help. Lots of layers to start covering the holes.
January 9, 2025
“After every mass shooting, the media like to fixate on “motive,” but in reality, the pathway to mass violence is long and winding. At the moment of their crimes, mass shooters usually have suffered trauma. They’ve experienced an existential and often suicidal crisis in the days and weeks leading up to the shootings. They’ve searched for validation for their feelings and have found it in America’s cultural script for mass violence: its long history of firearm-enabled violence, its values of rugged individualism and success at any cost, and the words and deeds of mass shooters past and present. And they’ve had the opportunity to shoot, often because of lax gun laws.”
September 10, 2025
this was a hard read! lots of heavy material (and at times, to be honest, could have been better written or organized).
But still REALLY GOOD. not unnecessarily graphic! I learned a ton. The research and action items proposed are really really important. It was worth it to me to push through the heavy parts to better educate myself.
I loved their acknowledgement that each solution has a lot of holes. But the more layers of solutions we provide the more holes get covered up!
Why aren’t we doing EVERYTHING we possibly can to end mass shootings??
But still REALLY GOOD. not unnecessarily graphic! I learned a ton. The research and action items proposed are really really important. It was worth it to me to push through the heavy parts to better educate myself.
I loved their acknowledgement that each solution has a lot of holes. But the more layers of solutions we provide the more holes get covered up!
Why aren’t we doing EVERYTHING we possibly can to end mass shootings??
July 7, 2022
It’s all the rage! Almost every news feed and social media venue broadcasts it, some with greater alarm than others. And the glut of press it receives makes it feel like it’s happening everywhere, every day, in every neighborhood. It’s like a voracious beast that is growing and consuming all in its path. And then there are the pundits and professionals that describe it as a simple, single-item issue that calls for a simple, single-item remedy and they have the cure-all-fix-all remedy. But the trouble is far more problematical, which means a healthy response will likely be at several levels simultaneously. Into this hazy fog of violence has stepped a new book, “The Violence Project: How to Stop a Mass Shooting Epidemic” by Jillian Peterson, PhD, Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Hamline University and James Densley, PhD, Professor of Criminal Justice at Metropolitan State University, both in St. Paul, Minnesota. This 240-page hardback is well research, readable, reasonable, and worth the time.
I first ran across the book after the Uvalde TX school shooting. It was from an article at “The Conversation” (https://theconversation.com) where I found them, and was hooked as I waded through the sensible-minded way they looked at these violent events. Peterson and Densley have compiled as much data and facts as are available on mass shootings in the U.S., going back to 1966. They used the modern standard of a mass shooting as an event that involved firearms and killed four or more people in a public place. At the time they wrote the book (September 2021) they found there had been 172 of them in the United States. They then amassed the details in a database, but also interviewed several survivors, living shooters, families of shooters, etc. Their findings are not only online at https://theviolenceproject.org but printed out in this volume. They did this, not out of an infatuation with violence, but “to understand how we can intervene earlier to prevent mass shootings before they occur…to learn from the patterns…that can help us prevent more people from dying” (14). And they squarely hit their target.
The authors have found that there is no single problem, but four categorical areas that accelerate mass shootings. They can’t confirm that these four areas are causative, but they are clear that they show up too many times to ignore. Put simply these four traits are: (1) many shooters have experienced childhood abuse and exposure to violence at an early age, frequently by parents. (2) Nearly all of these people have reached a critical, identifiable crisis point, and plenty of them are suicidal. (3) Most of the shooters look for models they can identify with in their violence and are aided in their search by the unending media coverage of cable news, the internet, and social media. Loads of these people are motivated by publicity and fame-seeking. But they’re also aided through these venues to find someone to blame for their miserable circumstances. (4) When opportunity arises to carry out a mass shooting, they take it. Easy access to firearms and crowds of people in public places (16-17).
And, because there is no single problem, but four categorical areas that accelerate mass shooting, Peterson and Densley hunt down multilayered remedies. This is what I appreciated most out of this meaningful volume. Almost every chapter pours out just as much ink on workable solutions as it does on what feeds the violence. And their proposed answers are not anecdotal or opinion-based, but all have just as much research behind them as does their analysis on the details that fuel the violence. For example, while chronicling the role of various media in giving potential shooters models and avenues for publicity, the authors describe ways media and you and I can starve the mass shooters of publicity. They spend a considerable time explaining how “No Notoriety” (https://nonotoriety.com/)and “Don’t Name Them” (https://www.dontnamethem.org/) are valuable approaches to take in siphoning off the oxygen out of the fame-seeking lungs, so to speak. The authors have truly made this a level-headed work!
I was initially concerned that the Peterson and Densley were going to promote strident gun-control measures and antidotes. So, I was pleasantly surprised, when working through the chapter on weapons of opportunity, that their proposals were not the normal, drastic ones mentioned in the “Gun-Control-Gun-Lobby” debates. The authors discussed “permit-to-purchase,” RFIDs, “waiting periods,” and a few other approaches. The way they addressed each was backed up by studies, but also empty of rabid reactions. A reader may feel they don’t go far enough, or that they’re uncomfortable with the authors’ recommendations, but the volume is not a “Gun-Control” manual.
“The Violence Project” was just the book I was looking for! And to know that the authors have made many of their studies and conclusions available on their project website adds untold value to the book. This is the book people need to read instead of listening to single-answer experts. I recommend this work to Law Enforcement agencies, legislators, teachers, pastors, and whoever cares about the violence. This book is a must-read!
I’m thankful to the publisher. I requested a review copy and they sent it promptly. They made no demands on me nor gave me bribes. Therefore, my analysis of the manuscript is all my own, and I’m sharing it freely.
I first ran across the book after the Uvalde TX school shooting. It was from an article at “The Conversation” (https://theconversation.com) where I found them, and was hooked as I waded through the sensible-minded way they looked at these violent events. Peterson and Densley have compiled as much data and facts as are available on mass shootings in the U.S., going back to 1966. They used the modern standard of a mass shooting as an event that involved firearms and killed four or more people in a public place. At the time they wrote the book (September 2021) they found there had been 172 of them in the United States. They then amassed the details in a database, but also interviewed several survivors, living shooters, families of shooters, etc. Their findings are not only online at https://theviolenceproject.org but printed out in this volume. They did this, not out of an infatuation with violence, but “to understand how we can intervene earlier to prevent mass shootings before they occur…to learn from the patterns…that can help us prevent more people from dying” (14). And they squarely hit their target.
The authors have found that there is no single problem, but four categorical areas that accelerate mass shootings. They can’t confirm that these four areas are causative, but they are clear that they show up too many times to ignore. Put simply these four traits are: (1) many shooters have experienced childhood abuse and exposure to violence at an early age, frequently by parents. (2) Nearly all of these people have reached a critical, identifiable crisis point, and plenty of them are suicidal. (3) Most of the shooters look for models they can identify with in their violence and are aided in their search by the unending media coverage of cable news, the internet, and social media. Loads of these people are motivated by publicity and fame-seeking. But they’re also aided through these venues to find someone to blame for their miserable circumstances. (4) When opportunity arises to carry out a mass shooting, they take it. Easy access to firearms and crowds of people in public places (16-17).
And, because there is no single problem, but four categorical areas that accelerate mass shooting, Peterson and Densley hunt down multilayered remedies. This is what I appreciated most out of this meaningful volume. Almost every chapter pours out just as much ink on workable solutions as it does on what feeds the violence. And their proposed answers are not anecdotal or opinion-based, but all have just as much research behind them as does their analysis on the details that fuel the violence. For example, while chronicling the role of various media in giving potential shooters models and avenues for publicity, the authors describe ways media and you and I can starve the mass shooters of publicity. They spend a considerable time explaining how “No Notoriety” (https://nonotoriety.com/)and “Don’t Name Them” (https://www.dontnamethem.org/) are valuable approaches to take in siphoning off the oxygen out of the fame-seeking lungs, so to speak. The authors have truly made this a level-headed work!
I was initially concerned that the Peterson and Densley were going to promote strident gun-control measures and antidotes. So, I was pleasantly surprised, when working through the chapter on weapons of opportunity, that their proposals were not the normal, drastic ones mentioned in the “Gun-Control-Gun-Lobby” debates. The authors discussed “permit-to-purchase,” RFIDs, “waiting periods,” and a few other approaches. The way they addressed each was backed up by studies, but also empty of rabid reactions. A reader may feel they don’t go far enough, or that they’re uncomfortable with the authors’ recommendations, but the volume is not a “Gun-Control” manual.
“The Violence Project” was just the book I was looking for! And to know that the authors have made many of their studies and conclusions available on their project website adds untold value to the book. This is the book people need to read instead of listening to single-answer experts. I recommend this work to Law Enforcement agencies, legislators, teachers, pastors, and whoever cares about the violence. This book is a must-read!
I’m thankful to the publisher. I requested a review copy and they sent it promptly. They made no demands on me nor gave me bribes. Therefore, my analysis of the manuscript is all my own, and I’m sharing it freely.
September 3, 2022
I applaud those at The Violence Project for writing this absolutely (and very sadly) necessary book. Read it, share with your loved ones, friends and neighbors, request it for your libraries - the authors present so many reasons to have hope in the face of such horror and loss. Please also find more information by searching for The Violence Project on social media, or going to TheViolenceProject.org.
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