Rampage: The Social Roots of School Shootings

by Katherine S. Newman, Cybelle Fox, Wendy Roth

In the last decade, school shootings have decimated communities and terrified parents, teachers, and children in even the most “family friendly” American towns and suburbs. These tragedies appear to be the spontaneous acts of disconnected teens, but this important book argues that the roots of violence are deeply entwined in the communities themselves. Rampage challenges the “loner theory” of school violence and shows why so many adults and students miss the warning signs that could prevent it.

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, Psychology, Sociology, Crime, History, Education

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Katherine Newman is Professor of Sociology and James Knapp Dean of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins University. Author of several books on middle class economic instability, urban poverty, and the sociology of inequality, she previously taught at the University of California (Berkeley), Columbia, Harvard, and Princeton.

Reviews

[Gregory's Lament · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here's something not to admit in public: I'm fascinated by school shootings. Not because I love violence; I detest it. But because it seems such a clear indicator that something is systemically wrong, in the most general sense. Of course, no one ever comes to this conclusion, they always think that it's just a couple of "loser" kids acting up. This book shows that there's more to the story than just the psychological predispositions of the shooters. There's a cultural impetus at work, inside and outside of the schools.

Unfortunately, the book doesn't quite get to the bottom of things, due to, in my opinion, over-shooting the mark in an zealous attempt for objectivity.

[Aurore Persy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall a very informative social study of school rampage shootings, using two cases from the late 1990s. What lacked, for me, was the way in which access to guns and gun regulations were apprehended in the study. Although they are mentioned, the mention is very (/too) brief. I understand that gun regulation is a sensitive issue in the USA, but a deeper evaluation would have probably enriched this work.

[Abra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have many many thoughts on this book. Overall I am trying to keep in mind it came out in the early 2000s and used two case studies from the 90s as the focal point, so obviously the shifts that come over time aren’t the books fault for not considering. Still, there were some parts I was really on board for and changed my perspective on what the main causes and possible preventions for school shootings could be. They definitely lost me in two main places though, they barely talked about gun control (which again could partially be because of the time period) and then their arguments in favor of school resource officers (this part was not good at all! I have many thoughts on this and I think even at the time their arguments were not good). Overall an okay read but probably not one I would recommend if you wanted to gain knowledge more applicable to todays gun violence landscape

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

"On December 2, 1998, a year and a day after the shooting, the James, the Stegers, and the Hadleys filed civil suits in Paducah against those they held responsible for their daughters' deaths. Among their targets were: Michael Carneal, his parents, the neighbor from whom Michael had stolen the guns, students who had seen Michael with a gun at school before the shooting, students who had heard that something was going to happen on Monday, students who might have been involved as conspirators, teachers and principals at Heath High and Middle schools, the producers of the film The Basketball Diaries, the makers of the "point-and-shoot" video games that Michael played, and the Internet pornography sites he had visited."

I felt like the book made important points, and I want to remember them well, so this review will be more about remembering what I am taking for it, but a lot of it comes down to the above quote. That list sounds more like lashing out than a reasonable lawsuit, but there is a point to it. Many of those listed could have had a part in the shooting - even their daughters could have contributed in some way - but no one of them had sole culpability.

The authors concluded that there is a combination of five factors that go into school shootings. They presence of all five does not guarantee a shooting, but they seem to have been present for both the two specifically covered and others looked at.

1. "The first necessary factor is the shooter's perception of himself as extremely marginal in the social worlds that matter to him." - He may be relatively well-liked, but not feel important to the group. This was interesting to me because bullying is often brought up, but some shooters are not known to have been bullied, and some have done some bullying themselves. If they have firm social ties and feel well-connected, they may be better able to get past that. This also gives a reason for why the shootings happen in more rural areas. In cities there are more opportunities to find a group where you fit in.

2. "Second, school shooters must suffer from psychosocial problems that magnify the impact of marginality." While not all of the shooters could be definitively described as mentally ill, there were factors that would hamper the building of resilience. While "adverse childhood experiences" were not specifically mentioned, reading on that fits right in.

3. "Cultural scripts -- prescriptions for behavior -- must be available to lead the way toward an armed attack." The Basketball Diaries, Natural Born Killers, and Rage have all been implicated in specific school shootings, but after some are publicized they add to the available scripts. Children will take ideas for solutions to their problems from media - and that is normal. It doesn't mean that they should never watch anything violent, but it is crucial that it's not the only type of solution that they ever see.

One phrase that was never mentioned was toxic masculinity, but it plays a huge role.

4. "The fourth necessary factor is a failure of surveillance systems that are intended to identify troubled teens before their problems become extreme." Concerns about teen privacy affect transfer of records, kids who hear things don't want to be snitches, and even adults who see things can easily brush them off. I have noticed that some middles schools seem to work on having more teacher consistency to allow more continuity, which seems like it could help.

5. "Finally, we come to gun availability." The Jonesboro shooters initially tried to take their guns from a parental home, but could not get the locked guns out. They went to a grandparent's home next. There the guns were secured by a cable, which they cut. It's hard not to wonder what could have been different if the grandparents had the same kind of lockup.

Lots and lots of food for thought in this book. It is pretty academic, but still accessible. Recommended.

[Saoirse · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book, it gave a really in-depth analysis of adolescent culture and the way small communities work, which was pretty accurate from my own experience and point of view. The book wasn't written in complicated terms, it was easy to understand and follow the reasoning. However, with some things concerning the shootings that weren't detailed in the book, there were some mistakes that could have been avoided.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was good. School shootings are rare thankfully but there are dangers of copycat effects. They are difficult to predict, because the miscreants are not the obvious rule breakers. This is sociology at its best, looking at schools as organisations with blocks to communication, with status hierarchies round sports and with the issue of kids who are marginalised, isolated and also looking at adolescent masculinity. The idea of a clean slate and not labelling is valuable but it closes off what can be useful information. Girls are often best at spotting what is serious. Many of the shooters are depressed, and suicidal, and so the issue is of much wider relevance. She also makes the interesting point that in a small community, there are fewer other outlets for success if school fails and this is a valuable lesson for parents, try and find something outside if school is a very negative experience. She also covers the need for resources and the process of recovery if people ever do and how people are expected to get things behind them in a certain time scale and many won't. This was relevant for the survivors of Breivik, forgotten by the Labour party just two years later.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent and fairly comprehensive study which mainly considers the cases of the Westside Middle School Shooting and the Heath High School shooting. There are brief mentions and examinations of other occurrences which happened as far back as the 70s and 80s into the 90s. Usually when examining the cases of school shootings, much of the literature is from a purely clinical and psychological perspective, so if you're expecting that, this isn't the book for you. If you are, however, looking for something more sociological, then this book does offer a few interesting takes and perspectives. It has changed the way I have assessed some of these crimes in the United States, but I think the book's main drawback (not that it is necessarily the fault of the book itself) is its age. The book came out around 2004, and as we unfortunately know, many more attacks have happened since then. Not as insightful as I was hoping, given the amount of information that there is on the Internet about these sorts of topics now, but I would recommend it to anyone that has a true crime interest or has an interest in the social sciences in general.

[Brian Cham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an excellent work compiling a lot of knowledge about school shootings. It focuses on three particular perpetrators from many perspectives like their school environment, town environment, life backstory, family relations and emotional/psychological issues. It deftly balances this with a more overall coverage of social factors that contribute to the rise in school shootings. These seem mostly insightful and correct to me, although I'm not really in the position to judge. This book is from fifteen years ago and it is based on only a few events. Since the publication, many more of these shootings have taken place. I wonder if the theory in this book holds up when compared to the newer events.

[Mariia Stashuk]

Sometimes I don't remember why added this or that book to my reading list. So I think it's a good way to start a review - by writing WHY I want to read this book, why I added it today.
Here is the thing:
in the morning I read the article about the school shooting at Ingraham High School. There was a chance that our daughter will go there...

School shootings is the issue in the USA, in the particular community and I want to read how the book's authors will explain the root causes of shootings.

[lmv · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well researched and compellingly written. Newman’s voice is a necessary one in the unfortunate landscape of research and narratives about mass shootings and gun violence.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This research is heartbreakingly still dead on. I wish Newman would take up this topic again. Such valuable insights and recommendations here.

[Judy Trenkle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really interesting and well-written book, although the formatting errors drove me crazy!
Please fix them.

[Kitty]

Basically nothing can be done about it

[Shannon]

Unfortunately, out of date at this point.

[Sarah - All The Book Blog Names Are Taken]

It’s just too far out of date. I’d be interested in an updated/expanded edition, but too many more shootings have happened since then.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over a decade has passed since the Columbine School killings, and yet, it seems, the true story is still emerging. However, discovering *the truth* in amongst the media coverage, the academic research, the official documents and conspiracy theories seems a pretty remote possibility. Theories abound as to the mindset and motives of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, and much speculation has surrounded topics such as wether other students were involved, wether the shootings were part of a *bigger* campaign that was thwarted, and the alleged disinformation and concealment of evidence. While it seems fair to say that the chances of knowing with any certainty exactly what happened and why was removed with the deaths of the two identified perpetrators, this has not prevented an outpouring of work purporting to tell the story, including Dave Cullen's seminal - but highly provocative and contentious - 'Columbine'.
Newman frames her work around two much less infamous (at least outside of the US) cases, involving 14 year-old Michael Carneal (Heath High School in West Paducah, Kentucky USA)and the duo of Mitchell Johnson (age 13) and Andrew Golden (age 11) (Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Arkansas, USA, referring to a host of other cases to support her discussion of the factors and influences that lead to these "rampages". While her conclusions are not necessarily earth-shattering (negative self-image, underlying mental health issues, cultural models blah blah blah), the manner in which the work is presented is engaging and highly readable.
While I think some will question the accuracy of some of the information presented as empirical facts, over all the research appears sound. Afficionados of true crime may wish that Newman had provided more details relating to the cases themselves, but this, I feel does not detract from the quality of this book.
This is a must-read for anyone interested in true crime, for educators or individuals working with teenagers, or just anyone interested in social sciences.

[Alisa Kester · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite some obvious flaws (including the fact that only two different school shootings were studied, rather than a more conclusive number) the author did a good job of breaking down what happens to these kids to make them feel they have no hope or choice other than violence. It's truly heart-rending to read what some of these kids wrote in their journals, and in their "last letters to society".

Here's an except from Luke Woodham's "manifesto and will":

"I killed because kids like me are mistreated every day...I suffered all my life. No one ever truly loved me. No one ever truly cared about me... All throughout my life, I was ridiculed, always beaten, always hated...It was not a cry for attention, it was not a cry for help. It was a scream in sheer agony saying that if I can't pry your eyes open, if I can't do it through pacifism, if I can't show you through displaying intelligence, then I will do it will a bullet."

"I am not insane," he said, "I am angry."

After reading this book and others, and studying the actual journals and writing of these kids online, I'm angry too. Everyone talks about the victims of the school shooters, but everyone forgets - or refuses to acknowledge - that the shooters were themselves victims. These were not simply "evil kids". These were simply kids who were in such pain that they came to believe they had no other options.

[J'mai · Rating 4 out of 5]

School shootings are a rare phenomenon despite the press they receive. However, they impact our psyches' in immeasurable ways. We can all identify with the victims, and the location is one we deem to be sacred, second only to our own homes. This study looks at the shootings from every possible angle, including the biographies of the shooters, the sociological units of their homes, their schools, their communities. The authors fairly assess the contributions that all of these factors in setting the stage for a rampage shooting. In the end, the authors offer a set of "adequate but not sufficient" factors for school shootings. Along the way, we learn an awful lot about seemingly minor, ordinary, and almost always overlooked experiences in children's lives. We are put on high alert for the ways in which we are responsible for the well being of our children. This is most pertinent to educators, but also for parents, neighbors, friends--anyone who has any interaction with children. I recommend this book for its insights into the private lives of adolescents, lives that we have all once lived but which we have so easily forgotten. It may be necessary to open up old wounds in order to feel what our children feel, so that we can remain sensitive to what they need from us in order to lead whole and fulfilling lives.

[Sarah Maddaford · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book because the idea that small communities, who knew everything about everyone, were potential hotspots for rampage shootings was intriguing. Most of the shootings discussed occured while I was in elementary school, but their impact on our society effected school policy in both my middle school and high school despite both being in a fairly large community. We never had the sense of overall security to which the communities who experienced shootings laid claim. In fact, the idea of living in a "safe place" has always been somewhat silly to me. No place is completely safe or free from the possibility of violence, but these communities managed to overlook warning signs and were shocked by the actions of the young shooters. The book clearly explains the psychology/sociology behind this mentality in small towns as well as giving recommendations to help other communities better watch out for such violence.

[Jooyoung · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I recently used it in a Gun Violence course that I taught. Newman and her colleagues develop a theory of school shootings that is based on two school shootings that rocked small towns in the US. This book was very popular amongst my students, who learned quite a bit about the sociological causes of school shootings. The book also includes an interesting policy chapter, where Newman and her colleagues offer non-specialist readers some policy ideas on how to avoid future shootings. This chapter and others sparked lively discussion in my lecture hall. I only gave it 4 stars because it is quite a large book. This is less a sign of redundancy and more a sign of the depth that Newman and her colleagues bring to the subject, though.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Rampage" demonstrates they are ways to intervene as these plots/school shootings gather force. Newman explains how we can help potentially violent individuals and break down the barriers of communication between students and adults... along the way, asking all the right questions...(Why are shooters almost always white male? Why do most school shootings occur in rural areas?) Working together, families, schools and communities to prevent the tragedy of school violence. This book was insighful as she laid out her theory that contradicts most things we think we know about the motives of school shooters.

Maybe its only a book a sociologist can love? 4 stars.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read, something people should pay more attention to. Offers great analysis and suggestions outside of those that people often provide, outside of more gun control. That's the easy answer - that legislation will fix all - but these writers provide harder options to hard questions. People might not want to hear them, they involve schools spending more time and money, people taking better care of the firearms they own, but I think implementing many of these options would make schools overall better. My only criticism was that the book was a bit long, very small type, but it was worth the read.

[Stacey Allen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the number of media resources on the rampage shooting disappointing. Considering that it is quite well known that the media has taken a small detail and run with it until it is turned into something completely unrelated to the shooting, or untrue altogether. For example, Columbine's "Trench Coat Mafia" which was never an actual fact, but in this book is mentioned a few times, and cited by press coverage. Makes you wonder what other details of the book are untrue.
However, the actual research and interviews done by the team of authors on the Westside and Heath shootings appears well done, and the book is otherwise well written.

[Adam Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rampage: The Social Roots of School Shootings by Katherine S. Newman, Cybelle Fox, David Harding, Jan Mehta & Wendy Roth is a well-researched textbook of school shooting case studies. This book looked at the subject from so many variables and angles and, unlike most books, gave explanations rather than just a recount of the crimes and what has been reported. This book is essential to understanding this tragic issue in American society.

It’s a little bit of a slow read and gets through because of the nature of the material and the need to present in a detailed and integrated manner, which is typical of this type of social research. 

[Jill Crosby · Rating 4 out of 5]

By comparing two school shootings boasting perpetrators from differing backgronds, Newman turns to the community and society as a whole to identify what mkes a for a "school shooter profile." This is the more valuable work in peeling away the layers which constitute SR events and gives parents, educators and commuity leaders as a whole a blueprint to work from in keeping their community a "shooting safe" zone.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

While some of the data is now outdated, Newman's study provides an in-depth and interesting analysis of two very different students. Her work has further been used by others that have continued dispelling myths surround what the stereotypical school shooter is. Further, the emphasis on the impact of social norms of masculinity that she discusses has been further expanded upon by other researchers and is worth reading.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I believe some aspects of this book are a little dated- most notably that these rampage shootings are rare. In fact, they are more frequent and have graduated to colleges and universities. Still, the rest of what Newman et al have to say make this worth reading. I wish it were required reading for anyone in education.

[Jessica Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating look at systemic failure to identify those prone to this kind of violence. Very relevant to company commanders, oddly enough, to identify the problems in seeing their own soldiers accurately.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very academic book. Well-researched and well-written, but dense for casual reading. The tables are awesome for a data dork like me. If I taught a class on the subject I would def use this as a textbook.

[Mandy Weinman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a tough read - not the writing, but the subject matter. The writing was well done and kept me engaged - it was not dry. I loved that options for possible solutions are given at the end. This is a tough subject, but a necessary one to discuss.