Understanding the Facts About School Violence and Potentially Violent Offenders

It is important to avoid misperceptions about the prevalence and causes of school violence. Perhaps most critical to keep in mind is that no single factor leads to violence. Multiple factors can cause a person to become violent. All approaches to prevention and intervention, including threat assessment, should be based on what we actually know about the phenomenon. Secret Service and FBI findings include:

· School violence is not an epidemic

· All school shooters are not alike, and there is no accurate profile of the violent offender

· School shooters often have social difficulties, but they are not always loners

· Although revenge is a common factor, it is not the exclusive motivation for school shootings

· Most attackers had previously used guns and had access to them, but access to weapons is not the most significant risk factor

· Unusual or aberrant behaviors or interests are not the hallmark of a student destined to become violent

· Incidents of targeted violence at school are rarely impulsive

· Prior to most incidents, the attacker told someone about his/her idea or plans

· Most shooting incidents were not resolved by law enforcement

· In many cases, other students were involved in some capacity

· In a number of cases, bullying played a key role in and could have been a predictor of the attack

· Prior to the incident, most attackers engaged in behavior that caused concern to someone.

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Adapted from informatin provided by the National Association of School Psychologists.
Developed by: Stephen Brock, Ph.D., NCSP,who is on the faculty of California State University-Sacramento and Chairs the NASP Crisis Intervention Interest Group; and Shane Jimerson, Ph.D. NCSP, who is on the faculty of the University of California Santa Barbara.
With Phil Lazarus, they are co-editors of the NASP publication, Best Practices in School Crisis Prevention and Intervention.
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