By Geetika Ahuja
1966 Texas Tower shooting. 1999 Columbine high school shooting. 2002 Erfurt, Germany Secondary School shooting. 2007 Virginia Tech shooting. 2013 Colorado shooting.
These headlines have been haunting us for more than a decade. But the spurt in rampage killings perpetrated by students is compelling us to pay heed to the causes which are igniting such events.
The recent spate of killings has always been talked about by taking into consideration what goes on inside the mind of the perpetrator, almost being oblivious to what goes on around the perpetrator. The shootings mentioned above might be different cases, heralded by different perpetrators. But, on closer analysis, its hard to miss the common sociological patterns underlying all these rampage killings.
When attacks on institutions like schools or universities happen, they cant just be dismissed as assaults triggered by animosity against a few victims. These attacks are meant to threaten the collective identity. In most of these cases, the victims are anonymous. So, when the victim is unknown to the criminal, why would he carry off a strike against them? As we dig deeper, it becomes amply clear that these attacks are aimed at shattering the image and strength of a community. By destroying an institution that forms the focal point of the community, from where most of the members can trace their ties, the perpetrator intends to capture the attention of his peers and the entire community by shaking its very roots.
The personal anguish that the perpetrator harbours against the society, or the members of a particular institution, often manifests itself in the form of violence against the entire institution. Most of the times, the attack is against ones own institution.
These killings are not one-off instances. They are a culmination of factors that have been brewing since a long time. The perpetrators, predominantly students in the case in point, are those who are mostly at the receiving end of rejection and bullying. Ostracized by the schools popular community, they lie low in the social hierarchy, and become a part of the out-group. They normally belong to the outcasts of the institution. Socially marginalized and dejected by the alien treatment meted out to them, and sans a system in place to help them cope, they resort to rampage killings. Ridiculed and mocked, and unable to retaliate, they bear all the shoving and jeering silently. But because they dont let it out via any other medium, violence becomes their vent.
Their victims are unarmed and unable to defend themselves. This gives a feeling of authority over others, because for once they are the ones at the helm of affairs. For once, they are able to pull the reins. They feel a sense of victory for having reversed the power dynamics of the social chain.
Their sense of achievement spurs from the fact they have done what they were teased about- a lack of courage and manliness (most attackers were male). It should come as no surprise how these two words are often used interchangeably, for that is the stereotype that has been perpetuated in our society. Their actions can also be understood as an attempt to be a part of the in-group, to abide by the oft repeated yet unfounded definition of what is masculine by depicting their manliness. By being violent and showcasing their courage, they think they are reinstating their masculinity. It might be seen as a simple case of following cultural scripts and attempting to gain acceptance, but from another view, this is an attempt at fitting into normative categories gone terribly wrong.
According to the anomie theory given by Emile Durkheim, the juveniles who commit school shootings feel a sense of normlessness in their society, and, therefore, act out in violence. (Leary, Kowalski, Smith, & Phillips (2003)). The perpetrators could be perplexed when they are confronted with unbalanced social dynamics and might find themselves at a loss due to the absence of a sound student- faculty relation to rely upon as they grow up.
What also warrants attention is the easy availability of firearms ammunition to the students. Countries like the united states, where getting a license is pretty easy, are propagating a gun culture. With easy access to guns, perpetrators dont have to think twice before following their instincts. These violent instincts are often heightened by the aggressive warfare that is promoted by video games. The dissemination of a culture of violence is largely responsible for the quagmire were currently in.
The need of the hour is to delve deeper and search for solutions which will help to restore social order, without rendering incorrect the solutions which find the dominant community (whites) or the major institutions (schools) at fault.
Geetika Ahuja is a first year sociology student at Lady Shri Ram College for Women. She describes herself as a quirky melange of social sensitivity and rhetoric sarcasm. A voracious reader, a poetry lover and an avid quizzer, she also loves to spend her time at an animal care ngo. When not writing or intellectually locking horns with others, she can be seen listening to the beatles. She can be reached at geetikaadorable@yahoo.com