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Book Reviews
At the core of school rampages
CEREMONIAL VIOLENCE:
A Psychological Explanation of School Shootings
By Jonathan Fast
333 pp. The Overlook Press $25.95
Reviewed by Roger Poppen
The emergence of school shooting rampages in the latter part of the 20th Century is an alarming feature of our society. Jonathan Fast, professor of social work at Yeshiva University, presents an analysis of factors related to these tragedies. His stated purpose “has less to do with reducing adolescent deaths than with understanding aspects of certain types of terrorism ” He believes these shootings are related to other kinds of “predatory mass murder,” the understanding of which is an essential task for the global community.
Fast used three criteria to select cases: the shooter or victims were on school grounds, the assailants were adolescents, and there were at least two casualties besides the shooter. He found thirteen cases involving fifteen individuals between the ages of eleven and twenty that occurred before the year 2000. He relies on archival records—media and police reports, and published scholarly works—noting that the amount of material increased as public interest in school shootings grew. This is reflected in the fact that early cases are sketchy, while the final case, the Columbine massacre, takes about a quarter of the book.
Fast employs “qualitative” research methodology, describing persons and events and inferring underlying factors. He makes no attempt to determine frequencies or proportions; instead, he uses terms like “often,” “usually” and ’not uncommon.” He is eclectic with respect to psychological theory, referring to Freudian defense mechanisms and Erikson’s theory of identity formation as well as other theories of brain function, personality, and socialization.
The “Theory of Ceremonial Violence” proposes that problems begin with an unhappy childhood, the result of anything from overt physical or sexual abuse to having a disability or being compared unfavorably with siblings. Being teased, bullied, and ostracized in middle or high school results in alienation, an inability to form an adult identity. At this point, the individual may attempt suicide, an all too common cause of teen mortality. But those having a narcissistic personality, described as craving attention and lacking empathy, may turn to thoughts of asserting dramatic, overwhelming power against people they feel to be responsible for their misery.
Fast presents an overview of all the cases, followed by detailed analyses of six individuals. Each case reads like a true-crime story, occasionally interrupted by psychological interpretations and comparisons to other cases. Beginning with parents’ education, employment, and marital situation, Fast takes the reader step by step through the development of the child’s responses to stressors at home and school. What is striking is the wide variety of family situations, from abusive or demanding to loving and caring.
Some troubled children “fly beneath the radar,” functioning well enough to avoid detection. But most signal distress by writing violent essays, fighting, performing badly in studies, withdrawing from activities, having run-ins with the police, etc. Typical children of this sort are drawn to music, movies, and video games featuring nihilistic violence; they display an inordinate fondness for weaponry. Sometimes an adult—teacher, parent or counselor—becomes alarmed and seeks to intervene, but that can be too little or too late.
Where the budding shooter differs from the usual “troubled teen” is in the systematic preparation for revenge. In most cases, a peer knows about the plan but doesn’t take it seriously or even encourages it. Fast describes the shooting episodes in detail and follows with accounts of the aftermath: effects on victims and families, community reactions, the prosecution of shooters, and their disposition in juvenile, criminal, or mental institutions.
A short concluding chapter discusses prevention, intervention, and postvention [sic]. Fast notes the impossibility of reliably identifying a potential shooter, but cites the development of threat assessment protocols. These rely on “leakages” of a shooting plan to others and reportedly have thwarted several incidents, though rampage shootings continue to occur. He also mentions anti-bullying programs, and lists “Characteristics of Non-Violent Schools” to which schools might aspire. In the intervention section, he sketches the features of “safety plans” that many schools have put in place to deal with shootings and natural disasters.
As for postvention, Fast summarizes programs to help individuals and communities deal with the aftermath of an attack. Lastly, he addresses the issue of gun control, noting that easy access to rapid-fire weapons in the latter part of the 20th century provided the technology for rampage shootings. Attempts to regulate weapon availability in the wake of assassinations and mass killings have been thwarted by our pro-gun culture.
The strongest features of this book are its overall readability and its exhaustive compilation of references. But rather than a psychological explanation, as the title promises, it offers several. The sub-heading of each chapter devoted to a case lists the important factors for that individual, for example “conduct disorder/malignant narcissism/brain damage and disinhibition,” and “stigma/relocation stress.” What appear to be the core concepts of Fast’s “theory of ceremonial violence,” alienation and narcissism, provide little insight. They are at best descriptive constructs invoked to explain the thoughts, feelings, and actions that define them. Finally, Fast never addresses his stated goal of relating school shootings to broader issues of terrorism.
Like any research, this work suggests further questions. It appears to be a first step rather than the last word. One wishes such a knowledgeable scholar had provided some hint of where to go from here.
Roger Poppen has a Ph.D. in psychology from Stanford University and spent over thirty years as researcher and professor. He authored two books and over a hundred professional articles and presentations in the field of behavior analysis and therapy. His focus since retiring is creative writing. Please visit his website at http://mypage.siu.edu/drrock/.
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