Mass Shootings, Masculinity, and Gun Violence as Feminist Issues

Bridges, Tristan; Tober, Tara Leigh

doi:10.31235/osf.io/3vp9b

Cited by 8 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Building on recent sociological work on gun violence and mass shootings, we argue that mass shooter “manifestos” empirically illustrate and expand upon what Bridges and Tober (2019) refer to as a two‐part social psychological and cultural process behind this particular type of gun violence. This process attempts to explain why it is overwhelmingly men, and American men in particular, who commit mass shootings.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 72%

“…across social spheres. Scholars have argued that these changes have heightened a more general sense of precarity and status threat among white American men, reorienting the cultural meanings and appropriations of guns in the United States toward restoring positions of dominance and power (Bridges and Tober 2019; Carlson 2015a, 2015b; Mencken and Froese 2019; Stroud 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Trends in the prevalence of mass‐shooting events in the United States has been carefully catalogued by scholars who have charted the prevalence in mass‐shooting events over recent decades (Blair and Schweit 2014; Bridges and Tober 2019). Not only do mass shooting happen more frequently in the United States than they once did, the United States has become exceptional in terms of the sheer number of mass‐shooting events compared to other countries (Bridges and Tober 2019). Lankford (2016a, 2016b) explores this exceptionalism in a cross‐national study covering 171 countries from 1966 to 2012—linking mass shootings to a culture that glorifies gun ownership.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite the public attention this phenomenon has garnered, there has been relatively little empirical sociological research focusing on mass shootings and their social determinants. With notable exceptions (Bridges and Tober 2019; Collins 2014; Hawdon and Ryan 2012; Lankford 2016a, 2016b; Metzl and MacLeish 2015; Muschert 2007), sociologists have neglected the topic while research in other disciplines has been able to offer explanations for the extreme acts of violence committed by mass shooters. Psychologists, for instance, have focused on the extent to which mass shooters might have serious, oftentimes undiagnosed mental illnesses (Dutton et al 2013; Ferguson et al 2011; Lankford 2018; Swanson et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent sociological research on gun violence provides important insights into the particular social dynamics that underlie mass shootings in the United States. In particular, Bridges and Tober’s (2019) two‐pronged social psychological and cultural explanation for mass shootings committed by American men offers a useful starting point for examining this phenomenon in general and the sociological significance of mass shooter manifestos specifically. Thus, we begin by briefly outlining the main tenets of this framework.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Masculinity, Ritual, and Racialized Status Threat: Examining Mass Shooter Manifestos Using Structural Topic Models

Pfaffendorf

Davis

Kinney

2021

Sociological Inquiry

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Both popular media and research often frame mass shootings as an individual issue having to do with mental illness or other individual differences. This work has unfolded in much the same fashion as that on other negative or anti‐social behaviors—such as the individual pathologization of suicide or rape. However, what this work has shown empirically is that there are often a set of circumstances that are uniquely social that motivate such actions. Following work in sociology, which offers social psychological and cultural explanations for gun violence, we argue that mass shooter motivations reflect social conditions—especially those that instantiate toxic masculinity, social exclusion, and racism—conducive to these events. This article uses a computational textual modeling approach to analyze the distinct social logics that motivate mass shooters. To do this, we identify a sample of 27 publicly available mass shooter “manifestos,” or documents left behind by shooters following their actions. Using topic models, we show that mass shooters exhibit a variety of preoccupations that underlie their actions. While shooters can exhibit a multitude of possible motivations, we find that expressions of masculine overcompensation, ritualistic responses to exclusion, and racialized status threat are prominent features of mass shooter manifestos, corroborating recent sociological explanations of mass shootings.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Masculinity, Ritual, and Racialized Status Threat: Examining Mass Shooter Manifestos Using Structural Topic Models

Pfaffendorf

Davis

Kinney

2021

Sociological Inquiry

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Strategic Masculine Disinvestment: Understanding Contemporary Transformations of Masculinity and Their Psychosocial Implications

Pfaffendorf,

Hill

2024

Sex Roles

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Extending the gender role strain paradigm to account for U.S. males’ gun violence.

Levant¹

2022

Psychology of Men & Masculinities

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Most gun violence is committed by males, yet most males do not commit acts of gun violence, indicating that some aspect of masculinity that varies among males might account for this incongruence. I proposed that masculine gender role discrepancy strain, in combination with acquired capacity for gun violence, might account for why some boys and men commit acts of gun violence. The evidence for the role of discrepancy strain in the perpetration of violence was reviewed, with support coming from correlational studies, experiments, and qualitative studies in four social science disciplines: psychology, sociology, criminology, and cultural anthropology. This research suggested that males who feel that they do not measure up to their own standards for masculinity, or who are induced to feel that way after their masculinity is threatened, are likely to react violently. Furthermore, additional evidence linked discrepancy strain to three forms of actual gun violence: school shooters, mass shooters, and murder-suicides. I next examined the plausibility of the construct of acquired capability for gun violence, reviewing work on gun ownership, gun carrying, and gun enthusiasm. I concluded by providing recommendations for research and public education. In regard to the latter, I recommended that psychologists speak with parents, teachers, coaches, and other professionals who interact with boys to persuade them to carefully consider the messages that they are sending to boys.

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Mass Shootings, Masculinity, and Gun Violence as Feminist Issues

Abstract: Forthcoming chapter in Feminist Frontiers, 10e, edited by Verta Taylor, Nancy Whittier, and Leila Rupp. Rowman and Littlefield.

Cited by 8 publications

References 7 publications

Masculinity, Ritual, and Racialized Status Threat: Examining Mass Shooter Manifestos Using Structural Topic Models

Masculinity, Ritual, and Racialized Status Threat: Examining Mass Shooter Manifestos Using Structural Topic Models

Strategic Masculine Disinvestment: Understanding Contemporary Transformations of Masculinity and Their Psychosocial Implications

Extending the gender role strain paradigm to account for U.S. males’ gun violence.

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