Mothers of Mass Murderers: Exploring Public Blame for the Mothers of School Shooters through an Application of Courtesy Stigma to the Columbine and Newtown Tragedies

Melendez, Michael S.; Lichtenstein, Bronwen; Dolliver, Matthew J.

doi:10.1080/01639625.2015.1060754

Cited by 14 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Parents of adult prisoners may also bear the burden of "guilt by association" (Condry, 2013). This is especially true for mothers, whom the general public may see as the root cause of their children's offenses (Jackson & Mannix, 2004;Melendez, Lichtenstein, & Dolliver, 2016). In addition, parents of incarcerated adults are more likely than the prisoners' partners and children to maintain contact with them (Murray, 2003).…”

Section: Parenting An Offendermentioning

confidence: 99%

The Experience of Prisoners’ Parents: A Meta‐Synthesis of Qualitative Studies

Gueta

2017

Family Process

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The parents of prisoners have long drawn the attention of researchers, due to their role in the etiology of criminality as well as the importance of their support of their offspring during and after incarceration. However, although studies have shown that the parents of prisoners experience high levels of distress, burden, and social stigma, research into their experience is only now beginning to emerge. This metasynthesis examined the limited body of qualitative research on the experience of prisoners' parents, as an exploratory step toward advancing the understanding of their experience. Relevant terms were used to systematically search key databases. Ten small-scale studies, which varied in focus, location, and disciplinary orientation, met the inclusion criteria. The synthesis produced four core themes, reflecting findings regarding parents' (primarily mothers') experience of their offspring's incarceration: parenting from a distance; the burden of care; troubled parental identity; and social reaction. Furthermore, the findings suggested a number of possible mediating factors of this experience, such as parents' social capital and their cognitive appraisal of their offspring's criminality. These themes imply a possible experience of "imprisonment by association" among the parents of inmates and illuminate features that may be unique to them. Given the inherent limitations regarding generalizability of a metasynthesis and the heterogeneity of the experiences of the parents represented by the articles reviewed, the findings call for future large-scale quantitative studies to explore the challenges and therapeutic needs of parents of prisoners regarding the themes identified.

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Section: Parenting An Offendermentioning

confidence: 99%

The Experience of Prisoners’ Parents: A Meta‐Synthesis of Qualitative Studies

Gueta

2017

Family Process

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“…Mothers of offenders experience an excessive degree of blame, particularly when their child's offence was violent. Mothers of youth involved in high-profile school shootings have been blamed for acts of their children and called failures, while fathers of these children received almost no blame (Melendez et al, 2016). This could reflect gender discrimination as well as the perceived importance of the mother's role in child rearing.…”

Section: Impact Of the Criminal Justice System On Familiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shame and blame: Secondary stigma among families of convicted sex offenders

Evans

Trahan

Laird

2021

Criminology & Criminal Justice

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The detriment of incarceration experienced by the formerly incarcerated has been increasingly explored in the literature on reentry. A tangential but equally concerning issue that has recently received more research attention is the effect on family members of the incarcerated. The stigma of a criminal conviction is most apparent among families of convicted sex offenders, who experience consequences parallel to those of their convicted relative. Drawing from interviews with 30 individuals with a family member incarcerated for a sex offence in the United States, this study explores manifestations of stigma due to familial association. The findings suggest that families face negative treatment from social networks and criminal justice officials, engage in self-blame and that the media’s control over the narrative exacerbates family members’ experiences. Given the pervasiveness of criminal justice system contact, the rapid growth of the sex offender registry in the United States, and the millions of family members peripherally affected by one or both, justice system reforms are needed to ensure that family members are shielded from the harms of incarceration and registration.

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“…Partners and spouses of registered individuals also may experience courtesy stigma, which is stigma experienced by an individual resulting from their association with a "deviant" other (Goffman, 1963;Harris et al, 2011;Larson & Lane, 2006;Pryor et al, 2012). Examples of courtesy stigma have been found for a variety of populations, including parents of prisoners (Gueta, 2018); family members of individuals who are HIV-positive (Lichtenstein et al, 2010), parents of teenagers who have ADHD (Koro-Ljungberg & Bussing, 2009); and mothers of school shooters (Melendez et al, 2016); and thus, is not unique to those associated with individuals who have committed sex offenses. Research demonstrates that the negative consequences manifesting from courtesy stigma are often equivalent in severity to the consequences experienced by the primary stigmatized individual (Kulik et al, 2008;Larson & Lane, 2006).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%