The De-escalation of a School Shooting: Toward a Micro-sociological Theory

• In Event: 123 - Section on Social Psychology Refereed Roundtable Session (co-sponsored with Section on Sociology of Emotions and Section on Sociology of Mental Health).
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 10. Methodological and Theoretical Advances

Abstract

Conversations on gun violence in schools have largely been dominated by discussions of gun ownership and mental health. Drawing off of audio-visual recordings, archival data, and autobiographical accounts, this paper provides a theoretically informed account of an averted school shooting. It demonstrates that both carrying out and preventing violence are contingent on framing work similar to that carried out in ordinary internal and external conversation, and shows how such a framework complements existing theories on the etiology of school shootings.

Author

• David Christian Sorge, University of Pennsylvania