Examination of the Short-and Long-term Impact of School Shootings

Although the frequency and severity of school shootings is increasing, there is a paucity of information about the immediate and long-term consequences of these violent events on a school system and its community. By examining multiple school shootings, we can identify current gaps in services and policies, we can refine recovery protocols in school emergency plans, foster collaboration between different responding organizations, and ensure that funding streams are available during critical phases of recovery. The UCLA/Duke University National Center for Child Traumatic Stress and its National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) have a long history of create school-based recovery programs after deadly school violence. In this project, "Examination of the Long- and Short-term Impact of School Shooting," we are proposing a multiple method collaborative study to investigate the consequences associated with six school shootings that have occurred in the U.S. within the past five years. Partners include the UCLA Center for Public Health and Disasters and several of our NCTSN centers. After the formation of a Study Advisory Board consisting of national experts to help guide the research project, focus groups will be held at each of the selected sites with targeted membership from the affected population to obtain information about the acute and longer term impacts, including effects on the school system and community, responses and recovery efforts, and issues of community cohesion. Next, semi-structured interviews with key informants (such as students, parents, school personnel, first responders, victim service providers, civic leaders, religious professionals, and media), will be conducted to obtain in-depth information about protective and vulnerability factors associated with individual, school, and community recovery, including coping strategies, the utilization and perceived benefit of victim services, and the role of culture and religion in recovery. Third, based on information obtained from the focus groups and semi-structured interviews, structured interviews and surveys will be conducted at each study site with additional target populations. A second component of the project will obtain and analyze the content and impact of media and social media at selected study sites. Qualitative and quantitative findings from this study will be published, presented at professional meetings and on-site at the collaborating communities, presented in webinars, and incorporated into training programs of the NCTSN. Implications of the findings will be drawn for the development of recommendations for preparedness, response, and recovery of communities after catastrophic violence at school, and for policy briefs. This project contains a research and/or development component, as defined in applicable law. ca/ncf