Shared Struggles? Cumulative Strain Theory and Public Mass Murderers From 1990 to 2014

• NCJ Number: 254041
• Date Published: 2019
• Length: 21 pages
• Author(s): James Silver; John Horgan
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical), Report (Study/Research), Report (Grant Sponsored), Program/Project Description
• Grant Number(s): 2013-ZA-BX-0002
• Award: Across the Universe? A Comparative Analysis of Violent Radicalization Across Three Offender Types with Implications for Criminal Justice Training and Education

Annotation

Since scholars have urged a shift in research on mass murder from the creation of typologies to theoretically rich, data-driven comparative examinations of the phenomenon, this study aimed to make this change in two steps.

Abstract

First, it analyzed a unique sample of public mass murderers through the multistage explanatory model of cumulative strain theory. Second, it used a comparison group of similarly violent offenderslone actor terroriststo provide context to the findings. The results demonstrate that cumulative strain theory usefully describes the trajectory toward violence of public mass murderers, more so when a concept implicit in the theorygrievanceis made explicit. (publisher abstract modified)