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

• NCJ Number: 254041
• Journal: Homicide Studies Volume: 23 Issue: 1 Dated: 2019 Pages: 64-84
• Author(s): James Silver; John Horgan
• Date Published: 2019
• Length: 21 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2013-ZA-BX-0002
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• 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 offenders lone actor terrorists to 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 theory grievance is made explicit. (publisher abstract modified)