School Shootings in the United States from 1997 to 2012: a Content Analysis of Media Coverage Victoria N

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School Shootings in the United States from 1997 to 2012: a Content Analysis of Media Coverage Victoria N University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School June 2017 School Shootings in the United States from 1997 to 2012: A Content Analysis of Media Coverage Victoria N. Iannuzzi University of South Florida, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons Scholar Commons Citation Iannuzzi, Victoria N., "School Shootings in the United States from 1997 to 2012: A Content Analysis of Media Coverage" (2017). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/6866 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. School Shootings in the United States from 1997 to 2012: A Content Analysis of Media Coverage by Victoria N. Iannuzzi A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of Criminology College of Behavioral and Community Sciences University of South Florida Major Professor: Kathleen M. Heide, Ph.D. Ráchael A. Powers, Ph.D Lyndsay N. Boggess, Ph.D. Date of Approval: June 26, 2017 Keywords: school shooting, media and crime, mass murder, juvenile offender, rarity theory Copyright © 2017, Victoria N. Iannuzzi. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. iii List of Figures ..................................................................................................................................v Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... vi Chapter One: Introduction ...............................................................................................................1 Chapter Two: A Review of the Literature .......................................................................................4 What are School Shootings? ................................................................................................4 Historical Context of School Shootings ...............................................................................6 Addressing the “Epidemic” of School Shootings ................................................................6 A Profile of School Shootings .............................................................................................7 Typology of School Shootings ..........................................................................................11 Media Coverage of Crime – The Shaping of Public Opinion ............................................14 Media Coverage of School Shootings ................................................................................17 Chapter Three: Methodology .........................................................................................................19 Objectives ..........................................................................................................................19 Hypotheses .........................................................................................................................20 Data Set – Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence ......................................................23 Dataset Construction ..........................................................................................................27 Ethical Concerns ................................................................................................................29 Variables ............................................................................................................................29 Dependent Variable ...............................................................................................30 Independent Variables ...........................................................................................30 Research Design .................................................................................................................39 Data Analysis Plan .............................................................................................................40 Chapter Four: Results ....................................................................................................................43 Descriptive .........................................................................................................................43 Objective 1: Offender and Offense Characteristics ...............................................43 Objective 2: School Shooting Typology ................................................................48 Objective 3: Case Processing Characteristics ........................................................50 Objective 4: Analysis of Media Coverage .............................................................53 Analytical ...........................................................................................................................53 Cross-tabular Analysis ...........................................................................................54 Regression Analysis ...............................................................................................59 i Chapter Five: Discussion ...............................................................................................................62 Findings from the Current Study In Relation to the Literature ..........................................66 Implications ........................................................................................................................67 Limitations .........................................................................................................................72 Directions for Future Research ..........................................................................................75 References ......................................................................................................................................78 Appendices .....................................................................................................................................84 Appendix A: Table A1. Study Variables and Operationalization ......................................85 ii LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Offenders Involved in School Shooting Incidents .......................................................25 Table 2: Variables by Category ..................................................................................................31 Table 3: Offender Characteristics – Demographics ...................................................................44 Table 4: Offender Characteristics – Medical/Behavioral History ..............................................45 Table 5: Offense Characteristics – Victims Injured and Killed .................................................46 Table 6: Offense Characteristics – Weapons Involved ..............................................................47 Table 7: Offense Characteristics – Geographical and Temporal ...............................................48 Table 8: Typology Assessment ..................................................................................................49 Table 9: Case Processing Characteristics ...................................................................................51 Table 10: Media Coverage Characteristics ..................................................................................53 Table 11: Reported Mental Health History by Total Amount of Media Coverage Received .................................................................................................................56 Table 12: Evidence of School Related Mass Murder by Total Amount of Media Coverage Received ................................................................................................57 Table 13: Single Offender/Victim Type by Total Amount of Media Coverage Received .................................................................................................................57 Table 14: Total Victims Injured or Killed by Total Amount of Media Coverage Received .................................................................................................................58 Table 15: Region of the U.S. by Total Amount of Media Coverage Received ...........................59 Table 16: Year of Incident Occurrence by Total Amount of Media Coverage Received .................................................................................................................59 Table 17: Logistic Regression Results .........................................................................................61 iii Table A1: Variables and Operationalization .................................................................................85 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Flowchart of Independent Variables Included in Further Analyses ............................55 v ABSTRACT This study is a content analysis of news articles of school shooting incidents that occurred within the United States between 1997 and 2012. This paper was designed to (a) address the current profile of school shooting offenders and offenses, (b) assess a proposed typology of school shootings, (c) consider common case processing characteristics for offenders
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