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Stories in Action: the Cultural Influences of School Shootings On This article was downloaded by: [84.215.202.88] On: 03 May 2014, At: 01:21 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Critical Studies on Terrorism Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rter20 Stories in action: the cultural influences of school shootings on the terrorist attacks in Norway Sveinung Sandberga, Atte Oksanenb, Lars Erik Berntzenc & Tomi Kiilakoskid a Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway b National Research Institute of Legal Policy, Helsinki, Finland c Department of Political and Social Sciences, European University Institute, Firenze, Italy d Finnish Youth Research Network, Helsinki, Finland Published online: 30 Apr 2014. To cite this article: Sveinung Sandberg, Atte Oksanen, Lars Erik Berntzen & Tomi Kiilakoski (2014): Stories in action: the cultural influences of school shootings on the terrorist attacks in Norway, Critical Studies on Terrorism, DOI: 10.1080/17539153.2014.906984 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17539153.2014.906984 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. 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Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms- and-conditions Downloaded by [84.215.202.88] at 01:21 03 May 2014 Critical Studies on Terrorism, 2014 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17539153.2014.906984 ARTICLE Stories in action: the cultural influences of school shootings on the terrorist attacks in Norway Sveinung Sandberga*, Atte Oksanenb, Lars Erik Berntzenc and Tomi Kiilakoskid aDepartment of Criminology and Sociology of Law, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; bNational Research Institute of Legal Policy, Helsinki, Finland; cDepartment of Political and Social Sciences, European University Institute, Firenze, Italy; dFinnish Youth Research Network, Helsinki, Finland (Received 16 December 2013; accepted 14 March 2014) Terrorism is a cultural bricolage and terrorists are inspired by a wide range of political ideologies and stories. In this study of the terrorist attacks that occurred in Norway in 2011, we reveal how the perpetrator was influenced not only by political rhetoric, but also by the cultural script of school shootings. Anders Behring Breivik was socially isolated and lived his life online. He targeted young people in educational contexts and tried to kill as many people as possible. Preparation was extensive, including cultural products distributed online, and notoriety was the primary objective. By revealing such similarities, we challenge widespread distinctions between types of harm. Keywords: cultural criminology; cultural script; narrative criminology; school shooting; terrorism Introduction On 22 July 2011, Norway was hit by the worst case of terrorism or political violence since the Second World War. At half past four in the afternoon, a 950-kilo fertiliser bomb exploded close to many government offices in the centre of Oslo. Eight people were killed outright, and 10 were hospitalised with severe injuries. Had it not been for the summer holiday, the death toll might have been many times higher. At about half past five on the same evening, a shooting rampage began at Utøya, where the Labour Youth Party was Downloaded by [84.215.202.88] at 01:21 03 May 2014 holding its annual political summer camp. Sixty-nine people were killed, most of them youths, and half as many were severely wounded. The perpetrator was Anders Behring Breivik; he was 32 years old at the time and had spent years preparing for the attacks. In a manifesto that he posted on YouTube and distributed by email, he claimed that he was protecting Western and Christian values against the threat of Islam. He further described the attacks as political violence and listed several terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda and the Baader-Meinhof Group as sources of inspiration. Studies published in the aftermath have framed the attacks in a similar way (see Asprem 2011; Andersson 2012; Fekete 2012; Walton 2012; Sandberg 2013; Wiggen 2012; Berntzen and Sandberg 2014; Gardell 2014). Using the manifesto as a primary source of data, researchers – the authors of this article included – have thus allowed Breivik to control the perception and interpretation of events. In this study, Breivik’s acts are analysed from the perspective of cultural and narrative criminology to argue that action can be seen as telling a story (Katz 1988; *Corresponding author. Email: [email protected] © 2014 Taylor & Francis 2 S. Sandberg et al. Jackson-Jacobs 2004). The steps taken in a crime, for example, can be analysed as the elements or events in a narrative. When it comes to the terrorist attacks in Norway, three voices stand out: anti-Islamic rhetoric, stories of political terrorism and school shooting scripts. As with other narratives, the story of a crime tends to be intertextual, representing a multitude of voices (Frank 2012), and is best understood as a cultural bricolage (Levi-Strauss 1966). Academics, however, prefer to think in clear-cut categories and distinctions. Studying the many stories of a crime is important because categories of harm influence everything from an understanding of crime and offender to prevention policies and penal responses. It is also important because the story a crime tells may differ from the one told by offenders. The story of the Utøya attack, for example, is not the story that Breivik wants us to hear. Although his manifesto is more than 1500 pages long, school shootings are never mentioned. We have previously explored the inspiration that Breivik drew from anti-Islamic rhetoric and political terrorism (Sandberg 2013; Berntzen and Sandberg 2014). However, when parenthesising his own interpretation of events and taking a closer look at events that took place, we find close similarities to previous school shootings. This is particularly true of the attack at Utøya. Much has been said about how Breivik was inspired by political rhetoric, while the cultural influences of school shootings have gone unnoticed. Exploring these is the main aim of this paper. To be clear, we do not argue that the Oslo 22/7 attacks were a school shooting case. Rather, our aim is to challenge simplified categorisations of harm. The cultural script of school shootings On 14 December 2012, Adam Lanza shot and killed 20 six- to seven-year-old pupils and six adult staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. In recent decades, some of the most tragic and notorious mass shootings have occurred when students have attacked their current or former school with lethal intent. The USA has witnessed dozens of cases, the most notorious being the Columbine shooting (1999), and the most lethal the Virginia Tech shootings (2007). In Europe, the cases with the most fatalities have occurred in Germany and Finland. It has been estimated that there have been at least 68 mass shootings since the Columbine tragedy. The rate of these incidents has increased dramatically, especially outside the USA (Böckler, Seeger, et al. 2013). Downloaded by [84.215.202.88] at 01:21 03 May 2014 Table 1 summarises the most renowned school shootings before the Newtown attack. All of the perpetrators were male and committed suicide at the end of their attacks. The school shooters range in age from 16 to 32, and an important factor that differentiates them is their cognitive development and exposure to the world. School shootings have not been traditionally viewed as political acts, but they contain political elements (Malkki 2014). It seems that the older the offenders are, the more verbalised their intents, desires and “political” messages become. This does not hinder a comparison, but although they share a large number of common traits, the degree to which they have articulated explicit political goals is coterminous with a continuum largely defined by their age and development of mental faculties. Systematic studies conducted in Germany, the USA and Finland show that school shooters have had problems with their peer groups and felt excluded or rejected at some point in their lives (Böckler, Seeger, and Heitmeyer 2011; Kiilakoski and Oksanen 2011b; Newman et al. 2004; Oksanen et al. 2013; Verlinden, Hersen, and Thomas 2000; Vossekuil et al. 2002). These social problems might have exacerbated their psychological disorders, including symptoms of depression, narcissistic personality traits and lack of Table 1. Selected school shooting cases. Age of the Year Location perpetrator(s) Weapons Died* Wounded Case description 1999 Littleton 18 & 17 Semi-automatic handguns, 15 23 Two heavily armed students attacked their own school, tried to (Columbine), USA shotguns, explosives, blow up the building and fatally shot 12 students and one and knives teacher. 2002 Erfurt, Germany 19 Semi-automatic pistol 17 7 A former student attacked a school, killing 13 faculty and staff members and two students before committing suicide.
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