Are America’s public mass shooters unique? A comparative analysis of offenders in the United States and other countries

Public mass shooters are often assumed to be an exceptionally American problem, but little is known about what proportion of global offenders attack in the United States, or how America’s offenders compare to those in other countries. The present study offers the first quantitative analysis of all known offenders from 1966 to 2012 who attacked anywhere on the globe and killed a minimum of four victims. The results suggest that public mass shooters in the United States are significantly more likely to arm themselves with multiple weapons and attack at school and workplace settings, while offenders from other countries are more likely to strike at military sites. These differences may be partially attributable to America’s national gun culture and its particular set of social strains.     

Socialization or prisonization? Utilizing Sykes’ “pains of imprisonment” to examine deprivations in America’s public schools

Highly publicized incidents of serious school violence have resulted in the enactment of numerous rules and regulations, many of which are overly restrictive in nature. These restrictive policies are based on an unsubstantiated belief that school violence has become a national epidemic. Further, while offered under the guise of safety and security, these policies have resulted in the limitations of students’ rights. The purpose of this paper is to explore those limitations. Utilizing Sykes’ typology, “pains of imprisonment”, we discuss the deprivations that exist within the school institution. Recommendations for seeking a balance between the rights of students and the needs of school administrators to maintain a safe school environment are also offered.

A configurational analysis of 44 US mass shootings: 1975–2015

This study identifies the conditions under which civilian shooter events in the United States become mass episodes of killing. Hitherto, researchers have examined many individual-level variables associated with mass shootings including personal deprivation, family problems, mental illness, among others. Apart from a handful of quantitative studies, scholars have yet to provide a comparative scope to the multiplicity of factors that are influential in bringing about a mass murder. Adopting fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, this study analyses (n = 44) civilian acts of violence that took place from 1975 to 2015 in which some shootings resulted in few deaths and others turned into mass bouts of killing. Empirical results reveal that no variables on their own are sufficient or necessary in accounting for the outcome of a mass shooting. Rather, configurations of causal conditions provide sufficient pathways and new insight into the particular circumstances under which a mass shooting is apt to take place in. The most salient of configurations tell us that mass shootings are prominently influenced by the combination of severe/multiple mental illnesses, a large number/high-powered guns and weak state gun law legislation. Another pathway reveals that mass shootings are also influenced by the interaction of radical ideology, severe/multiple mental illnesses, and high-state level gun ownership.     

Does public criticism Erode trust in the police? The case of Jari Aarnio in the Finnish news media and its effects on the public’s attitudes towards the police

A significant part of the general public’s observations and image concerning the police comes through the mass media. It has been assumed that one factor affecting the level of trust is the way the media handles the police. This article describes the media uproar that arose in Finland in November 2013 about police misconduct, and its effects on the public trust in the police. Two hypotheses were tested in the study: (a) negative publicity always decreases trust, and so, too, in this case; and (b) a change in trust is affected by the public’s independent interpretation of the publicity battle, in which case criticism might also increase trust. The study materials comprise the news coverage concerning the uproar and four opinion surveys collected after it occurred. The first survey was conducted immediately after the press conference of the case in week 48/2013 and the other ones in three-week intervals. The results show that following the uproar, compared to the earlier results of the European Social Survey, trust in the police did not decrease—on the contrary, it increased slightly. Our results suggest that in this case a large part of the audience has taken, to use the term of Stuart Hall, the oppositional position when interpreting negative news about the police.     

Obscuring sexual crime: examining media representations of sexual violence in Megan’s law

Sexual violence remains a pervasive and persistent social problem. In 1996, Congress enacted Megan’s Law, dictating mandatory community notification and potential civil commitment for those deemed by the State to be dangerous sexual offenders. In 2013, Megan’s Law continues to influence the treatment of sexual offenders under law and the social construction of a highly publicized, yet statistically rare, sexual crime – the rape and murder of a young female child by a depraved male stranger. This influence highlights the extent to which this personalized crime bill shapes the social construction of sexual violence in terms of sex and gender systems. This paper examines how sex and gender shape media discourses of the sexual offender and victim that are mobilized in the legislative debate on Megan’s Law. Drawing on theoretical ideas from cultural studies and feminist legal scholarship, we employ discourse analysis to analyze the legislative debate on Megan’s Law. We find that high-profile media images of sex offenders and victims are relied on to construct a singular image of sexual violence, whereby a child is victimized by an adult sexual predator. These images draw on traditional, conservative notions of gender and sexuality.     

The politics of misogyny: General Zia-ul-Haq’s Islamization of Pakistan’s legal system

General Zia-ul-Haq’s ambitious Islamization program vis-à-vis gender status in an Islamic Republic remains embedded in the legal system to the detriment of Pakistan’s females. Passage of the Hudood Ordinances of 1979 was a harbinger of things to come as the military junta moved to implement laws perceived to be congruent with Shariah (Islamic) law. This article examines specific discriminatory legal measures, which ensured the reversal of the slow but significant gains made by females since Pakistan’s creation in 1947; and explores how certain draconian measures enacted by Zia’s regime served to mobilize some Pakistani women to political activism.     

From a Cockroach’s Point of View: The Metamorphosis of Perception in Kafka

The article offers a reading of the famous tale by Kafka focused on the consequences triggered by the sudden transformation of Gregor Samsa into an insect. This event constitutes the starting point of a shift that involves phases and components of perception both of the self and of the world as well as the relations among the inner and the external world, the most elementary awareness and feelings and the most complex ones, which are affective, cognitive and related to interactions, expressed with particular emphasis by the dynamics of the spatial dimension of the story. Two discursive paths intersect above all: on one side, the traveling salesman wakes up with the/in the body of cockroach while his soul is the same as always. He will have to try to become cockroach, that is to assume its perceptions and then, slowly, its tastes, its impressions and any other animal sentiment. At the same time, the becoming of Gregorio’s family will be antiphrastic to the one experienced by him: from inept, passive parasites of their akin, as they are depicted at the beginning of the story, his family members will gradually turn into active bourgeoisies full of projects, rejecting Gregory up to eliminate him: they are the ones dehumanizing themselves, while Gregory refines his sensitivity in suffering, even to the sacrifice.     

The Rule of Law in Today’s Africa∗

This article is based on the recent decision of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in a case involving illness resulting from the consumption of a bottled drink which contained a dead cockroach. The main issues considered were manufacturers' duty of care; the liability of a retailer in negligence; burden of proof; and causation. Evidence showed that the drink manufactured by the second respondent was sold by the first respondent to the appellant in the same condition in which it left the second respondent. The Court held that in the circumstances of the case, only the second respondent was liable to the appellant.     

Policing Women’s Bodies in an Illiberal Society: The Case of Ireland

This journal article outlines the history of the policing women’s bodies in Ireland in the context of law, crime and reproduction. It does this by means of three case studies. The first case study explores the policing of women’s bodies in relation to sexuality. The second case study focuses on reproduction and the policing of women’s bodies in relation to reproduction. The third and final case study considers the policing of women’s bodies in relation to abortion. Taken together, these three case studies provide an overview of the capacity, and indeed the readiness, that exists in Irish society to police women’s bodies and to do so particularly in relation to sexuality and reproduction.     

Sovereign impunity in America’s war on terror: examining reconfigured power and the absence of accountability

Significant socio-legal transformations since September 11th have attracted scholarly investigations in pursuit of identifying the precise nature of a newly configured form of power. In the course of suspending law, the US government has instituted controversial tactics in the war on terror, many of which are deemed illegal under international law (i.e., the unlawful enemy combatant designation, torture, and the war in Iraq). This work attends to recent analyses on sovereignty, governmentality, counter-law, and states of exception in an effort to elaborate on state impunity since it is regarded as an important phenomenon warranting greater exploration. Due to an absence of accountability that would otherwise hold specific government actors responsible, key counter-terrorism strategies perpetuate serious state crimes. The article situates those transgressions within a conceptual context that deepens our understanding of power in a post-9/11 world while inviting further critique on the war on terror as it undermines the rule of law and established human rights protections.

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The magic kingdom syndrome: trials and tribulations of life in Disney’s celebration

This paper critically analyzes the political elements of the new town planning trend, New Urbanism, through a study of the Disney Company’s development of Celebration, Florida. Celebration, as both a high‐profile example of the New Urbanism and as a product of Disney’s skill at “Imagineering,” provides an important example of utopian thinking and planning within the context of the political economy of consumption. Through interviews and archival research, this paper looks at the political and social implications of commodity utopianism as planned communities and the ethic of consumption continue to occupy prominent places within the popular American psyche.     

The creation of Ohio’s ethnic intimidation law: Triggering events, media campaigns, and interest group activity

The majority of the research being conducted on hate crime laws deals with civil liberties issues; however, there has been little research conducted on the creation of these laws. In 1986, Ohio joined a growing number of states in enacting hate crime legislation. This article involves a historical analysis of the creation of Ohio’s ethnic intimidation law. Through the use of interviews and archival data, it was found that interest group activity, media campaigns, and a specific triggering event were all influential in the process of enacting this legislation in Ohio. While these findings cannot be generalized to the creation of laws in general, or hate crime laws in other states, this study does fill a gap in the knowledge about the process of enacting laws.     

The Role of the People’s Armed Police in Chinese Policing

This study examines the role of the People’s Armed Police (PAP) in Chinese policing. While the PAP has been in existence for over five decades, very little research has paid attention to the critical position that the PAP occupies in Chinese policing. The history of the PAP between 1949 and 1982 was highlighted by a number of changes in name and a constant change of direct control between the military and the public security. The PAP experienced a great expansion and became more stabilized in organizational structure and missions after 1983. While it is part of China’s military forces, the PAP is currently involved in a wide variety of law enforcement, order maintenance, and service activities. Its law enforcement function is carried out chiefly through preventive patrol in urban areas. The most important order maintenance function shouldered by the PAP is the disposition of mass incidents, which have increased dramatically in number and size and have become better organized over the past two decades. The Chinese government also often mobilizes the PAP to undertake emergency rescue and disaster relief tasks. The PAP will continue to be a critical force in the Chinese police system. Its leaders as well as the government should seek ways to improve the legitimacy of the force.     

China’s ten years in the wto: its performance and new challenges

Becoming a member of the WTO in 2001 was a historic event of great significance during the process of China’s reform and opening up. Since then, China has steadily pushed forward the reform and opening up policy, proactively seizing the opportunities of economic globalization and positively utilizing the multilateral trading system to develop economic and trade relations with other countries, all of which have contributed to the great economic and social achievements during the first decade of 21st century. However, there are different opinions on China’s futuristic role in the WTO, and those disagreements resulting from various interest preferences are not only one-sided and limited, but also triggering off the discussions on the criteria to assess China’s performance in the WTO. This article argues that China’s activities in the WTO (i.e., implementing WTO commitments, participating in the Doha Round negotiation, the dispute settlement and trade policy review) should be a kind of assessment criteria. Based on comprehensive observation of China’s performance in the WTO, it is concluded in this article that China’s participation in the WTO system and global trade governance extends the scope of world trade law, improves its effectiveness, constitutes China’s new contributions to implement treaty obligations in good faith, resolves peacefully international trade disputes, and maintains substantively the international rule of law. At the same time, it has not only caused new driving forces for international trading system, but also made China face new challenges in the WTO.