Article ; Online: Contagion in Mass Killings and School Shootings.
PloS one
2015 Volume 10, Issue 7, Page(s) e0117259
Abstract: ... not contagion is evident in more high-profile incidents, such as school shootings and mass killings ... school shootings, and mass shootings. ... significant evidence of contagion in school shootings, for which an incident is contagious for an average ...
| Abstract | Background: Several past studies have found that media reports of suicides and homicides appear to subsequently increase the incidence of similar events in the community, apparently due to the coverage planting the seeds of ideation in at-risk individuals to commit similar acts. Methods: Here we explore whether or not contagion is evident in more high-profile incidents, such as school shootings and mass killings (incidents with four or more people killed). We fit a contagion model to recent data sets related to such incidents in the US, with terms that take into account the fact that a school shooting or mass murder may temporarily increase the probability of a similar event in the immediate future, by assuming an exponential decay in contagiousness after an event. Conclusions: We find significant evidence that mass killings involving firearms are incented by similar events in the immediate past. On average, this temporary increase in probability lasts 13 days, and each incident incites at least 0.30 new incidents (p = 0.0015). We also find significant evidence of contagion in school shootings, for which an incident is contagious for an average of 13 days, and incites an average of at least 0.22 new incidents (p = 0.0001). All p-values are assessed based on a likelihood ratio test comparing the likelihood of a contagion model to that of a null model with no contagion. On average, mass killings involving firearms occur approximately every two weeks in the US, while school shootings occur on average monthly. We find that state prevalence of firearm ownership is significantly associated with the state incidence of mass killings with firearms, school shootings, and mass shootings. |
|---|---|
| MeSH term(s) | Firearms/statistics & numerical data ; Homicide/psychology ; Homicide/statistics & numerical data ; Humans ; Imitative Behavior ; Mass Casualty Incidents/psychology ; Mass Casualty Incidents/statistics & numerical data ; Mass Media/trends ; Models, Psychological ; Models, Statistical ; Schools ; Suicidal Ideation ; Suicide/psychology ; Suicide/statistics & numerical data ; United States ; Violence/psychology ; Violence/statistics & numerical data |
| Language | English |
| Publishing date | 2015 |
| Publishing country | United States |
| Document type | Journal Article |
| ISSN | 1932-6203 |
| ISSN (online) | 1932-6203 |
| DOI | 10.1371/journal.pone.0117259 |
| Database | MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System OnLINE |
Full text online
More links
Kategorien
Order via subito
This service is chargeable due to the Delivery terms set by subito. Orders including an article and supplementary material will be classified as separate orders. In these cases, fees will be demanded for each order.
Inter-library loan at ZB MED
Your chosen title can be delivered directly to ZB MED Cologne location if you are registered as a user at ZB MED Cologne.