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Duquesne

Every Parent's Worst Nightmare: Surveillance of Criteria-based, Rampage School Shooters, 1995-2015

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

<p>Rampage School Shootings are a violation of one’s right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of individual happiness. Little children, school teachers head out to school, only to never return home at the end of the day. Idiosyncratic psycho-social behaviors drive Rampage School Shooter (RSS) violence. The fact of the matter remains true; Rampage School Shooters don’t “… ‘just snap’… They plan” (U.S. Secret Service, 2002, p. 11). This descriptive, exploratory study consists of RSS cases (N=59) derived from triangulated, retrospective, historical accounts (1995-2015). A quantitative, non-experimental research design was employed.</p> <p>The purpose of this epidemiological (i.e., descriptive, exploratory, predictive) investigation is an understanding of biopsychosocial factors associated with criteria-based Rampage School Shootings (1995-2015). Eighteen RSS variables (i.e., behavioral attributes) were abstracted from the literature. RSS variables were statistically analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson Correlation, One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Chi Square, an independent t-Test, and Standard Multiple Regression (IBM SPSS® Statistics 22 for Windows). This study is driven by two research questions:</p> <p>Question 1: Is there an association a) between RSS assailants 11-36 years of age (1995-2016) and psychological therapy and/or anxiety/depression medication? And b) between the number of RSS deaths and criteria-based RSS assailants who were 11-36 years of age?</p> <p>Question 2: Which of the following RSS variables is the best predictor of a Rampage School Shooter: a) Age in years; b) Gender; c) Race; d) Attempted Suicide or Successful; or e) Psychological therapy; f) State; g) Anti-social Personality Disorder; h) Internet activity; i) Bullied/Bullying, or j) Schools?</p> <p>The Biopsychosocial model was utilized to advance prevailing Rampage School Shooting knowledge, particularly with respect to 1) Biological; 2) Psychological; 3) Social; and 4) Environmental factors. Limitations of the study and the potential for further Rampage School Shooter violence investigation are discussed.</p>

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
EdD
Level thesis:degree_level
Worldwide Access
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Professional Doctorate in Educational Leadership (ProDEL)
Year dc:date.available
2016

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Lomax, Paul
Contributors dc:contributor
  • Carol Parke
  • Rick McCown
  • Daniel Gittins

Subjects

dc:subject × 6

Rights

Language dc:language
English

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Repository record dc:identifier
https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/47
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:dsc.duq.edu:etd-1046

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Duquesne
Base URL
dsc.duq.edu/do/oai/
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Lomax, Paul. Every Parent's Worst Nightmare: Surveillance of Criteria-based, Rampage School Shooters, 1995-2015. Worldwide Access thesis, 2016. https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/47