ABSTRACT
One of the main challenges in studying school shootings is the lack of a precise definition for the phenomenon. The fact that school shooting events are relatively rare and that many perpetrators are killed or commit suicide during the incidents reduces the pool of participants for subsequent analysis and research. There is relatively little empirical research investigating school shooters. Almost all rampage school shooting perpetrators have been boys and men. There is clearly a need to consider the role of masculine identity and gender socialization in school attacks. By applying the stages-of-change model to school shootings, it becomes possible to understand the path to intended violence in the individual. The stages-of-change model consists of six stages that a student would move through before carrying out their attack. Although there is a clear distinction between each of the stages, an individual’s pathway through the stages can be fluid.
