Masculinity, Ritual, and Racialized Status Threat

Examining Mass Shooter Manifestos Using Structural Topic Models

Bibliographic Data

ID2292005
AuthorsJessica Pfaffendorf (North Carolina State University), Andrew P Davis (0000-0002-5522-1797, North Carolina State University, corresponding author), Alexander B Kinney (0000-0003-2916-1791, University of Arizona)
Year2021
Volume91
Issue2
Pages287-312
Publication date2021-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSociological Inquiry (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0038-0245 • E-ISSN: 1475-682X
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/soin.12409
OpenAlexW3120590185
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited58

Both popular media and research often frame mass shootings as an individual issue having to do with mental illness or other individual differences. This work has unfolded in much the same fashion as that on other negative or anti-social behaviors-such as the individual pathologization of suicide or rape. However, what this work has shown empirically is that there are often a set of circumstances that are uniquely social that motivate such actions. Following work in sociology, which offers social psychological and cultural explanations for gun violence, we argue that mass shooter motivations reflect social conditions-especially those that instantiate toxic masculinity, social exclusion, and racism-conducive to these events. This article uses a computational textual modeling approach to analyze the distinct social logics that motivate mass shooters. To do this, we identify a sample of 27 publicly available mass shooter 'manifestos,' or documents left behind by shooters following their actions. Using topic models, we show that mass shooters exhibit a variety of preoccupations that underlie their actions. While shooters can exhibit a multitude of possible motivations, we find that expressions of masculine overcompensation, ritualistic responses to exclusion, and racialized status threat are prominent features of mass shooter manifestos, corroborating recent sociological explanations of mass shootings

Criminology · Epistemology · Masculinity · Mass media · Multitude · Political science · Racism · Sociology · Variety (cybernetics) · Computer Science · Crime, Deviance, and Social Control · Fire effects on ecosystems · Gender Studies · Gun Ownership and Violence Research · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology