ISSN: 0973-5089 | [email protected]

School Violence and Social Control Theory: An Evaluation of the Columbine Massacre

Michael L. Pittaro

Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA

Abstract:

This paper will provide a brief analysis of past, present, and emerging research in reference to school violence, particularly in relation to school shootings, from the criminological perspective of Hirschi's (1969) Social Control Theory. Prior to the 1999 Columbine High School massacre and the most recent Virginia Tech rampage, research probing the etiology of school violence was virtually nonexistent. After Columbine, the nation frantically searched for answers as to how to intervene and prevent such a heinous atrocity from reoccurring in the future. This paper will not discuss the shooting incident at Virginia Tech University (April, 16, 2007) due to the fact that the shootings took place on a college campus, which do not share many of the same characteristics as the typical high school campus environment.

Keyword:

Columbine school shooting, Hirchi's theories, social bond, social control;