Publish and Flourish is an annual event that recognizes the accomplishments of our faculty and staff who have published within the past year. In connection with the Office of Research and the University Bookstore, The UW Tacoma Library celebrates the achievements of our campus community. In lieu of our campus closure, we will be highlighting these publications online through our blog. The UW Tacoma library purchases all faculty and staff publications to make them available to the UW community. This week we are highlighting:
How to Stop School Rampage Killing: Lessons from Averted Mass Shootings and Bombings
Author: Eric Madfis, Ph.D. Department: School of Social Work & Criminal Justice
“This book tackles the important question of how we can understand and learn from the school rampage killings that have been prevented. In the flood of recent accounts and analyses of deadly school rampage killings that plague society and inspire widespread public fear, very little attention has been given to the incidents that almost were. Building on Madfis’ previous book, The Risk of School Rampage: Assessing and Preventing Threats of School Violence (2014), this vital work addresses key gaps in school violence scholarship through the examination of averted school rampage incidents in the United States and advances existing knowledge through ground-breaking insights from the latest research on mass murder, violence prevention, bystander intervention, disciplinary policy, and threat assessment in school contexts. This empirical study utilizes in-depth interviews conducted with school and police officials (administrators, counselors, security guards, police officers, and teachers) directly involved in averting potential school rampages to explore the processes by which threats are assessed and school rampage plots are thwarted. Madfis finds that many common contemporary school violence prevention policies and practices are ineffective at preventing rampage attacks and may actually increase the likelihood of their occurrence. Rather than uncritically adopting such problematic approaches, Madfis argues that schools must model prevention practices upon what has proven successful in averting potentially deadly incidents.” – Palgrave Macmillan
“How to Stop School Rampage Killing makes a major contribution to our understanding of how school violence schemes are developed and provides insight about core recurring themes in the planning of rampage violence across a range of cases. This book provides a rich source for anyone interested in how school violence in general and rampage school violence in particular unfolds. Dr. Madfis is masterful at telling the story through the words of his subjects while remaining analytical and never losing sight of the key issues facing schools” (Stuart Henry, Professor of Criminal Justice and Director of the School of Public Affairs at San Diego State University, USA)
“On the subject of assessing and preventing acts of extreme violence in schools, this book sets the standard as the forefront of rigorous knowledge. In a topic that often abounds with hype and emotion, no other volume presents such a steadfastly researched, sober discussion of what effectively prevents and thwarts school rampages. This book is essential reading for anyone with the desire to understand evenhanded social scientific perspectives on the risks and prevention of school rampages” (Glenn W. Muschert, Professor of Sociology at Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates)
“How can you stop a student armed with firearms, explosives, and murderous intent – before he ever sets foot on campus? Madfis skillfully answers this question and more, based on his interviews with principals, teachers, counselors, and police officers who have successfully prevented nearly a dozen school shootings since Columbine” (Adam Lankford, Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Alabama, USA)
“This important book by Dr. Madfis provides an updated and in-depth perspective on school shootings and ways to prevent them” (Atte Oksanen, Professor of Social Psychology, Tampere University, Finland)
Locate the print book in the UW Libraries catalog here Learn more about the author here
The UW Tacoma Library is very proud of your accomplishments, Eric Madfis. Congratulations!
“This book tackles the important question of how we can understand and learn from the school rampage killings that have been prevented. In the flood of recent accounts and analyses of deadly school rampage killings that plague society and inspire widespread public fear, very little attention has been given to the incidents that almost were. Building on Madfis’ previous book, The Risk of School Rampage: Assessing and Preventing Threats of School Violence (2014), this vital work addresses key gaps in school violence scholarship through the examination of averted school rampage incidents in the United States and advances existing knowledge through ground-breaking insights from the latest research on mass murder, violence prevention, bystander intervention, disciplinary policy, and threat assessment in school contexts. This empirical study utilizes in-depth interviews conducted with school and police officials (administrators, counselors, security guards, police officers, and teachers) directly involved in averting potential school rampages to explore the processes by which threats are assessed and school rampage plots are thwarted. Madfis finds that many common contemporary school violence prevention policies and practices are ineffective at preventing rampage attacks and may actually increase the likelihood of their occurrence. Rather than uncritically adopting such problematic approaches, Madfis argues that schools must model prevention practices upon what has proven successful in averting potentially deadly incidents.” – Palgrave Macmillan