The deaths of 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue filled people with sadness and fear. Transforming the grief into meaning is very difficult, a trauma psychologist writes, but ultimately healing.
A man adds his comments to a spontaneous memorial of flowers and sidewalk writing that has appeared a block from the Tree of Life Synagogue on Monday, Oct. 29. A gunman shot a killed 11 people while they worshipped at the synagogue the Saturday before.
Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo
To grasp how extraordinary evils are often committed by ordinary people, we need to consider how we define evil, and most importantly, whom we consider to be the agents of evil.
Vigil held in the Squirrel Hill section of Pittsburgh for shooting victims, Oct. 27, 2018.
AP/Gene J. Puskar
Mass murders like the killings at a Pittsburgh synagogue are seen as the work of disturbed individuals. But America has allowed violence to become unexceptional, ignoring its root cause.
Evacuees arrive at the UNLV Thomas & Mack Center after a gunman opened fire Oct. 1, 2017 in Las Vegas.
Al Powers/AP
One year after the Oct. 1 shooting massacre in Las Vegas, a team of scholars from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas offers insights into how to best help those affected by the violence.
Outside Santa Fe High School in Texas on May 18, 2018.
AP Photo/David J. Phillip
A new law and Maryland calls for an expanded law enforcement presence in Maryland schools. But lack of funding and inadequate training could potentially undermine the initiative.
Students rally outside the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, on March 14, 2018 to protest gun violence.
Andrew Harnik/AP
In order to prevent school shootings, schools must use threat assessments like the ones that law enforcement uses to protect public figures, a leading expert on school safety argues on Capitol Hill.
Hundreds of students protesting gun violence marched to the Minnesota State Capitol on March 7, 2018.
Jim Mone/AP
As part of preparing students to live in a democracy, schools should teach students how to engage in political dissent, a philosophy of education scholar argues.
Nikolas Cruz, who was charged with 17 counts of murder in the Parkland school shooting, in February 2018.
AP Photo/Mike Stocker
After mass shootings, a cry for mandated treatment of people with mental illness often arises. Doing so, however, is unlikely to curb gun violence.
Samuel Zeif, an 18-year-old senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., cries after speaking during a listening session with President Donald Trump in Washington on Feb. 21, 2018.
(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
What are we to make of a society in which young children have a greater sense of moral courage and social responsibility than the zombie adults who make the laws that fail to protect them?
Playing violent video games doesn’t make kids more aggressive.
AP Photo/Paul Sakuma
Donald Trump seems to have a passion for cruelty, often publicly celebrating his investment in violence as a source of pleasure. Those tendencies represent symptoms of a broader American sickness.
Students outside Columbine High School in Colorado in April 1999 following the mass shooting there. Some speculated that the shooters sought revenge for having been bullied.
Greg Caskey/Reuters
Youth who are bullied may be at even higher risk than other youth for gun violence. These bullied youngsters were three times more likely to have access to a loaded gun, a recent study states.
Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson (right) with protestor on Aug. 5, 2016.
AP Photo/Tae-Gyun Kim
The DOJ has found excessive use of force in the Baltimore, Ferguson and Chicago police departments. Could a solution be found by seeing the police as victims of violence as well?
A woman holds a flag as she looks out over the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum.
REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
The 44th president is now gone. What mark does he leave on his country?
Law enforcement officers move in to verify the identity of people in a field outside the Fort Lauderdale airport after a mass shooting.
Andrew Innerarity/Reuters
New ways of expressing discontent are constantly emerging. Could mass shootings join what sociologist Charles Tilly has dubbed the ‘repertoire of contention’?