NCJ Number
188711
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 68 Issue: 5 Dated: May 2001 Pages: 48-52
Date Published
May 2001
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article considers the personality of the potential school shooter, stressful events experienced by the potential shooter, and the setting in developing a violence prevention strategy for schools.
Abstract
The proposed strategy was based on the work of Denenberg and Braverman, who built on research done by T.C. Penchant and I.I. Mitroff in transforming organizations. Denenberg and Braverman recognized the potential for transforming organizations in such a way as to prevent violence in the workplace. By transforming crisis-prone organizations into crisis-prepared organizations, violence prevention becomes a proactive rather than a reactive effort. Hallmarks of the crisis-prone organization are non-management, disconnection, expulsion, and no communication. Hallmarks of the crisis-prepared organization are information, support, limit-setting, and listening. These principles have value in the schools as well as the workplace. The crisis-prone school must be transformed into a crisis-prepared school. Preventing a school shooting requires the coordinated actions of many individuals and agencies. There must be a protocol, signed by each involved agency head, distributed to all involved, and requiring some form of practice at least annually. Two documents that describe how to prepare such a prevention plan have been developed and can be of significant assistance to the police chief or sheriff who has assumed a leadership role in protocol development. These are the "Guide for Preventing and Responding to School Violence" and "Safe Schools." 11 notes