NCJ Number
187425
Journal
Justice Quarterly Volume: 18 Issue: 1 Dated: March 2001 Pages: 87-114
Date Published
March 2001
Length
28 pages
Annotation
This article attempts to determine how extensively gender is considered a contributing factor in infamous school violence.
Abstract
Using a feminist perspective that addresses masculinity, the article explores research and major newspaper coverage of infamous school violence to determine how extensively gender was considered a contributing factor. Data sources on violent deaths at school missed the gendered nature of the violence. Similarly, media coverage of the seven cases of multiple shootings under study discounted the role of masculinities, bullying, and male violence against girls and women, and few of the policy recommendations addressed those concerns. Persons closest to the violence (e.g., schoolmates, victims) explained it most frequently in terms of bullying or retaliation against a girlfriend. School violence victimizing girls and low-status boys reflects the larger societal problems of hegemonic masculinity, violence against women, homophobia, and rejection of difference. The article concludes that the relative absence of attention to the gendered nature of school violence encourages incomplete explanations and ineffective policies that will fail to protect the lives of all students. Note, tables, references, case cited