Conference on Establishing an Evidence-Based Approach to Understanding and Countering Mass Violence

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Mass violence has become a common occurrence in the United States. Mass violence takes many forms: family massacres, terrorist attacks, shootings related to other crimes (like robbery), gang violence, and other incidents in which offenders attack targeted individuals and/or random strangers. The phenomenon of indiscriminate mass public violence, often directed at strangers, particularly has generated the most public alarm in recent years. Mass public attacks appear to have increased in regularity and severity, leading to a heightened sense of national fear in our communities, schools and colleges, and so on. While such events are seemingly random, they are likely not, and therefore possibly preventable in many instances. Indeed, these events are linked by numerous themes: mental illness, domestic violence, grudges, bigotry, political polarization, copycat behaviors, and the rise and more open behavior of fringe groups, to name a few. Mass violence has become an urgent problem that needs an updated and contemporary research evidence-base, translation activities to turn that research into effective interventions, and improved social services to ensure the interventions are implemented well. The goals of the two day conference will be to: 1) review research that has been conducted on mass violence; 2) determine points of consensus in the available research; 3) identify gaps in research knowledge and points of substantial disagreement; 4) identify policy implications stemming from established research knowledge; and 5) develop research recommendations to address knowledge gaps and controversies in the field. Following the conference, findings will be communicated to researchers and policy makers.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.