This article starts with a personal introduction from a peace researcher who has not only been inspired by the works of Elise Boulding but who over the years had developed a personal relationship to her. It describes how Elise Boulding made it her concern to raise up the voices of the powerless and also to show the importance of the…

Over the past decade, child soldiers have inundated the popular media. Images of boys armed with AK47s appear ubiquitous, providing a cautionary tale of innocent childhood gone awry. While these representations turn commonly held assumptions of a protected and innocuous childhood on its head, what they conceal is as provocative as what they…

Positive academic performance is a strong indicator of subsequent positive life course outcomes (e.g., employment) as well as underrepresentation in psychiatric populations, drug use, school dropout, and subsequent legal trouble (A. Farn & J. Adams, 2016). As such, helping all children to be successful in school is a top priority for parents,…

In almost every state, a state agency or organization is charged with playing a little known but important role in keeping schools safe. In some states, there are organizations whose entire responsibility is related to school safety. These are typically referred to as state school safety centers (SSSC). In other states, staff within state agencies…

A plethora of studies have appeared which argue that, prior to their attack, the perpetrators of school shootings had experienced intense conflicts and problematic relations (e.g. bullying) with peers and teachers, and were on the periphery of the schools' social life. This in turn resulted in the perpetrators' view of themselves as marginalized…

The authors begin their commentary by saying that looking at the phenotypical characteristics of a school shooting, which focus on the perpetrators' experiences in school contexts seems to be overdue. In spite of methodological problems, the studies involved in the review seem to paint a clear picture with regard to social ostracism and harassment…

The authors begin their commentary by saying that Sommer, Leuschner, and Scheithauer (2014) did an admirable job of reviewing and integrating research on school shootings across a broad array of studies that relied on varied conceptualizations, operational definitions, coding strategies, and samples of shootings. The authors agree with Sommer et…

Victory in modern intergroup conflict derives from complex factors, including weaponry, economic resources, tactical outcomes, and leadership. We hypothesize that the mind summarizes such factors into simple metaphorical representations of physical size and strength, concrete dimensions that have determined the outcome of combat throughout both…

The 2018 PDK Poll of the Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools finds that Americans trust and support teachers, but they draw the line at wanting their own children to join a profession they see as undervalued and low-paid. An overwhelming 78% of public school parents say they would support teachers in their community if they went on strike…

This dissertation is a qualitative practitioner research study in which I explore how my students and I engage in critical literacy using sociopolitical Articles of the Week (AoWs). Critical literacy is the ability to read, write, and speak about texts in a reflective manner to better understand power, inequality, and injustice that prevails in…

A joint effort by the National Center for Education Statistics and the Bureau of Justice Statistics, this annual report examines crime occurring in schools and colleges. This report presents data on crime at school from the perspectives of students, teachers, principals, and the general population from an array of sources--the National Crime…

The spread of zero tolerance policies for school-based scenarios flourished under President William J. Clinton who wanted to close a loophole in the Guns-Free School Zones Act of 1990. Expansion in the coverage of zero tolerance policy to offenses outside the initial scope of weapon and drug offenses has led to a disproportional ratio of African…

Past studies on military expenditures in the United States have primarily focused on the extent to which guns versus butter trade-offs are prevalent without examining this relationship in the context of how other fiscal policy tools are used to pay for defense. Using annual data from 1947-2007, this study examines the relative importance of…

Among other arguments, advocates for lifting bans on carrying concealed handguns on campus propose that this would increase the prevalence of legitimately carried handguns, which might then deter crimes or be used to intervene in campus shooting incidents like the one that took place at Virginia Tech in 2007. Opponents suggest that increased…

School shootings loom large in the collective imagination and young, White males commit a majority of these horrific crimes. Although many of the descriptions of school shooters in the media and scholarly studies attribute their actions to psychological problems and/or personal/social failings, these events are also often placed in a comparative…