Citation

Crothers C, O'Brien T. Kōtuitui 2020; 15(2): 247-259.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Royal Society of New Zealand, Publisher Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/1177083X.2020.1746364

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The social sciences are not always effective in explaining particular events, but their study does provide insights towards better explanations and guidance for interventions. It is sad when the focus is on an event such as this, but social science understanding might better provide interpretations and help prepare for other events. Interpretation of the Christchurch shootings requires bringing together a range of social science perspectives. Various topics are pertinent. These involve the relationship between:

- the attitudes of the NZ population more generally (but especially white supremacist/hate groups etc.)

- minority groups in NZ (especially those more vulnerable to prejudice) and as mediated by

- the role of media/social media and policies/programmes of the Police and other State agencies.

The remainder of this editorial introduction will point to some of the more pertinent items in the existing literature and place the articles of this special issue in contexts. An online bibliography is also attached as supplementary material.

There seems to be a limited and scattered international literature on contemporary mass shootings in advanced industrialised states and related topics, mostly focused on the USA and indeed on US School mass shootings. Jaymi et al. (2016) review methodological issues in studying rare events such as mass shootings. Joslyn and Haider-Markel (2013) at article-length, the American Behavioral Scientist (2018) in a special issue, and Kellner (2008) and Schildkraut and Jaymi (2016) and Schildkraut and Muschert (2019) at book length discuss the full range involved with shooting from the shooter's background, through victim reactions and media representation through longer-term effects. Much of the literature is concerned with deriving lessons to mitigate the effects of gun shootings. Knowledge concerning the Christchurch shootings can be woven into the more general literature.

Language: en

Keywords

Christchurch; mass shooting; Mosque; Muslim; right extremism; terrorism