The Murders at Columbine High School

This paper examines the murders at Columbine High School that resulted in the death of 12 students, one teacher, and the two students who carried out the violent attack. It considers the possible reasons that this event occurred, using a social psychology approach. The tragedy inspired considerable speculation in a variety of sources, blaming everything from violence in the culture to psychopathology. While an exact reason may never be clear, some of the forces that drove Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold to begin shooting are worth examination. Such a massacre may not be preventable, but some of the underlying reasons that it happened can be studied and used as warning signs of future violence.

On the morning of April 20, 1999, two students at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, walked onto the high school campus and began shooting. Outside, they shot two students and set off bombs on the school roof. Inside, they walked to the cafeteria and opened fire, then went upstairs to the library, continuing to shoot. Nancy Gibbs (1999, May 3) writes, "Before they fired their last two shots into their own heads, the killers fired off an estimated 900 rounds, using two sawed-off shotguns, a 9mm semiautomatic carbine and a TEC-DC 9 semiautomatic handgun" (p. 34). They left behind more than 30 bombs, planted throughout the school, the bodies of 12 classmates and one teacher, and a list of unanswered questions.

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold may simply have been insane, a

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some of the most commonly used props in movies, and a vigorous debate still rages throughout society regarding the inherent "right" of every American to own as many guns as he or she might care to collect. The ready availability of guns is unquestionably one of the reasons that Columbine happened. If Harris and Klebold had been unable to acquire firearms, they might have succeeded in producing some mayhem and destruction with their homemade bombs (constructed from plans acquired on the Internet), but they would not have been able to face their victims, taunt them, walk around among them, and find satisfaction in propelling 900 rounds of ammunition in their helpless bodies. Not only are guns very much in evidence as aggression-inspiring cues, they are easy to obtain. Klebold's 18-year-old girlfriend bought three on Dylan's behalf, and the pair also had little trouble stockpiling the incredible cache of bullets their plan demanded. Harris and Klebold did not simply see guns used in the television shows, movies, and video games they watched, therefore cueing them to act out their aggressions. They were also able to obtain an arsenal of guns and teach themselves how to use them in order to carry out their plan. For this, the me

Category: Psychology - T