The Attitude of Young People towards Death and the Phenomenon of School Shootings

Abstract

An analysis of differences in psychological attitudes to the phenomenon of school shooting among young people who are knowledgeable and uninformed about school shootings was carried out through studying its relationship with attitudes towards death in a sample of 98 people (48 men and 50 women, the average age was 22.7 years). It is shown that there is a difference in the assessment and perception of the specific terminology of school shootings «natural selection», «reb’n’vodka», «trench coat mafia», «wrath» in groups knowledgeable and uninformed about school shootings: common terms are more positively evaluated by those who were previously familiar with the concept of «school shootings». It is concluded that for respondents familiar with school shootings, their own death and the death of another are close in meaning and emotional burden. The group of people who are knowledgeable on school shootings demonstrates the presence of a suicidal risk. Death is viewed by them approvingly and positively, since it entails a liberation from suffering, adversity and difficulties. The results obtained reflect the diagnostic possibilities of studying the implicit attitude towards school shootings by studying the attitude towards death. The promising task of this study is to analyze the differences in the psychological attitude towards the phenomenon of school shootings in people with autoaggressive behavior, who are knowledgeable and uninformed of school shootings, by studying the attitude towards death.