美国国家公共电台 NPR--2 professors, tracking patterns, try to predict who might carry out a mass shooting

2 professors, tracking patterns, try to predict who might carry out a mass shooting

Transcript¹

NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with James Densley, a professor at Metropolitan² State University in Minnesota, about the lessons he learned from studying a database of mass shooters.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

It's something tragically³ familiar in this country. There's a mass shooting, people grieve. There are calls for action, debates about gun restrictions⁴ and mental health. And then it happens again. So James Densley and colleague Jillian Peterson spent years looking at what solutions can be found in the lives and motivations of the shooters. They created the Violence Project, a database of nearly 200 mass shooters that documents everything about these attackers from their childhood traumas⁵ to their access to firearms. James Densely⁶, a professor at Metropolitan State University in Minnesota, joins me now. Welcome to the program.

JAMES DENSLEY: Thank you. Good morning.

FADEL: Good morning. So I want to start with the why. Why does it matter what drives these shooters?

DENSLEY: Well, I think it matters because we - after the terrible tragedies that we've seen, we're all searching for some sort of understanding...

FADEL: Yeah.

DENSLEY: ...So that we can prevent the next one. And that's really the purpose of the project is that we've tried to do this deep dive into the life histories of mass shooters in order to better understand who these people are so that we can prevent the next mass shooting. And that really is the overarching goal here. And we really, genuinely believe that based on the data, these mass shootings are not inevitable⁷, they're preventable. And there's lots of things we can do to stop the next one.

FADEL: What are some of the common characteristics you found in the nearly 200 mass shooters that you studied? And what can you learn from the data to help prevent another attack?

DENSLEY: Well, one thing we see very often is that nobody who perpetrates a mass shooting is living a fulfilled life. They're not living their best self. And they all reach this sort of identifiable crisis in life. And it's a moment where they, really, no longer care if they live or die. And it's actually almost a suicidal crisis. So this tells you that a mass shooting is intended to be a final act. But it is also intended to be witnessed. It's a spectacle. And so there is an element of kind of radicalization that goes on where the people who perpetrate these crimes study other mass shooters, searching for meaning and searching for someone to identify with. And once they get to the point where they feel like a mass shooting is the solution to their problem, it's then just a question of, can they get access to a firearm in order to perpetrate the crime? So the pathway is this hatred⁸ of self turned outward to a hatred of others - an idea that this is going to be a statement piece - and then access to the firearm in order to perpetrate the crime.

FADEL: You mentioned that the shooters identify with each other. Do they inspire each other? Did the Buffalo⁹ shooter, for example, and all the coverage¹⁰ of that racist¹¹ attack inspire this shooting?

DENSLEY: Potentially, yes. We do see in this sort of copycat phenomena¹² in as much that not only are people identifying with the shooters, but they're also using maybe the same weapons that the shooters have used. They're leaving behind manifestos where they cite the other shooters. They clearly are inspired by one another. And that really puts the emphasis on us to stop this, to nip it in the bud...

FADEL: Yeah.

DENSLEY: ...Before other shootings occur. And again, these pathways give us opportunities for prevention. At every step along the way, we can identify solutions. And that's really the key thing here.

FADEL: So what are the solutions? I mean, is it just access to firearms? Is it mental health? What are the solutions here?

DENSLEY: So access to firearms is a big one because it's certainly where you can make a big impact quickly. But what we've tried to do in the book where we outline these findings, called "The Violence Project," we identify solutions at three levels, which is the individual level, the institutional level and the societal level. So at the individual level, that is the question that every parent and every community member is asking right now. What can I, right here, right now, do to stop a mass shooting? And it might be something as simple as safe storage of a firearm in the home. And then at the institutional level, the thing that school teachers and administrators¹³ and workplace professionals are asking, what can they do? Well, building crisis intervention¹⁴ teams that are more attuned¹⁵ to what's going on in people's lives so they can notice the warning signs that someone's on the pathway to violence. And then they can intervene and get them off of that pathway. And then finally, it's the societal piece. And that's where we often get stuck because we're waiting for an act of Congress where, really, it's just about an act of courage to solve these problems. But things like red flag laws, universal background checks, some of the commonsense¹⁶ gun measures that are out there. The science is very clear that these would have prevented some of these tragedies along the line.

FADEL: I have to ask you - you know, I think about this a lot in moments like this with mass shootings. And you just talked about the way shooters copy each other. Is the fact that we're even talking about the shooters and what happened part of the problem when you talk about socially contagious¹⁷ moments?

DENSLEY: It can be. But it comes down to how you talk about them. So you'll notice in this conversation I've never once mentioned the name of a shooter.

FADEL: Yeah.

DENSLEY: And in our book, we do the same. We adhere to a kind of no notoriety protocol¹⁸. And, really, if we are solution-focused and we also uplift the survivors¹⁹ and the victims of these shootings, then this is how we do this in a way that is not going to be contributing to the contagion²⁰. Let's be solution-focused. Let's not be overly celebrity²¹ focused with these particular shooters.

FADEL: James Densley is a professor at Metropolitan State University in Minnesota. Thank you so much for your time.

DENSLEY: Thank you.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

3 tragically   

adv. 悲剧地，悲惨地

参考例句：

• Their daughter was tragically killed in a road accident. 他们的女儿不幸死于车祸。
• Her father died tragically in a car crash. 她父亲在一场车祸中惨死。

4 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

5 traumas   

n.心灵创伤( trauma的名词复数 )；损伤；痛苦经历；挫折

参考例句：

• She felt exhausted after the traumas of recent weeks. 她经受了最近几个星期的痛苦之后感到精疲力竭。
• Conclusion: Safety lens of spectacles can protect the occurrence of ocular traumas. 结论：安全镜片可以预防眼镜碎片所致的眼外伤。 来自互联网

6 densely   

ad.密集地；浓厚地

参考例句：

• A grove of trees shadowed the house densely. 树丛把这幢房子遮蔽得很密实。
• We passed through miles of densely wooded country. 我们穿过好几英里茂密的林地。

7 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

8 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

9 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

10 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

11 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

12 phenomena   

n.现象

参考例句：

• Ade couldn't relate the phenomena with any theory he knew.艾德无法用他所知道的任何理论来解释这种现象。
• The object of these experiments was to find the connection,if any,between the two phenomena.这些实验的目的就是探索这两种现象之间的联系，如果存在着任何联系的话。

13 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

14 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

15 attuned   

v.使协调( attune的过去式和过去分词 )；调音

参考例句：

• She wasn't yet attuned to her baby's needs. 她还没有熟悉她宝宝的需要。
• Women attuned to sensitive men found Vincent Lord attractive. 偏爱敏感男子的女人，觉得文森特·洛德具有魅力。 来自辞典例句

16 commonsense   

adj.有常识的；明白事理的；注重实际的

参考例句：

• It is commonsense to carry an umbrella in this weather.这种天气带把伞是很自然的。
• These results are no more than a vindication of commonsense analysis.这些结果只不过是按常理分析得出的事实。

17 contagious   

adj.传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• It's a highly contagious infection.这种病极易传染。
• He's got a contagious laugh.他的笑富有感染力。

18 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。

19 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

20 contagion   

n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延

参考例句：

• A contagion of fear swept through the crowd.一种恐惧感在人群中迅速蔓延开。
• The product contagion effect has numerous implications for marketing managers and retailers.产品传染效应对市场营销管理者和零售商都有很多的启示。

21 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。