As readers are no doubt aware, the vast majority of gun violence crimes are committed by boys and men (well over 90 %), yet the vast majority of boys and men are not violent. An unpacking of this seeming paradox requires an analysis of the role of masculinity. I did that in this article: Levant, R. F. (2022). Extending the Gender Role Strain Paradigm to account for U. S. males’ gun violence. Psychology of Men & Masculinities,23(2), 151-159. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/men0000385
I found that males whose masculinity was threatened were more likely to be violent, and I found this across several social science literatures: psychology, sociology, anthropology, and criminology. Further, accounts of actual shooters were found to be associated with this sense of threatened masculinity. Finally, The gun-maker Remington settled a lawsuit with parents and survivors of the Sandy Hook massacre for $73 Million based on the marketing campaign directed toward boys and men who felt that their masculinity was threatened. One of the ads shown at trial is pasted below. As you can see it is a direct appeal to boys and men who felt that their “man card” has been taken from them – i.e., that their masculinity was threatened.
I have started working with the Mayor’s Office in the city of Akron on a program to interrupt this cycle. It involves including in the SEL curriculum in middle and/or high schools an opportunity for boys to figure out what kind of “guy” they want to be. Boys in these grades are subjected to enormous peer pressure to conform to masculine norms such as toughness, aggression, and emotional restriction. They know that the worse thing they can do is walk, talk, throw, or act like a girl, so that they stamp out important human qualities like empathy, compassion, and nurturance, because they are considered stereotypically feminine.
There is a workbook for such a purpose written by a colleague: Reigeluth, C. S. (2022). The Masculinity Workbook for Teens. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications. It may not the only such resource, so I am highlighting it as an example of what is available.