Author(s)

Keith Burgess-Jackson

The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, USA.

Mass homicides, of which school shootings are a species, are all too common. What makes them philosophically interesting is that the usual punishments for such crimes are ineffective. How does one deter a person who is intent on killing himself or herself upon completion of the massacre? After clarifying the concepts of prevention, deterrence, and punishment, I describe various modes of punishment. If we are serious about preventing mass homicides, we must not rule out any mode of punishment a priori. I suggest several punishments, such as torture and imprisonment with hard labor, that may deter prospective mass murderers. The aim is to find a punishment that the prospective mass murderer fears more than death. I also recommend the inculcation of theism (understood as belief in a retributive god) as a means of deterring mass homicides.

School Shootings, Mass Homicides, Massacres, Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), Crime, Punishment, Crime Prevention, Rehabilitation, Incapacitation, Deterrence, Torture, Imprisonment, Hard Labor, Theism

Burgess-Jackson, K. (2019) How to Prevent School Shootings and Other Mass Homicides. Beijing Law Review, 10, 1409-1430. doi: 10.4236/blr.2019.105076.