Identifying a School Shooter: A Study of School Counselor Training and Experience

Brown, Skyler D.

Identifying a School Shooter: A Study of School Counselor Training and Experience

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School rampage shootings have created a media frenzy throughout the nation, which has sent a message our schools are unsafe for students to walk the halls. School staff members, parents, and the community want to know something is being done to keep students safe. Many elaborate safety plans have been created to prevent dangerous individuals from coming into the building or response plans for the aftermath of such tragedies. This study wanted to examine if the counselors, who provide a mental health expertise in education, have the proper training to identify students who are planning such heinous attacks against their peers. For the survey instrument, this study utilized former FBI profiler Mary O’Toole’s threat assessment to create a school shooter vignette including various warning signs from a student’s family history, behavioral traits, school environment, and social dynamics. School counselors, who worked with students 6-12 grade, were asked to read the vignette and then answer questions from the four threat assessment areas in an open-ended style survey or closed-ended style survey. The study’s primary researcher questions focused on the year of the certification for counselors and previous mental health experience of the counselor. In 2009, the Council Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs included a trauma response standard for counseling certification. Due to the change in standards, the survey incorporated 2009 as the year of analysis. Furthermore, the study aimed to determine if previous mental health experience aided counselors in identifying warning signs. This study did not show a difference existed for previous mental health experience and year of certification.

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