Baha'i Chair: Gun Violence in America (Virtual)
This symposium features two speakers, Dr. Thomas Abt and Dr. Jaclyn Schildkraut, who will present their insights surrounding mass shootings, public and legislative responses to these events, and the theoretical approaches to understanding and preventing these tragedies.
Speakers and Presentations:
Thomas Abt is the Founding Director of Center for the Study and Practice of Violence Reduction and an associate research professor in UMD’s Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Abt teaches, studies, and advises on the use of evidence-informed approaches for reducing violence. He is the author of Bleeding Out: The Devastating Consequences of Urban Violence - and a Bold New Plan for Peace in the Streets. Abt’s work is cited in academic journals and featured in media outlets including the Atlantic, Economist, New Yorker, New York Times, Washington Post, CBS, CNN, PBS, and NPR. His TED talk on community violence has been viewed more than 225,000 times.
Abt also serves as a Senior Fellow with the Council on Criminal Justice. Prior to that, he worked as a Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy and Law Schools. Before Harvard, Abt served as Deputy Secretary for Public Safety in New York, where he oversaw all criminal justice, homeland security, and emergency management agencies. Before New York, Abt served as Chief of Staff to the Office of Justice Programs at the U.S. Department of Justice, where he worked with the nation’s criminal justice grant-making agencies to integrate evidence, policy, and practice."
Talk title: "Saving Lives by Stopping Violence, Using Science"
Thomas Abt will discuss how evidence-informed programs, practices, and policies can reduce rates of gun-related and other violence now, without resorting to new laws or big budgets, provided we can put politics aside. Abt's pragmatic, science-based approach focuses on solving concrete problems, not winning abstract arguments.
Jaclyn Schildkraut, PhD is the Executive Director of the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium at the Rockefeller Institute of Government. Prior to this appointment, she served as an Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Oswego. Her research interests include mass/school shootings, school safety, violence prevention, and media effects. Since 2018, Dr. Schildkraut has led the largest research study, to date, on the impact of lockdown drills, working with more than 20,000 students and 4,300 educators and community partners in New York’s fifth largest school district. She is the co-author/editor of six books, including Mass Shootings: Media, Myths, and Realities (Praeger, 2016), Columbine, 20 Years Later and Beyond: Lessons from Tragedy (Praeger, 2019), and Lockdown Drills: Connecting Research and Best Practices for School Administrators, Teachers, and Parents (MIT Press, 2022). Dr. Schildkraut has published more than 50 research articles, book chapters, and policy briefs assessing different facets of school and mass shootings. A nationally recognized expert on mass shootings and school safety, her research is regularly cited by the local, national, and international media.
Talk title: "Mass Shootings through the Public and Legislative Lenses: How Do We Make Sense of Tragedy?"
Mass shootings, although statistically rare events, have generated widespread concern and a demand to do something to prevent the next tragedy. Public reactions to these events, particularly those that are more high profile – and more lethal – in nature, drive legislative responses. Despite widespread outcry, however, little has been done legislatively, particularly at the federal level, to prevent these tragedies from occurring. This talk will highlight what is known about mass shootings and how the public have responded with a demand to do something. Legislative responses at both the state and federal levels will be examined, highlighting where inaction has led to missed opportunities to prevent future tragedies or improve responses if they do occur. Finally, this talk will provide insight into how the public can better understand mass shootings, including their root causes, and how we can collectively work together to prevent future tragedies from occurring.