KMP Oct 29 10:42pm

The correlation between mass shootings, firearm injuries and mental health is an ongoing polarized debate within the U.S. (Krebs & Mackavey, 2023).Mass shootings have been often linked to the topic of mental health and there is still not a clear connection between those who have undiagnosed mental health and go on to commit these acts of violence. There is not always a clear diagnoses for these individuals who go on to commit these mass shootings and therefore, unclear if those acts of violence are connected to mental health in the first place. However, what is to be looked at is whether individuals with undiagnosed mental health are more likely to commit mass shootings compared to those with mental health diagnosis. Would there be a relationship found between those individuals who have gone on to commit these acts of violence and lack of treatment for something that they may not have known they have. Do the individuals who have no diagnoses pose more of a threat than those who have a diagnosis. Previous research has not examined if mass shooters with prior mental health histories are more dangerous than mass shooters without mental health histories; thus, there is no empirical evidence to determine the role of mental illness in contributing to harm (Yelderman et al., 2016). The purpose of this quantitative study is to examine the connection between prior mental health diagnosis and the likelihood of committing a mass shooting. The study would compare those mass shootings where there are documented mental health diagnoses to those without any clear diagnosis. The study would aim to clarify whether having a diagnoses made the individual a higher or lower risk to act on those violent behaviors.
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