Essay Example on Juvenile Mass School Shooters

Introduction

The number of minor students doing shooting in schools has increased in recent times. The mob shooting is schools have been a major issue of debate across the globe because it is now a notable topic worldwide. According to historical study, the issue of a school shooting has been going on from the year 1996 (Warnick, Kim, & Robinson, 2015). School mass shooting is an incidence that is characterized by mob violence, racial issues, and killing a large number of students. Majorly, mass shooting events are events which alone perpetrator of a few individuals uses guns to kill students. The number of students facing this problem is many in recent years because schools have numerical qualifiers (Kennedy, 1997). The full scope of the mass shooting in schools in America and Europe has been very worrying. The agency like the Gun Violence Archive has been campaigning against the idea of giving citizens access to guns but is almost impossible, that is why modern shooting in schools is a long-lasting cultural impact.

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Thomas "T.J." Lane Case of Mass Shooting

In the year 2012, a case of mass shooting took place at Chardon High School in Ohio. The incidence resulted in the death of three students. The incidence took at least two days in which hundreds of students were injured and two students were hospitalized with one of them sustaining very serious injuries. Some of the victims have been declared permanently paralyzed (Satterly, 2014). One of the students, who was a victim of the mass shooting is said to have sustained a superficial wound.

The shooter of the Chardon High School shooting was identified as Thomas T. J. Lane III, who was identified as 17 years old male student. The police were reluctant to identify the juvenile as the shooter but later on, they confirmed that the mass shooter's name is Lane. In this incidence, Mr. Lane used 22 caliber handguns in which he admitted to having shot around 10 rounds of ammunition. The shooting started at the school cafeteria at approximately 7:30 am. According to the police report, Lane chooses specific victims, particularly those students who were having a good time at the cafeteria (Satterly, 2014). Interestingly, Lane left the building shortly after the incidence. Lane was chased out of the premise by one of the teachers that noticed him and he was arrested shortly thereafter. He was arrest on three counts of murders, felonious assault, and attempted murder. Because of those crimes, Lane was sent to juvenile court pending further investigation to the matter. The US laws are very strict when it comes to issuing of juvenile cases (Kennedy, 1997). Juveniles should be charged for offenses that they have committed in the same manner.

Evaluate Risk Factors That May Have Contributed to the Shooter's Actions

Shooting in schools has been a major problem in recent years. The case of Thomas Lane was a horror imagination because both parents and teenagers were affected significantly (Satterly, 2014). Everyone was wondering why Lane would do such a thing. Various experts tried to analyze the situation as they seek to understand why Lane would attack his friends in the school. Psychologists tried to psychoanalyze the motivation and explanation for Lane's action. The analyst looked at Lane's Facebook and tried to connect every single piece to understand his actions. With some selected personal information, experts tried to understand or seek to understand why Lane would engage in such kind of crime. According to Lane, he argued that he did not know the victim and therefore, he chooses to shoot random. It means that Lane did not have a personal grudge with the victims. What Thomas Lane did was to shoot students randomly using an illegal firearm that he stole from his uncle. He did not use a legal arm although there were many available in his uncle's place (Satterly, 2014). Lane shot the victims randomly and it was not a case of bullying. The experts also argued that it was not about drug abuse. Most of the schools shooting cases are random and they do not have a clear or logical explanation. In most cases, violence does not make sense and that is what the psychologist was trying to understand. The experts tried to connect the dots and understand why Lane chooses to shoot with friends at the school. Most of the shooting takes place because the culprit wants to steal money to fuel their drug addiction, but this was not the case for Thomas Lane. Erika Krull studied the case of Lane to understand his behavior. According to experts, Lane's case was an act of violence. What can help us to understand Lane's behavior and get the warning signs for violent behavior is to look at the manner Thomas was brought up. Is it bullying? No. most of the bullying behaviors do not lead to mass shooting (Satterly, 2014). Was Lane disenfranchised? Most of the students have experienced a similar situation but they do not feel like killing others and most of the teenagers do not act violently in this manner. In the case of Chardon shooting, it is not clear why Thomas Lane chooses to use violence against his friend at the school. But the police report indicated that Lane did not shoot randomly, he was very specific in the manner he selected his victims.

Forensic Risk Assessment Instruments

In Geauga County, the court process was held on February to understand the mass killing at Chardon High School in which three students died and three others were injured. Lane was tried for the murder of the three students and he was to face a maximum penalty of life in prison for killing other minority students. In most violence cases, there is a need to conduct risk assessment instruments, which are used by the psychiatric hospital and forensic department to examine the patient. The forensic psychiatric inpatient setting is complex but it contains experts who are trained to examine the predictive accuracy of the tools that can help to understand violent behavior. Mainly, violence in inpatient psychiatric department is a big problem and a topic that is causing a dilemma in the healthcare setting. According to the forensic department, violence has been recorded elevated in our schools and hospitals, especially in psychiatric wards.

Forensic Risk Assessment tools mostly are used in calculating how likely it is for an individual to engage in anti-social behavior or criminal acts. The forensic risk assessment tool has a fact-sheet, which is intended to aid in dealing with offenders by reviewing risk factors for offending. There are more than 200 tools that can be used in assessing the risk of violence and these tools are used by the forensic and criminal justice system (Warnick, Kim, & Robinson, 2015). The risk assessment tool is perhaps most used to inform a decision about post-sentence decision and detention. If the forensic risk assessment tools indicate a high risk of an individual engaging in violence, the person can have his or her detention extended. Interestingly, forensic risk assessment tools help in making critical decisions based on current risk information. In some cases, risk assessment tools can help or benefit the individual. For instance, the tool can identify beneficial treatments, in which it will help to discharge or release the individual in question. According to the study, most risk assessment tools have poor or moderate accuracy in their applications. The beauty of the forensic risk assessment tools is that they help predict the likelihood of an individual or offender to engage in violent activity and the need for an intervention.

Today, psychological assessment involves a very rigorous process, which helps in gathering and integrating the psychology of an individual. The tools include tests, interviews, case studies, and behavior observation among other elements. The assessment intends to solve a problem or help in arriving at a decision. The process will help in understating the psychological and mental health status of the culprit or offender who is caught in the legal engagement, criminal intent, and other related issues. Forensic assessment tools exist in major areas of forensic. For instance, the Inwald Personality Inventory was designed to assess police candidate to assessment behavior and other issues that may affect their ability to work as police officers. The Jail Screening Assessment Tool was developed to aid in understanding and identifying inmates that will require mental health and special correctional services. The majority of the forensic assessment instruments are principally used in juvenile proceedings but they were designed to be used by the adults. An excellent example is the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool-Criminal Adjudication, which assesses the ability of a defendant to proceed to adjudication (Woolard & Harvell, 2005). Another tool is the Juvenile Adjudicative Competence Interview is an assessment tool, which tries to test the ability of a juvenile and adult to be competent to proceed to adjudication and understand the nature of the court proceedings.

For this specific case, at least two forensic tools can be applied or used to assess the defendant. Juvenile Adjudicative Competence Interview and MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool-Criminal Adjudication.

The Juvenile Adjudicative Competence Interview is relevant in the case of Chardon High School shooting because it will help the juvenile defendant to understand and participate in the court process competently. Today, research has shown that young adolescents have a high rate of lacking competency when it comes to legal matters (Redding, Goldstein, & Heilbrun, 2005). Therefore, there is a need for professionals to use The Juvenile Adjudicative Competence Interview as one of the assessment tools. This assessment tool will help Thomas Lane to understand the court proceeding and legal proceeding. The other forensic tool relevant in this case is the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool-Criminal Adjudication. This is a structured interview, which is for pre-trial assessment of defendant competency. This instrument uses a vignette format and helps the defendant to understand the legal system and adjudication process. Since Thomas in a minor, the MacCAT-CA tool is relevant since it was designed for use for defendants aged between juvenile and adults. The tool can help Thomas to gain competence and understand all the legal proceedings.

Evaluate your Personal Biases

As a public defender, most of the time, the duty of presenting or representing young people is the major role. Many juvenile clients face a wide range of issues such as accusations, racism, and lack of resources in the legal processes. Nearly all juvenile defendants are young people of color from the poor community. A majority of them find themselves in the legal battles because they are arrested for typical teenage behavior while others are accused wrongly for something they have not done. Juvenile needs to be advised so that they can make informed decisions in the legal matters because they are still developing their brains and gaining experiences on different matters. Personally, I would have many biases when sentencing juvenile life imprisonment. I would, therefore, want to understand why the individual was sentenced, what had happened, or seek to know whether he was accused because of his race or background (Redding, Goldstein, & Heilbrun, 2005). It is important when dealing with a juvenile to carefully explain to them the nuances of the criminal justice system. A judge in the criminal court decides whether a minor is guilty or not of the crimes that the individual has been accused of committing.