In Session 79, I speak with Dr. Merrill Winston about the topic of mass shootings. During our chat, Merrill mentioned that mass shooting events will continue to happen. Sadly, his words were prescient, because a few days after we recorded our conversation, the horrific events in New Zealand took place.
I suppose the tenor of the discussion would’ve been more somber if the timing was reversed, and speaking for myself, I apologize if the conversation comes off as tone deaf or unserious.
Nevertheless, I have reached out to other behavior analysts who have looked at this topic, and if this is something you’d like to hear more about, please let me know and I’ll schedule some additional interviews.
In any case, despite the sad nature of the subject matter, I hope you find Merrill’s analysis of these events as interesting and thought provoking as I did.
Here are some links that we either discussed and/or may be of interest:
- Merrill's slide show on mass shootings
- The book, What Terrorists Want: Understanding the Enemy, Containing the Threat, by Louise Richardson
- The Professional Crisis Management Association website
- The PCMA YouTube channel, where Merrill has posted videos on several different topics of interest
- A video teaser for Merrill's upcoming appearance on The Controversial Exchange podcast
- Fisher et al., 1996, On the Reinforcing Effects of the Content of Verbal Attention
- Merrill's symposium on active shooters at ABAI 2019
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Towards the end of this episode, you reference an article by Fisher and Piazza from the 1990’s regarding functions of behavior. Do you have the name of this article? Thanks.
Maya, you got me! I totally spaced on putting that reference in there. I fixed that now, and I’ll put the direct link here. Kudos to you for listening to the entire show!!!
Thanks, Matt! I appreciate it. Love the show!
Thanks!!!
Matt,
As has been typical, this podcast was excellent! I really found this discussion to be timely, direct and honest, as well as very supportive of my own theories on this subject. I’ve had many conversations with my husband surrounding mental illness and how it is perceived when related to school violence as well as in the context of terrorism. Merrill and my husband are similar in that they are both target shooting gun owners who prefer to do their “hunting and fishing” at the local Stop and Shop. At home, our conversations tend to lead us want to find a way to identify a cause; “it’s mental illness and lack of mental health care”. I think that Merrill’s analytic approach helps you to separate the emotional reaction and get to a more objective approach. Merrill’s ideas on this topic are ones more people need to hear. Thanks for this interview!
Currie, thanks for the feedback. I’m glad this one resonated with you! Merrill is awesome, and he’ll definitely be back on the show… hopefully sooner rather than later!!!
I went into this one a little skeptical on the topic but went away very impressed. Lots to think about and I learned a ton. Thanks so much. I do enjoy the different subjects that expand the conversation.
Thanks for having an open mind on this one. A complex issue with no easy answers for sure, and I am grateful we have people like Merrill talking about these topics!