Comprehending Columbine

by Ralph W Larkin

Overview

On April 20, 1999, two Colorado teenagers went on a shooting rampage at Columbine High School. That day, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed twelve fellow students and a teacher, as well as wounding twenty-four other people, before they killed themselves. Although there have been other books written about the tragedy, this is the first serious, impartial investigation into the cultural, environmental, and psychological causes of the massacre.Based on first-hand interviews and a thorough reading of the relevant literature, Ralph Larkin examines the complex of factors that led the two young men to plan and carry out their deed. For Harris and Klebold, Larkin concludes, the carnage was an act of revenge against the "jocks" who had harassed and humiliated them, retribution against evangelical students who acted as if they were morally superior, an acting out of the mythology of right-wing paramilitary organization members to "die in a blaze of glory," and a deep desire for notoriety.Rather than simply looking at Columbine as a crucible for all school violence, Larkin places the tragedy in its proper context, and in doing so, examines its causes and meaning.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781592134922
Publisher:	Temple University Press
Publication date:	11/27/2007
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	31,346
File size:	647 KB

About the Author

Ralph W. Larkin, Ph.D. is owner of Academic Research Consulting Service and a Senior Research Associate, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York. He is the author of Suburban Youth in Cultural Crisis and (with Daniel A. Foss) Beyond Revolution: Social Movements in Historical and Comparative Perspective.

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.    list of tables    iv
2.    LIST OF FIGURES    v
3.    ARMAGEDDON (WELL, ALMOST)    1
Aftermath    11
4.    GOD'S COUNTRY    23
Columbine High School, April 19, 1999    38
Sports at Columbine    54
The High School and the Community    56
5.    CULTURE WARS AT COLUMBINE    60
Christians in the Cross Hairs    61
The Evangelicals Take over the Memorial Service    63
Rachel Scott and Cassie Bernall: From Victims to Christian Martyrs    66
The Strange Journey of the Crosses    74
Christians versus Christians    80
Moral Elitism    88
6.    THE PEER STRUCTURE OF COLUMBINE HIGH    89
The In Crowd    94
The Inbetweeners    104
The Outcaste Students    109
7.    THE OTHER COLUMBINE    114
Bullying    117
The Visibility of Bullying    127
The Role of Adults in Harassment    133
A Toxic Environment    140
Religious Intolerance    141
Injustice    144
Appearances and Reality    153
Mr. DeAngelis    156
Drugs    159
Conclusion    160
8.    ERIC AND DYLAN    163
Eric Harris, Instigator and Theorist    163
Dylan Klebold, Willing Follower    186
The Boys Together    196
The Depressive and the Psychopath?    202
Conclusion    206
9.    FROM OKLAHOMA CITY TO COLUMBINE    210
Eric Harris and Nazi Skinheads    211
Youth and History    219
The Revolt of the Angry White Male, 1992-1996    224
Angry White Teenagers    227
Rambo Goes to School    234
10.    DEAD CELEBRITIES    238
Postmodern Culture and the Cult of Celebrity    241
Youth in a Cold New World    247
Who's Going to Make My Movie?  The Killers and Celebrity Status    264
11.    GIVE PEACE A CHANCE    268
Good and Evil at Columbine High School    271
Football and Toxic High School Environments    280
Columbine Retrospective    289
Peace Education    298
Peace    313
12.    References    318
13. Methodological Appendix