Psychological Insights into Gun Shootings in the US

Running head: INTRODUCTIONTO PYSCHOLOGY- GUN SHOOTING IN THE US
Introduction to Psychology: Methods and Social
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Introduction to Psychology: Methods and Social
Gun Shooting In the US
The recent shootings experienced in the United States of America, have had devastating
consequences on the students, parents, the society and the government at large. Teenagers being
the most affected, have reacted by rallying to have stricter gun laws (Saeed Ahmed and Christina
Walker, CNN, 2018. The rise in incidents of high school shootings as well as diverse ethnicity
killings has given teenagers and various lobby groups in many parts of the USA to call for
sterner gun laws. This paper looks at the US shooting incidents and the reactions from a
psychological aspect including stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination, group influence and
aggression
A Stereotype refers to a widely held but firm belief concerning a certain class or group of
people. Stereotyping was at its maximum in the United States in the last few decades and still is
being experienced in some quarters ("Stereotypes: Definition, Nature and Causes |Psychology,"
2016). Stereotyping although seen as being negative, has an advantage where it can allow us in
reacting hastily to occurrences due to the fact of having experienced the same situation before.
Its downside is that it makes individuals overlook variances between individuals hence making
them have a wrong judgment of other individuals (Correll, Park, & Judd, 2013). Stereotyping
enables individuals to decrease processing needed when they encounter new phenomena thus
simplifying for them their social world. One causes for prejudice is social grouping which is
caused by stereotypes. Generally, most stereotypes are usually inclined to negative impression
conveyance . ("Stereotypes and prejudice create workplace discrimination (Chapter 2) -
Diversity at Work," 2013)

Introduction to Psychology: Methods and Social
In the United States as well as in the broader world, there exist various types of
stereotypes including ethnic, racial and cultural types.
Stereotyping in the US has taken mostly the racial angle have had several ugly
consequences("Stereotypes | Simply Psychology," n.d.) .The African American being
stereotyped as being the lazy, smuggling and malicious type have faced more extrajudicial
killings from the law enforcers in the US. Although some scholars can argue that profiling gives
a group a sense of belonging and even make them work harder for the betterment of their
category, the shootings of the blacks in the US is not a thing to go with (Shapiro JR and Neuberg
SL, n.d.)
Prejudice and discrimination
There exists a direct connection between prejudice and discrimination in today’s world.
Prejudice refers to the unsubstantiated negative attitudes held by some individuals against others
belonging to a particular group. Homophobia, sexism religious persecution, and racism are some
instances of prejudice. Lacking reasonable bigotry, preconception is usually pre-formed.
Discrimination on the other side entails all those actions carried out by individuals
against those that they hold prejudices toward. In the United States, discrimination was prevalent
during those days of black and white segregation or variances in payment for a male and female
working in the same division. A more subtle or passive-aggressive, behavior displayed by the
white law enforcers against black civilians in America through their shooting of unarmed
teenagers is another discriminatory behavior ("Chapter 12: Stereotypes, Prejudice, and
Discrimination | Principles of Social Psychology," 2015).

Introduction to Psychology: Methods and Social
Researches have revealed that individuals that have experienced prejudice and
discrimination start having the expectations of those around them going through the same. Such
a mindset results in a protective behavior of the victims, which escalates the tension between the
counterparts. In addition, that the out-group acts in line with the victims perspective further
confirms their beliefs. The frequent reports and witnessing of shootings of the blacks by the
white corps perfectly fits in this psychological phenomenon; the self-fulfilling prediction (Price
& Wolfers, 2014)
Disparities and prejudice are greatly maintained by the self-fulfilling element of
discrimination. It starts by resulting in the commencement of societal blame game from the
victims to the perpetrators. The perpetrators are then blamed by the biased for leading
themselves in the dilemma while hiding bitterness for the blame. As is the case in the blacks
shooting in the US, neither party is ever ready to cooperate leading to overlooking the situation’s
reality. This reality ignorance results in a continuation of stereotyping of the police officers who
then heightens the discrimination ("Glass Ceiling Revisited: Moving Beyond Discrimination in
the Study of Gender in Public Organizations - Rick Caceres-Rodriguez, 2013," 2011)
Workplaces and colleges affirmative action contention perfectly explains inequality
aspect. Although the affirmative action committees were initially meant to protect the minority
groups in the context of race, gender religion, and even sex, instead this move is seen to be
concentrating on socioeconomic factors rather than the personal advantages, which are not the
case. The shootings in the high schools come in because the primary reason for civilian gun
ownership is for protection purposes but some quotas think it is discriminatory to only have a
few individuals owning guns when everyone’s life is precious and needs to be defended. hence