Episode 318 - Predicting and Preventing Mass Shooting w/ Dr. James Meindl
Release Date: 07/30/2025
ABA Inside Track
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To wrap up the spooky season we leave you with a treat of an episode, the audio from the 2025 conference poster session. While Jackie and Diana often serve as judges for the event, Rob gets to wander around wherever the poster topics take him and enjoy short conversations with the authors. And sometimes, he gets to talk about video games! Please enjoy this sampling of student and practitioner research and practice from our friends at the .
info_outlineOne of the most exciting parts of any conference (shout out to BABAT!) is getting to see something new. And this week, we’re bringing that something new to the podcast with a behavioral hypothesis as to how fame-seeking mass shooters develop behavioral repertoires that can lead to tragedy. We’re excited to bring Dr. James Meindl’s work in this area to our audience as an amazing example of how behavior analysis can be supportive in the treatment of socially relevant causes. We review what information exists in the prediction of mass shooting behavior, how many of the reported patterns may function behaviorally, and, most importantly, what this could mean in the prevention of mass shooter behaviors actually resulting in violence.
This episode is available for 1.0 LEARNING CEU.
Articles discussed this episode:
Meindl, J.N., Ivy, J.W, Delgado, D.M., & Swafford, L. (under review). Towards a functional account of mass-shooting: Prediction and influence of violent behavior.
Meindl, J.N. & Ivy, J.W. (2018). Reducing media-induced mass killings: Lessons from suicide prevention. American Behavioral Scientist, 62, 242-259. doi: 10.1177/0002764218756918
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