Toward Preventing Future Tragedies: Mass Killings on College Campuses, Public Health, and Threat/Risk Assessment

摘要

Prevention of psychological injuries is important in the broader area of psychological injuries and the law. One area that is particularly prominent in this respect involves the serious violence that has occurred on some college campuses recently. The safety of those on our campuses is important. In certain respects, colleges and universities (“colleges” will refer to both in this article) function as a haven from the pressures and expectations of the broader society, providing a setting in which youth can learn, mature, and prepare to assume adult roles. In other respects, they reflect some of the same financial and performance pressures that students will face in the personal and professional roles they assume upon graduating. But it remains essential that colleges provide a safe environment in which undergraduates mature intellectually and emotionally in pursuit of an undergraduate degree, and others train to receive advanced degrees. The functioning of a civilized society depends in part upon a continuing supply of educated citizens and professionals who train in colleges.