Introduction to Special Issue: The Legacy of Columbine—Implications for Policy After 20 Years

Published date01 August 2019
Date01 August 2019
DOI10.1177/1043986219840163
Subject MatterIntroduction
https://doi.org/10.1177/1043986219840163
Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice
2019, Vol. 35(3) 268 –273
© The Author(s) 2019
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DOI: 10.1177/1043986219840163
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Introduction
Introduction to Special Issue:
The Legacy of Columbine—
Implications for Policy After
20 Years
Lynn A. Addington1 and Glenn W. Muschert2
Abstract
This introduction provides an overview to the special issue, which marks the twentieth
anniversary of the shootings at Columbine High School by considering the effect
on policy addressing school violence and mass shootings. We asked each of the
contributors to consider changes in their area of interest over the past two decades as
well as future research and policy issues. The resulting five contributions take various
forms: three are traditional scholarly articles, one is a personal commentary, and one
is an afterword that combines a scholarly format with professional reflection. In our
introduction, we summarize each one. As each article identifies the need for continued
work in this area, and we conclude by providing a few examples of this research.
Keywords
school shootings, school security policy, Columbine
This special issue provides both retrospective and prospective considerations regard-
ing the influence of the April 20, 1999 Columbine High School shootings on the devel-
opment of policy to address school violence specifically and respond to mass shootings
overall. Given this year’s 20th anniversary of Columbine, we use this event as the
organizing point for the articles in this special issue with the acknowledgment that
additional incidents (particularly school shootings) and other societal changes in the
subsequent years also affected policy decisions.
1American University, Washington, DC, USA
2Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Corresponding Author:
Lynn A. Addington, Department of Justice, Law & Criminology, American University, 4400 Massachusetts
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20016-8043, USA.
Email: adding@american.edu
840163CCJXXX10.1177/1043986219840163Journal of Contemporary Criminal JusticeAddington and Muschert
introduction2019

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