When White Boys Kill

Abstract

The image of male youth homicide is primarily associated with young black males. However, recent school shootings in which multiple innocent victims were murdered indicate that young white males may be at serious risk of a much more tragic homicidal phenomenon known as multicide. This paper offers a conceptual framework to explain multicide and violence generally among young white males by employing an Afrocentric analysis. This analysis assumes that multicide among young white males can be explained by the convergence of three structural-cultural factors, which are (1) the concept of manhood that places considerable emphasis on physical aggression; (2) the phenomenon of spiritual alienation; and (3) the anxiety and stress associated with concerns over maintaining white male privilege. The paper also presents recommendations that describe how the effects of these three factors could be prevented and mediated, and it offers suggestions for future research that applies an Afrocentric framework to investigate young, white male violence.