Anthropology, Psychology and Sociology
 26
people died – 20 children and 6 adult staff
 Gunman found dead inside the building
 Gunman’s mother found dead in her home –
27 dead total
 Second deadliest school shooting in US
history, behind Virginia Tech massacre
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItsOJUpK
-cY
 BIG
QUESTION: WHY DID THIS HAPPEN??
 Questions
asked are based on the discipline –
different questions are asked for each
 Psychology
– the systematic study of people’s
thoughts, feelings (mental processes), and
behaviour
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Reasons thus are largely attributed to
personality (including potential mental illness)
Assumption: Psychologists assume that an
individual’s personality is moulded by a
combination of biological factors (hereditary
traits – genetics) and prior experiences… nature
and nurture
 Sociology
– the scientific study of human
social behaviour and the institutions and
organizations that form society; the study of
how groups of people who share common
characteristics function
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Includes the study of how groups of people who
share some common characteristic(s) function
Looks for common factors (commonalities)
Assumption: an individual’s acts can only be
understood when they are compared with the
acts of similar individuals
 Anthropology
– the study of the origin of
behaviour, and the physical, social and
cultural development of humans


Looks at the values of the cultures which people
grow up and later work
Assumption: that there are factors in a culture,
in general, and in subcultures, in particular, that
encourage or discourage particular behaviours
 http://www.breakingnews.ie/world/canadia
ns-ignore-beaten-naked-teenage-girl12940.html
 How
did the environment ( workplace,
neighbourhood) influence the decisions of
the people involved?
 What violent experiences had there been in
this community that would affect employee’s
reaction?
 Could cultural factors have influenced
decisions?
Why did people not call for help?
 Why did they obey their supervisor?
 What factors led the girl to this location?
 What was the supervisor thinking and why?
 (prior experiences, personality)


What factors influenced the decisions of the
supervisor, the employees who did not respond,
and the employee who did make the 911 call?

Was the fact that the supervisor was an authority
figure important?

Were there any factors, such as gender, race,
age, or economic status, that might have
influenced the assumptions of the supervisor and
employees?

(Group, Social,Organizational dynamics)
 Read
the handout of
the 1999 OC Transpo
murders
 In groups of 2 explain
what main question
each discipline would
ask to help understand
this event
 Include their
explanation based on
the information
presented in the
handout
 Psychologists
would examine his life in detail
in order to answer:
What factors in his personalityor past led
Lebrun to commit this crime?
Assume that personality is moulded by a
combination of biological factors as well as prior
experiences
 Lebrun had made 50 visits to doctors
complaining of stomach cramps, insomnia,
depression, diarrhea and other ailments
 He had suffered from delusions
 He had been bullied at work for a speech
impediment

Sociologists would be
interested in
answering:
What common
sociological factors are
there in the lives of
people who have gone
on shooting sprees at
their former place of
work?

 Some
common characteristics of people who
have gone on shooting rampages are:
- unpopular loner
- low tolerance for frustration and anger
- harassed at work
- low self-esteem
- own/possess rifles and other guns
 Anthropologists
would be interested in:
What were the values of the culture in which
he grew up & later worked?
 Assumption
is that there
are factors in Canadian
culture and the
“subculture” of OC
Transpo that
encouraged Lebrun’s
behaviour
 Powerful images of
violence are widespread
in today’s Canadian
culture (sports, media,
video games)
 Evidence
at the OC Transpo inquest revealed
a poisonous environment, characterized by
hostility and aggression
 There was little respect between managers
and employees
 “Macho” behaviour was reported with much
talk about women and teasing Lebrun for his
stutter
 Cultural
message in media… “When things
get out of hand, acting violently will gain the
attention and even respect of others.”
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True or false? Brainstorm ways in which the
message is or is not perpetuated.
What impact does this message have on a)
children, b) youth, c) adults
 What
other values are present in our
culture/subculture?

Is there pressure to accept the values of cultures
and/or subcultures in order to fit in and be
accepted?
 How
might an anthropologist, psychologist
and a sociologist explain the following
incidents?

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a) A group of thugs attack and injure two men
they see coming out of a gay bar
b) A church group sponsors a refugee family from
a war-torn country
c) Canadian peacekeeping troops put their lives
at risk in a foreign country, where a civil war has
just ended but may break out again
d) Soccer fans overseas riot and get into fist
fights with opposing fans after a World Cup
qualifying game
 Aldershot
has asked you to conduct a study
on stress experienced by students over
school workload and part-time jobs.

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A) Which different groups would you consult?
Explain why you would choose those groups.
B) What questions would you ask them? Label
each question as belonging to A, P, or S and
explain why they fall into that category and why
they’re important to ask.
C) What other evidence would you want to
gather? Why would it be helpful/important?
D) What process would you go through to come
up with a recommendation?