Lessons Learned From School Shootings

Dr. Scott Poland, Ed.D is a licensed psychologist with many years of school experience and nationally recognized expert on school crisis, youth violence, suicide intervention, school safety, threat assessment, and the delivery of psychological services in schools. He is an accomplished author on the subject matter of crisis intervention and has lead over 1,000 workshops worldwide. Further, he has acted as the lead to numerous crisis teams following school shootings and suicides. In addition to his dedicated efforts in the community, Dr. Poland is a psychology professor at the Center for Psychological Studies and the Director of the Suicide and Violence Prevention Office at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Dr. Sara Ferguson, Psy.D is the current post-doctoral resident at the Suicide and Violence Prevention Office at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Dr. Ferguson earned her doctorate in Clinical Psychology program with a specialization in Forensic Psychology at Nova Southeastern University. Dr. Ferguson’s clinical interests include suicide and violence prevention and contemporary relational psychotherapy in the areas of complex trauma, serious mental illness, and autism spectrum disorder. Dr. Ferguson’s research interests are primarily in the forensic domain, including suicide and violence prevention, juvenile offending, and neuropsychology of crime. She recently co-authored a SpringerBrief on juvenile homicide titled, “A Closer Look at Juvenile Homicide: Kids Who Kill.”

• 1. School Shootings: an overview.- 2. Perpetrators and victims of school shootings.- 3. Best practices for school safety to prevent school shootings.- 4. Legal implications.- 5. Future directions.