Targeted Violence: Criminological Approaches to Understanding and Prevention

The term targeted violence refers to violence that is predatory, goal-directed, and focused on specific victims. Targeted violence research investigates the impact of multiple factors on offenders, including; prior violence, criminality, mental health, environments, and communities. Rather than searching for causality in simple terms, targeted violence research analyses seek to explain for whom and under what circumstances targeted violence seems like a viable option. This course provides students with an overview of scientific perspectives of targeted violence, and outlines how targeted violence research can apply criminology and behavioural science principles to help the detection, assessment, and management of targeted violence.