WHAT:

For reporters covering the one-year anniversary of the shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, these psychologists are available to discuss issues associated with gun violence, school shootings and how to deal with the trauma of revisiting the event.

WHO:

Joel Dvoskin, PhD
Tucson, Arizona
Cell: (520) 906-0366
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.joeldvoskin.com/

Expertise: A clinical psychologist, Dvoskin can talk about risk and threat assessment, especially in regard to mass homicides. He can also talk in general about preventing gun deaths and how to talk to children in the wake of a mass shooting. He is the author of numerous articles and chapters in professional journals, including a number of articles that deal with treatment and risk assessment of people with serious mental illnesses and substance use disorders. 

Frank Farley, PhD
Philadelphia
Work Phone: (215) 204-6024
Home Phone: (215) 668-7581
Email: [email protected]

Expertise: Farley is the Laura H. Carnell professor of educational psychology at Temple University. His research focuses on extreme behaviors, including risk-taking, violence and terror. He has spoken to media on the psychological motives behind the Boston Marathon bombing, including the radicalization of the bombers, the Paris attacks and more. He is past president of the Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict and Violence and is a former president of the APA.

Eric Mankowski, PhD
Portland, Oregon
Work: (503) 725-3901
Email: [email protected]

Expertise: A professor of applied social and community psychology at Portland State University, Mankowski is a community and social psychologist, broadly interested in the relationship among individual, group and community functioning, especially in the area of mental health. He focuses on understanding how masculinity is socially constructed and how it is connected to violence, substance abuse and other health and social problems.

Daniel Webster, ScD, MPH
Baltimore
Office: (410) 955-0440
Email: [email protected]

Expertise: Webster is director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research and co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for the Prevention of Youth Violence. He is considered one of the nation’s leading experts on firearm policy and the prevention of gun violence. Webster co-edited the book “Reducing Gun Violence in America: Informing Policy with Evidence and Analysis” and has published numerous articles on youth gun acquisition, adolescent violence prevention, intimate partner violence and sensible firearm policy.

Daniel J. Mosley, EdD, PC
Littleton, Colorado
Cell: 303-905-4575
E-mail: [email protected]

Expertise: Mosley is a licensed psychologist and has been a volunteer with the American Red Cross Disaster Mental Health services for more than 20 years. He has responded to numerous disasters, including mass shootings (e.g., Columbine high school and the Aurora movie theater), wildfires, floods and the terrorist attacks of 9/11. The Red Cross frequently calls upon him to direct the mental health response to these disasters.   

Susan Silk, PhD
Southfield, Michigan
Work: (248) 350-9890
Cell: (248) 320-0608
Email:  [email protected]

Expertise: Silk is a disaster mental health volunteer and trainer for the American Red Cross and has responded to hurricanes (Andrew, George, Katrina), flooding (Mississippi, Northern California), airplane accidents, (Detroit, Guam), earthquakes (Loma Prieta, Northridge, Seattle), terrorism (Oklahoma City, 9/11) and school shootings (Virginia Tech).

Robin H. Gurwitch, PhD
Durham, North Carolina
Cell: (405) 659-9513
Email: [email protected]

Expertise: A professor and clinical psychologist at Duke University Medical Center and the Center for Child and Family Health, Gurwitch has worked with numerous national organizations, including APA, the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, and the American Red Cross, on information and materials to assist parents and other caregivers to help children deal with traumatic events.

Dorothy Espelage, PhD
Gainesville, Florida
Work: (352) 273-2139
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.dorothyespelage.com

Expertise: A professor of psychology at the University of Florida, Espelage specializes in teacher safety and increased violence against teachers. Her research has focused on bullying, homophobic teasing, sexual harassment, dating violence and school safety. She was chair of APA’s Task Force on Classroom Violence Directed against Teachers, which issued a report in 2011.

Peter Langman, PhD
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Work: (610) 351-3191
Cell: (610) 349-2877
Email: [email protected]
Website: schoolshooters.info/ 

Expertise: A clinical psychologist in private practice as well as an author and lecturer, Langman can talk about the psychology of rampaging school shooters, potential school shooters and warning signs, and prevention of rampage attacks. He is the author of "Why Kids Kill: Inside the Minds of School Shooters" and "School Shooters: Understanding High School, College, and Adult Perpetrators."

The American Psychological Association also has useful resources available on its website, including:

•    Gun Violence: Prediction, Prevention, and Policy (an expert panel report)

•    APA resolution on gun violence prevention

•    Warning signs of youth violence

•    Helping children manage distress in the aftermath of a shooting

•    How to talk to children about difficult news and tragedies

•    How much news coverage is OK for children?

•    Understanding and Preventing Violence Against Teachers