Communal Coping Ten Years After the Sandy Hook Shooting

Gun violence is a common occurance on school campuses in the United States. Given the impact school shootings can have on the neighborhood and surrounding community, the current study explores the presence of Communal Coping (CC) within the narratives of members of the Newtown/Sandy Hook CT community. I interviewed ten members of the Newtown/Sandy Hook community almost 11 years after the shooting. CC was present in three main themes: interpersonal affiliation, activism, and barriers to coping. These themes revealed the presence of CC and its impact on participants’ experience of the shooting.