Among the most disturbing developments during the pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests has been a surge in urban gun homicides among young males of color. Compared with July 2019, shootings in July 2020 rose 53% in New York, 46% in Chicago, and 23% in Atlanta, and in some cities, those numbers continue to rise. Victims also include young children—mostly Black and Latinx—who have been unintentionally injured or killed in shooting incidents. Meanwhile, police continue to shoot people of color in disproportionate numbers, despite demands for reform, and individuals are firing back in retaliation and in domestic terrorist actions.
These incidents, however, are just part of the picture. One of the leading voices arguing for a comprehensive and nuanced perspective on gun violence and its prevention is Robert Kinscherff, PhD, JD, a professor of clinical psychology at William James College in Newton, Massachusetts. He analyzes the problem from a public health perspective that recognizes that gun violence isn’t just about urban violence; it also encompasses injuries and deaths related to suicide, domestic and community disputes, accidents, and criminal activity, and it affects a wide range of populations.“America does not have a single gun violence problem,” says Kinscherff. “It has different gun violence problems that impact different groups of people differently. Until we recognize this, our efforts to limit gun death and injury are unlikely to be very effective.”
Because the issue is so complex, gun violence requires a public health approach that uses public education, evidence-based screenings, and interventions targeted to specific populations and needs, explains Kinscherff, who advocates for this approach at clinical, forensic, judicial, and policy levels.
The Monitor asked Kinscherff how such an approach could lead to a dramatic reduction in gun violence now and beyond the pandemic and race-related uprisings.
What is causing the recent rise in gun violence?
Many factors are probably at play. In terms of urban shootings among youth, one likely factor is that many of these young people can no longer fill their time like they used to. Last summer, many were involved in jobs, sports, and other community activities. Now they have fewer positive opportunities, less adult supervision, more access to handguns, and more opportunities to get into trouble.
Also, there are alarming increases in purchases of guns and alcohol—a common occurrence during times of turmoil and specifically since the onset of the pandemic. While guns are often intended for self-defense, their accessibility has probably contributed to spikes in gun suicides, particularly among adolescents and middle-aged White males. In addition, researchers are increasingly concernedopens in new window that the pandemic will lead to greater suicide rates due to increased social isolation, financial insecurity, disrupted life expectations, increased rates of depression and anxiety, and prolonged uncertainty.
A recent commentaryopens in new window in the Journal of the American Medical Association argued that gun violence, in particular urban gun violence, can’t be solved by legislation alone—that social determinants such as poverty and income inequity must also be addressed. What’s your take?
I agree. Legislative approaches, such as closing loopholes in gun sales, are helpful but insufficient. However, the idea of addressing social determinants needs to be unpacked and developed into specific strategies that target specific aspects of poverty and systemic racism. Research shows that interventions that tackle specific factors such as limited educational and job opportunities, unaffordable housing, barriers to health care, and job and food insecurity lower homicides and suicides over time.
For urban male youth at risk of misusing guns, a particularly effective strategy is supporting their engagement in activities such as school achievement, sports, arts and culture, jobs, and community service activities. This creates relationships with caring adults, more opportunities, and alternatives to more dangerous social networks. Other research shows that deploying street outreach workers—who persistently work to connect with youth at highest risk of community violence and guide them toward prosocial activities and actions—can significantly enhance this kind of approach. They basically won’t take no for an answer. While some of these activities are on hold during the pandemic, they should be renewed and expanded as soon as it is safe.
Do we have a long way to go before these kinds of ideas are implemented on a large scale?
Fortunately, there is growing support for a broad public health approach to gun violence, as reflected in policy positions of the APA, American Psychiatric Association, American Public Health Association, and American Medical Association. Congress has now appropriated $25 million to study gun violence and removed many long-standing constraints on gun-related research. And researchers are increasingly examining the various kinds of gun violence through combined clinical, social, epidemiological, and public health lenses.
In terms of urban gun violence specifically, scholars, researchers, and community-based professionals—including those with law enforcement perspectives—understand that it’s simply not feasible to incarcerate our way out of structural social problems. There’s a growing recognition that the same social determinants that drive outcomes for physical and behavioral health also drive gun violence.
This viewpoint holds that the likelihood of gun violence, toward self or others, can’t simply be reduced to individual character flaws or weaknesses—that the cards you’re dealt in life matter significantly. From a population point of view, the cards are social determinants like access to money, food and housing, education and jobs, health and behavioral health care, healthy relationships, and a safe community. Not everyone starts from the same point, either with the hand they’re dealt or with opportunities to learn how to play successfully. We need to fix that, and that’s what a public health approach is designed to do.
