Youth gun crime is an important public health issue that affects many communities in the United States. Since 2012, there were over 30,000 gun-related deaths in the United States. Gun violence remains the leading cause of death for young people ages 15-24. This phenomenological study examined single female parents' attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions of the influences and causes of youth gun crimes. The purposive sample drew from 10 single female parents of youth ages 14-17 charged with gun crimes. Sutherlands' (1974) differential association theory provided the theoretical framework for the study. The mothers participated in a series of in-depth, face-to-face interviews; these data were analyzed via inductive and emergent analysis. Results of the study indicated that these 10 parents were attempting to convey the correct message to their children to avoid gun violence. This message did not resonate due to environmental peer influence. One finding was the perception that peer influence and environmental factors favorable to gun violence hampered the impact of the parents in getting the message to youths to avoid youth gun violence. The study findings suggest that curtailing gun violence will require collaboration amongst community members. In addition, mothers need to be armed with resources that address the issues of peer pressure and community violence. The results of the study can impact positive social change by informing parents to be more empowered to seek resources to combat peer pressure and gun crimes. For this reason, the study should provide information useful for individual families in curtailing youth gun violence, thus impacting the community and the lives of many.

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Introduction: The public often believes that ‘mentally ill’ individuals are more prone to dangerous and criminal behavior and more inclined towards gun violence. These misperceptions have negative consequences on justice-involved individuals with a mental illness who are reintegrating into society post-incarceration. Media is often cited as a reason for the spread of misperceptions, but these results may not apply to rural communities. Rather, in rural areas, social support is essential to success due to lack of modern technology, no/lacking public transportation, limited mental health services, employment opportunities, and available housing, and may play a more significant role in perception development. Misperceptions held by rural residents can exacerbate existing environmental barriers. Aims: This thesis examines how rural residents’ beliefs and perceptions regarding the association between mental illness and gun violence may be differentially impacted by: (1) media consumption, (2) social relationships, and (3) personal experiences. Method: 32 rural residents were recruited to participate in an open-ended qualitative interview. The qualitative interview examined the extent to which social relationships, personal experiences, and media consumption impacted development of beliefs and misperceptions regarding the association between mental illness and gun violence and beliefs about gun control. Analytical Plan: Using methods from both directed and traditional qualitative content analysis, codes were developed to analyze influential social relationships, personal experiences and media consumption on belief and perception development regarding mental illness and gun violence, along with gun control. These codes were then used to organize and analyze relevant aspects of participant interviews in order to create insight into emergent themes. Results: The most prominent emergent theme was idiosyncrasy, suggesting rural residents are a heterogeneous population. For example, participants reported that interpersonal contact both increased and decreased misperceptions, depending on the participant. While idiosyncrasies is a major thematic emergence, much more emerged beyond this. Participants displayed widely varying definitions of what a mental illness is, conflating mental illness with things such as mental retardation and lupus; this lack of an understanding of what a mental illness is, is reflected in another result – that misperceptions surrounding mental illness are prevalent in this rural sample. Participants also displayed distrust in the media and the way they portray mental illness and gun violence in particular. Other minor sub-themes and thematic emergences manifested within the data. Implications: The results of this thesis contribute to a better understanding of the role of factors such as: misunderstandings of what mental illness is, the lack of a role of relationship closeness, and the importance of personal experience, and how these may promote or reduce misconceptions regarding gun violence and mental illness in rural communities. This expanded understanding allows for the development of effective, culturally competent psychoeducation targeted specifically towards rural residents, which will ideally be accomplished by incorporating the effects on (mis)perception development of the aforementioned influences. This is imperative, as findings in extant literature may be differentially relevant in rural communities.

This dissertation analyzes the relationships between four state gun laws—universal background checks, waiting periods, may-issue permitting, and violent misdemeanor prohibitions—and firearm homicide and suicide rates among Blacks and Whites in the United States. Using eighteen years of publicly available data, the study examined relationships employing a generalized difference-in-difference linear regression model with fixed effects for states and years. The results indicate that state gun laws in the United States frequently affect mortality rates among Blacks and Whites in different ways. Waiting periods, for example, are associated with large reductions in firearm homicide rates among Blacks but not Whites; may-issue permitting is associated with moderate reductions in firearm homicide rates among Whites but not among Blacks. The study also identifies several statistically significant interactive effects between gun laws and factors such as poverty, police presence, and the density of federally licensed firearm dealers. The dissertation concludes by discussing the value of these findings for informing both public policy and scholarly research in policy analysis and public administration. Most importantly, I argue that policymakers and gun violence researchers must increase their efforts to frame and analyze gun violence in the United States through the lens of social equity. / Doctor of Philosophy / The rates at which Blacks and Whites in the United States die as the result of gun violence differ markedly. This dissertation uses statistical analysis of eighteen years of data collected from governmental and scholarly sources to examine whether four different types of state gun law—universal background checks, waiting periods, may-issue permitting, and violent misdemeanor prohibitions—are related to gun death rates for Blacks and Whites and whether and how these relationships vary between the two. The results suggest that gun laws often affect mortality rates among Blacks and Whites differently. For instance, waiting periods appear to lead to fewer gun homicides among Blacks, while may-issue permitting is associated with fewer gun homicides among Whites. Relationships between different gun laws and the number of gun deaths Blacks and Whites experience also vary depending on levels of poverty, police presence, and the number of federally licensed gun dealers in specific geographic areas. The dissertation concludes by discussing how these findings might help policymakers and suggest topics for future research. Most importantly, the dissertation argues that researchers and policymakers should discuss gun violence in the United States in terms of its disproportionate impacts on different groups.

The present study investigated why communities differing in culture and resources are willing and able to implement gun confiscation as part of a protective order. Specifically, this study explored whether the perceived risk of intimate partner homicide and gun violence, benefits to engaging in gun confiscation, barriers to gun confiscation, community norms about guns, and community readiness to implement gun confiscation: (a) differ in urban and rural communities, (b) are perceived differently by victim service and justice system key professionals within urban and rural communities, and (c) are related to if a community is able and willing to consistently implement procedures that mandate gun confiscation of abusers as part of a protective order. Interviews, guided by an adapted guiding conceptual framework, were conducted with key professionals (N = 133) who work both in victim services and the justice system from a targeted urban community and four Appalachian communities in Kentucky. First, implementing gun confiscation procedures to disarm abusers in rural communities does not seem likely or feasible compared to the urban community given the lower perceived risk-benefit of gun confiscation, importance of gun culture, and limited resources in the selected rural communities. Second, urban justice system professionals, in comparison to urban victim service professionals, reported fewer barriers to enforcing the gun confiscation policy and were more likely to downplay law enforcement limitations in the community and attribute the ineffectiveness of the gun confiscation policy to reasons outside their control. Third, the perceived risk of intimate partner gun violence was associated with consistently implementing in gun confiscation at the emergency protective order (short-term) level, and the perceived community approval of the policy was associated with engaging in consistent gun confiscation at the domestic violence order (longer-term) level. Fourth, both urban and rural professionals pointed out potential unintended negative consequences to implementing the gun confiscation policy, such as violation of second amendment rights and increased danger for victims who seek protective orders. The results have implications for developing more effective strategies for increasing a community’s ability and motivation to enforce gun policy that keep guns out of the hands of dangerous abusers.

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Abstract This study explains how community activists make use of available social capital and collective efficacy while attempting to mediate gun violence. It specifically focuses on twelve in-depth interviews of activists' perspectives, processes and rationales to alleviate community gun violence, based on informal social control models. Findings suggest activists must establish trust and respect with youth they work with before mediation begins, which is established through similar life experiences or backgrounds. Once a strong bond is established with youth, activists identified five core processes to reduce violence: 1) improve the mindset, 2) provide life skills, 3) assist youth as their liaison between networks, 4) expose and provide tools to other opportunities such as college or jobs, and 5) activists challenge system policy that they feel contributes to Chicago's gun violence.

The recent mass shooting on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada has been marked in history as the worst mass shooting in the United States to this point. The details of the shooting beg the question, is it coincidence that it happened in Nevada, a state with some of the least restrictive gun control laws? Mass shootings have become an unfortunate part of reality in the United States, but these are fairly uncommon occurrences. While they are horrific and deserve attention, daily gun violence cannot be forgotten. In the face of such a multitude of gun violence, what can be done to prevent future violence from occurring? This paper compares Nevada and California, two states that are geographically similar, but could not be more different when it comes to gun control. The paper draws connections between state gun control laws and gun violence trends in an attempt to determine what the best course of action is for addressing the problem.

This paper addresses the pressing problem of the surge in crime in Sweden, which has led to substantial uncertainty about its underlying causes. By investigating the correlation between socio-economic factors and crime on a municipality level from 2015 to 2020, we aim to provide valuable insights into understanding and effectively tackling this issue. Specifically, we examine the role of male immigrants, income, education level, and population density, contributing to the field of economics by shedding light on potential economic policies that can effectively reduce overall crime rates. Additionally, we focus on gun violence, considering Sweden's notorious reputation in recent years, to comprehensively analyze the relationship between these factors and crime. Our empirical analysis, employing the Fixed Effects Model and Pearson Correlation Matrix, explores these connections, revealing both inconclusive evidence regarding the link between immigration and crime and ambiguous conclusions for the remaining independent variables. These findings have important implications for policymakers striving to address the urgent problem of rising crime in Sweden.

Data consistently shows that firearm violence affects minority populations disproportionately. In the 1970s, firearm injury related death was the 13th leading cause of death in America. The problem has only worsened, costing the US economy almost $230 million a year and is now the second-leading cause of injury related death. Gun violence should be considered a public health crisis given its costs in terms of morbidity, mortality, and economics, but also can be considered a social determinant of health as it contributes significantly to minority populations’ medical histories and health outcomes. Homicide is the leading cause of death in Black males between the ages of 15 and 34, with 91% of these deaths being the result of firearm injury. However, the way gun violence is portrayed in the media inaccurately generalizes White populations fulfilling the victim role while Black populations in the criminal role. The media considers shootings involving Black populations as “commonplace,” and therefore these incidents receive less attention from media sources. The constant impact of firearm violence places on healthcare providers is also significant, as the incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder is three times higher for trauma surgeons than the general population. Many healthcare organizations have recognized the devastating impact of firearm injury by coming out with position statements, developing patient education and advocacy resources, and community engagement initiatives to help support populations most affected. While more is to be learned in terms of research about the impact of this public health issue, we need to take a multifaceted approach to work towards equitable care for our most vulnerable populations. / Urban Bioethics