A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Mississippi suggests that the perception of disorder in residential areas, such as litter, abandoned buildings, public drug use, and a visible police presence, could be influencing an increase in the number of younger people including teens to carry firearms.
“The literature and the research have shown that adolescents are the most likely to carry a gun out of all the weapons out there,” said Joshua Rosenbaum, a PhD candidate studying juvenile delinquency and lead author of the study, which examined how people perceive social breakdown within a community.
The concept of perceived neighborhood disorder, widely recognized in criminology, presents a well-established framework. However, its implications for firearm violence remain relatively unexplored. A research team, inspired by the alarming statistics that portray gun violence as the primary cause of mortality among children and teenagers in the United States, embarked on a comprehensive investigation to unravel the intricate linkages between perceived neighborhood disorder and firearm-related incidents.
During the research project, investigators conducted an analysis of the correlation between perceived disorder in neighborhoods, exposure to violence, and the propensity of adolescents to bring a firearm to school. To delve into this connection, they employed data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, a widely used tool in criminological data analysis.
This study involved collecting parents’ perceptions of both physical and social disorder in their vicinity. By examining their responses to inquiries regarding the presence of issues like substance abuse or litter in public areas, the researchers then juxtaposed these perceptions with whether their adolescent children carried guns to school.
Researchers discovered that the children of parents who realize their neighborhoods are disorderly and rife with crimes were 1.33 times more likely to carry a gun to school. The researchers also found that perceived neighborhood disorder increases adolescents’ odds of being exposed to violence by 14 percent.
“It is consistent with what is found in the literature,” said Anika Proctor, another of the study’s authors. “What I found very interesting is the gendered aspect.”
According to the study, young men were 10 times more likely to bring a gun to school compared to their female counterparts. Comparing the same stats to white adolescents, teenagers who were Latino or “part of another racial minority” were more than two times more likely to witness or unnecessarily exposed to violence, while African Americans were 70 percent more likely subjected to the exposure of violence.
Living Conditions: Lasting Effects of Exposure to Neighborhood Poverty and Violence
Trace.org, reported on recent efforts by researchers to understand the connections between living conditions and public health improvements. Addressing factors regarding urban heat, community programming investment, and neighborhood clean-ups are all part of a larger academic shift toward comprehensive approaches to firearm violence deterrence, instead of punitive methods, Trace further reported.
Researchers emphasized that initiatives of this nature play a crucial role in mitigating violence. By prioritizing investment in local residents over alternative strategies, they effectively address the root causes of the issues like gentrification, that have historically displaced longtime community members and led to violence elsewhere.
“We were interested in finding proactive risk factors that can potentially deter [gun violence],” Rosenbaum said.
Tennessee Community
Meanwhile, a community group in Tennessee is focused on fostering a connection between waste management and crime reduction through a range of programs, such as local clean-up efforts, tree planting projects, and artistic endeavors.
“Past criminology theories have basically stated that if you see an abandoned space, or lot, or broken glass, then that is a space that invites crime,” said Jaffee Judah, co-founder of Recycle & Reinvest, based in Nashville. “Although true in a sense, I don’t think it was thought through because it invited police to go into these communities rather than build up community leaders and allow them to do their own policing.”
Among the programs run by Judah’s organization is a structured education program known as Soil Soldiers. This unique initiative focuses on imparting knowledge on sustainable practices and environmental justice to individuals from underserved backgrounds, including students from marginalized communities and juvenile detention centers. This educational curriculum aims to cultivate awareness about the interplay between sustainability and social equity as perceived by Judah, “reach[ing] out on a human level.”
“We have kind of turned the ‘broken windows theory’ upside on its head.”
Mental Health Services
University of Mississippi also discovered similar links between the presence of free community mental health services, including readily accessible telehealth resources, and incidences of violence, possession of firearms, and individuals’ perceptions of community stability.
“It’s a very fine line between knowing what empirically would be the best, but then also how to effectively communicate that to practitioners,” said Mason Myers, a lifelong Mississippian and an author of the study. She noted other solutions that are focused on working with law enforcement and parents to practice safe storage, and communicate how these policies can be backed by scientific research.
“You’re not necessarily telling them what they need to do from the ivory academic tower,” Myers said, “but putting it in a way to say, ‘Hey, this is how we can improve what you’re doing, and this is how we can make not only your job better, but also the outcomes of your job better.’”
Senior NewsBlaze Criminal Justice Reporter Clarence Walker is also an Associate Editor for HoustonNewsToday.com. He can be reached at HoustonNewsToday@yahoo.com
