As gun deaths surge, scientists fill knowledge gaps in field of violence intervention

A recent study found that a staggering amount of violence intervention workers in Chicago have been exposed to or victims of gun violence while at work.

The study was co-led by Professor Andrew Papachristos along with faculty from the University at Albany, SUNY, and Community Violence Intervention (CVI) leaders. Some of the findings about the intervention workers in Chicago include:

• 60% have witnessed a shooting attempt
• 32% have witnessed someone else get shot while at work
• 20% have been shot at while at work
• 2% have been shot at and injured on the job

“Understanding and supporting this vital workforce is essential in building community-based responses to violence. Outreach staff are, literally, putting their own lives on the line without any of the resources to cope and manage the exposure to violence and stress we are seeing in this study,” said Papachristos.

The researchers plan on expanding their study to cities like New York this summer to create a comprehensive picture that shows the plight of essential workers and the effects they have on their respective communities. A public draft is available for viewing on Northwestern’s Institute for Policy Research website.

Learn more in Northwestern Now’s article, “As gun deaths surge, scientists fill knowledge gaps in field of violence intervention.”