School of Criminal Justice, University at Albany, SUNY, Albany, NY.
Chicago CRED (Creating Real Economic Destiny), Chicago, IL, USA.
Sci Adv. 2022 Dec 23;8(51):eabq7027. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abq7027.
Gun violence is a leading cause of premature death and a driver of racial disparities in life expectancy in the United States. Community-based interventions are the foremost policy strategy for reducing gun violence without exacerbating harm associated with criminal justice approaches. However, little is known about the interventionist workforce. In 2021, we used a researcher-guided survey to obtain a near-census of Chicago violence interventionists ( = 181, 93% response rate). Workers were mostly male (84%) and Black (80.9%), with a mean age of 43.6 years. Interventionists commonly experienced work-related exposure to violence and direct victimization. A total of 59.4% witnessed someone being shot at, whereas 32.4% witnessed a victim struck by gunfire. During work hours, 19.6% were shot at, while 2.2% were nonfatally shot. Single-year rates of gun violence victimization exceeded those of Chicago police. Results suggest that investment in community violence intervention should prioritize improving worker safety and reducing violence exposure while developing support for vulnerable frontline practitioners.
枪支暴力是导致美国过早死亡和预期寿命存在种族差异的主要原因。基于社区的干预措施是减少枪支暴力的首要政策策略，不会加剧刑事司法手段带来的伤害。然而，人们对干预人员的了解甚少。2021 年，我们使用研究人员指导的调查方法对芝加哥的暴力干预者进行了近乎普查（n=181，响应率为 93%）。工作人员大多为男性（84%）和黑人（80.9%），平均年龄为 43.6 岁。干预人员通常会在工作中接触到暴力和直接受害。共有 59.4%的人目睹过有人被枪击，而 32.4%的人目睹过受害者被枪击。在工作时间内，19.6%的人被枪击，而 2.2%的人没有被枪击致死。暴力受害者的单年发生率超过了芝加哥警方。结果表明，对社区暴力干预的投资应优先考虑提高工人的安全和减少暴力暴露，同时为脆弱的一线从业人员提供支持。
