Gun Violence in Chicago
While gun violence is a national criminological issue, it has reached epidemic proportions in Chicago. It is still the biggest cause of death, with law enforcement agencies reporting that gun violence was a factor in the deaths of 54 people in the first four days of 2017. (Hawkins, 2017). While the cases underscore the gravity of the problem and the need for heightened police presence during celebrations and festivities such as New Year's, the problem has remained persistently high, as evidenced by 4,400 incidents in 2016. 2017 (Hawkins) Gun violence is on the rise, which has piqued the interest of not only criminologists but also public health professionals.
Growing Interest in Gun Violence
The centrality is highlighted by a growing body of evidence, which highlights not only the need for industry-wide responses but also dynamism. For instance, while it has traditionally been considered a law enforcement issue, current trends reveal that gun violence is also a public health problem. The view was captured in a 2014 retrospective study carried out in a period of eight years, which suggested that gun violence in Chicago should be treated as an epidemiological issue as it has contributed to 138,000 deaths (Gossett, 2017). According to the findings, the problem follows an epidemic-like pattern where social contagion and networks are underlying in the spread. The claims are supported by Kissner (2015) suggestion that public shootings are linked to other incidences. The observation informs the focus of the literature review, which notes that despite its high prevalence rates, gun violence can be curbed by victim-focused and offender-based efforts.
Causes of Gun Violence
One of the leading causes of violence is ease in gun ownership, an aspect that has made Chicago have a disproportionate rate of murders when compared with other urbanities. The effects of gaps in gun ownership are reflected on the federal reports, where the status of the United States as a leader in possession of the weapons has been blamed for the prevalence of violence (Siegel et al., 2014).
Issues with Gun Ownership Laws
Under the federal laws, the most basic requirement in firearm ownership is age, where individuals are expected to be 18 years to possess shotguns and rifles as well as 21 to have a handgun (Smith, 2015). The background checks for previous lawlessness as well as mentally deranged persons are also incomplete, an issue that was highlighted by the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, where the perpetrator legally owned handguns in spite of an existing court declaration that barred him from purchasing a firearm (Hauser & O'Connor, 2007). The case is not unique from the patterns in Chicago, an aspect that has made firearm-linked murders account for 60% of all homicides while shootings contribute to thousands of preventable injuries. Disproportional gun availability in the metropolis increases the prevalence of violence, murder, as well as felonious incidences. The soaring need to own a gun has contributed by the high level of insecurity, where most people acquire guns as a self-defense move against attacks. However, Franks (2016) notes that the use of guns in self-protection remains an unclear subject among scholars, as anecdotal evidence suggests that firearms are even used in unprovoked attacks. The aspect is aggravated by the current policies, where Matejkowski, Fairfax-Columbo, Cullen, Marcus, & Solomon (2014) note that short sentences among perpetrators do not provide adequate time for rehabilitation.
Socioeconomic Factors
Another factor in the socioeconomic burden of gun violence is the weakening of family values as well as poor parenting. The supposition arises from a widely accepted concept, where exposure to violence and socioeconomic disadvantages increases the risk of children turning perpetrators in their adulthood. Despite the acknowledgment, children continue being raised without concern for their contextual aspects, including the well-being of other people. The view is supported by Sigmund Freud psychoanalytic works where personal development in children is comprised of id, ego, and superego. According to Qian and Liu (2014), id is a primitive instinct that makes people behave wildly, including expressing insensitiveness towards others. However, the expression is contained by the superego through consciousness as well as guilty feelings. The ego allows individuals to function normally in the real world by balancing id and superego. Ogba (2015) notes that current deviations are underlying in the persistently high rates of violence, where youths express anomalies in superego development. Besides the decline in family values, Ferguson et al. (2015) suggest that violent video games and films are also contributing to children's disconnect with the real world.
Addressing Gun Violence
While the underlying causes have been extensively studied, gun violence in Chicago remains disproportionately high, where experts have argued that the current approaches and controls are ineffective in containing the challenge. Nevertheless, the current stock of literature highlights numerous evidence-based approaches.
Effective Strategies
One such method is reducing lethality through banning firearms used in committing crimes. Matejkowski, Fairfax-Columbo, Cullen, Marcus, & Solomon (2014) also note that constricting the space of legal use of arms as well as revising sentences for assaults and gun-linked robberies, fencing violation, and burglary are effective in limiting gun violence. Similarly, public education on storage as well as safety aspects is fundamental in preventing unauthorized gun use.
Conclusion
In conclusion, gun violence is a widespread problem in Chicago. While the problem can be contained by disrupting illegal markets, the approach is insufficient alone and should be complemented by other strategies. Such should include prohibitions on carrying concealed firearms and community policing to help in agenda setting on the war against the criminological concern.
References
Ferguson, C., Barr, H., Figueroa, G., Foley, K., Gallimore, A., & LaQuea, R. et al. (2015). Digital poison? Three studies examining the influence of violent video games on youth. Computers In Human Behavior, 50, 399-410. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.04.021
Franks, M. (2017). How Stand-Your-Ground Laws Hijacked Self-Defense. Papers.ssrn.com. Retrieved 8 January 2017, from https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2711425
Gossett, S. (2017). Chicago Gun Violence Is An Understudied Public Health Dilemma. Chicagoist. Retrieved 8 January 2017, from http://chicagoist.com/2017/01/04/gun_violence_public_health.php
Hauser, C. & O’Connor, A. (2007). Virginia Tech Shooting Leaves 33 Dead. Nytimes.com. Retrieved 8 January 2017, from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/16/us/16cnd-shooting.html
Hawkins, A. (2017). 54 People Shot During First Four Days of 2017 in Gun-Controlled Chicago – Breitbart. Breitbart. Retrieved 8 January 2017, from http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/04/chicago-2017-54-shot-4-days/
Kissner, J. (2015). Are Active Shootings Temporally Contagious? An Empirical Assessment. Journal Of Police And Criminal Psychology, 31(1), 48-58. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11896-015-9163-8
Matejkowski, J., Fairfax-Columbo, J., Cullen, S., Marcus, S., & Solomon, P. (2014). Exploring the potential of stricter gun restrictions for people with serious mental illness to reduce homicide in the United States. The Journal Of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology, 25(3), 362-369. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14789949.2014.909868
Ogba, K. T. U. (2015). Self-Esteem and Self-Awareness as Predictors of Security Consciousness Among Youths (Doctoral dissertation).
Qian, J., & Liu, D. D. (2014). The Conflict Among Id, Ego and Superego——An Analysis of Freud’s Personality Structure in “Eveline”. Journal of Hubei University of Education, 6, 007.
Siegel, M., Negussie, Y., Vanture, S., Pleskunas, J., Ross, C., & King, C. (2014). The Relationship Between Gun Ownership and Stranger and Nonstranger Firearm Homicide Rates in the United States, 1981–2010. American Journal Of Public Health, 104(10), 1912-1919. http://dx.doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2014.302042
Smith, A. (2015). This is how easy it is to buy guns in America. CNNMoney. Retrieved 8 January 2017, from http://money.cnn.com/2015/06/19/news/guns-background-checks/
