The cumulative effect of gun homicide-related loss on neighborhood perceptions among street-identified black women and girls: A mixed-methods study

Abstract

Racial disparities in death indicate that Black women and girls are disproportionately bereaved by violent loss across their lifetime. Yet the context and consequences of this loss remain largely understudied. This study examines the effect of gun homicide-related loss of relative/friends on subjective neighborhood perceptions among street-identified Black women and girls (ages 16 to 54). The study used a convergent mixed-methods design, with simultaneous quantitative and qualitative components. Data were collected from two low-income, high-crime neighborhoods in Wilmington, Delaware. Quantitative data (n = 277) included a community-based survey on health, opportunity and violence. Qualitative data (n = 50) included semi-structured interviews primarily from a sub-group of the survey population. This study used a street participatory action research (Street PAR) methodology, which included members of the target population onto the research project. OLS regression analyses predicted the effect of exposure to gun homicide on perceptions of neighborhood social environment (i.e., safety, aesthetic quality, walkability, social cohesion, and availability of healthy foods). Interviews were analyzed using grounded theory. Approximately 87% of those surveyed were exposed to a relative/friend gun homicide. All interviewees were exposed to a relative/friend gun homicide. Exposure to the gun homicide of either a relative or friend alone was nonsignificant. But the combination of exposure to gun homicides of both a relative and friend was significantly related to poorer neighborhood perceptions, even when controlling for co-occurring factors. Mixed-method findings indicate that the cumulative impact of gun homicide-related loss matters most in shaping negative neighborhood perceptions. Qualitative data suggest that losing multiple members of one's familial and peer networks to homicide is a powerful form of co-victimization that alters how participants conceptualize and navigate public space. Interventions to decrease gun violence should consider how traumatic loss has unintended consequences on the quality of life of co-victims and those in close proximity to street life.

Keywords: Black Americans; Co-victimization; Death and dying; Mixed-methods; Participatory action research; Urban gun violence.