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Scientists talk violence prevention in Chicago

June 2 Virtual Press Event occurs day before National Gun Violence Awareness Day

  • Updated: June 1, 2022 – Added link to VIeWS report

Media are invited June 2 to attend a 30-minute virtual event in which sociologists from Northwestern University and the University at Albany, SUNY, will present key findings and respond to media questions on the landmark Violence Intervention Workers Study (VIeWS). A new report provides a comprehensive look at the lives and working conditions of the essential workers who play a pivotal role in violence prevention in Chicago. Phase two of the study will expand the research into New York state beginning this summer. 

Among the sobering findings of the study:

  • 60% of violence intervention workers have witnessed a shooting attempt
  • 32% have witnessed someone else get shot while at work
  • 20% have been shot at while at work and another 2% have been shot at and injured on the job
  • 80% of violence interventionists arrived at the scenes of violence before traditional first responders

Download the VIeWS report here.

The event is being held one day prior to National Gun Violence Awareness Day (June 3) and #WearOrange weekend.

Details on the press event:

WHEN: Thursday, June 2, 11 a.m. (EDT) / 10 a.m. (CDT)

REGISTER for the virtual press conference here.

SPEAKERS:

  • Andrew V. Papachristos, director of the Northwestern Neighborhood & Network Initiative (N3), a professor of sociology in Weinberg College of the Arts and Sciences and a faculty fellow with the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern. He is one of the lead researchers on the VIeWS study.
  • David Hureau, executive director of the Hindelang Criminal Justice Research Center and assistant professor in the School of Criminal Justice at the University at Albany. He is one of the lead researchers on the VIeWS study.
  •  Joshua Coakley, external executive director of Target Area Development Corp., a Community Violence Intervention program in Chicago.

More about the study:

With gun-related homicides in the U.S. at the highest level in 25 years, Community Violence Intervention (CVI) programs are being widely discussed at federal and local levels as a key strategy for curbing gun violence. However, until now, almost nothing was known about those individuals carrying out the lifesaving work of CVI, also known as “street outreach.” The VIeWS research team surveyed nearly the entire street outreach workforce in Chicago, polling 181 individuals from 15 organizations and representing a 93% response rate.

This research was partially supported by a grant made to Northwestern University by Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund (www.everytownsupportfund.org).