NR222 Health Promotion: Gun Violence in Chicago - Strategies

This report addresses the critical issue of gun violence in Chicago, highlighting its impact as a public health crisis, particularly within the Austin community. The paper discusses the pervasive nature of gun violence, its effects on the mental and psychological development of teens, and the influence of racial discrimination. It references statistics from 2019 and 2020, illustrating the severity of the situation. The report connects the issue to the Healthy People 2020 initiative, proposing health promotion strategies such as gun purchase limitations and counseling. It concludes by emphasizing the necessity of implementing health strategies and policies to mitigate the negative consequences of gun violence on the affected populations, advocating for the wellbeing of the target group. The assignment follows the guidelines for a Health Promotion Paper, identifying a health problem, choosing a Leading Health Indicator from Healthy People 2020, and providing research-based solutions.

Running Head: GUN VIOLENCE
GUN VIOLENCE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

1GUN VIOLENCE
Introduction
Chicago has been known for its increasing violence and cases of homicide in the last few
years. People living in Chicago find gun shootings a daily reality as they are used to the mass
shootings and crimes related to it. It is a burden on the police department of Chicago to keep
patrolling certain areas that are known for its gun violence and it is also a public health crisis.
One of the vulnerable neighborhood known as Austin community is a hot spot for the gun
violence amongst teens and adults (Fredrick, 2018). This paper focuses on the issue of gun
violence in Chicago and how it is necessary to control the issue with intervention as it is a threat
to the people of the target area.
Discussion
United States is known for its gun culture all around the world and due to this issue there
have been several cases of mass shooting and homicides. Due to its constant awareness through
media and first hand experiences in certain neighborhoods, it has started affecting the teens and
children of the country. They have seen their closed ones getting shot, heard gunshots from the
neighborhood and themselves witnessed such attacks, which has stunted their lives and
disproportionately impacted their mindset. Most of the gun violence is the cause of racial
discrimination, which is faced by the neighborhood of Austin in Chicago. The target group for
this health crisis is black and Hispanic teens as they are highly impacted more than their white
peers. Gun violence by adults affects the psychological and mental growth and development of
teens that deteriorates their performance in school and other social activities, as a result it makes
them vulnerable and they start using violence to release their stress (Gunderson, 2017).

2GUN VIOLENCE
In 2019, a mass shooting in Chicago neighborhood witnessed the shooting of 59 people
in which 7 of them died. On another occasion, Chicago police stated that more than four dozens
of people were shot with bullets in 32 separate shootings in a weekend. On a Sunday morning, a
gunman opened fire and shot seven people in the Austin community, which is on the west side of
Chicago. On the same day, a block party in the same community experienced a gunfire that led
to the death of one and injured seven (Samee Ali, 2019). Due to the severity of the situation and
lack of medical facilities in a hospital known as Mount Sinai, refused to take more admission of
these gunshot victims. An estimate suggests that more than 1,500 people were shot and around
300 people died in the year of 2019 in Chicago (Chicago Tribune, 2020). In 2020, the total
number of gun shootings have been 340 in three months and it has surpassed the count of
previous year of the similar time frame, which was 263. There have been similar headlines every
day and more people have died due to the gun violence including women and children. A
newspaper reported that two shootings occurred in the same weekend in the Austin community,
one of them was a 16 year old boy who was shot late at night by someone who was passing in a
BMW. Another man who was 19 year old, was shot dead during an attempted robbery. A 16 year
old girl was also shot by mistake when someone fired a shot outside her apartment due to a gang
war (Times Wire, 2020). The people who are more susceptible to these attacks are the
underprivileged and the minority community as they have no facilities to save themselves and
live in the poverty struck areas.
This topic is related to the program of Healthy People 2020 because it is for the wellbeing
of Austin community in Chicago that consists of a vulnerable population. They are affected by
gun violence and have been on the receiving end as well as the delivering end due to the easy
availability of guns. A health promotion concept that should be applied is the limitation in the

3GUN VIOLENCE
purchase of guns, which is possible due to licensing. The sale should be stopped in regular shops
and should require permissions from the government. The target group should be made aware
about the consequences of gun violence through counselling (McCrea et al., 2019).
Conclusion
In conclusion to this paper, it is necessary to summarize the ill effects of this practice that
has been affecting the basic livelihood of people due to its impact. A usual mass shooting kills
several people as well as their family due to the loss of mental and financial support. Health
strategies such as policies and legislations should be implemented for the wellbeing of the target
group.

4GUN VIOLENCE
References
Chicago Tribune. (2020). In Chicago, 498 people have been shot this year. That is 63 more than
2019. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved from https://www.chicagotribune.com/data/ct-
shooting-victims-map-charts-htmlstory.html
Fredrick, E. (2018). Death, Violence, Health, and Poverty in Chicago. Harvard Public Health
Review, 19, 1-25.
Gunderson, A. (2017). More Questions than Answers: A Review of Gun Violence in
Chicago. Chicago Policy Review (Online).
McCrea, K. T., Richards, M., Quimby, D., Scott, D., Davis, L., Hart, S., ... & Hopson, S. (2019).
Understanding violence and developing resilience with African American youth in high-
poverty, high-crime communities. Children and Youth Services Review, 99, 296-307.
Samee Ali, S. (2019). For some in Chicago, gun violence is a daily reality, leaving the same
trauma as mass shootings. NBC. Retrieved from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-
news/some-chicago-gun-violence-daily-reality-leaving-same-trauma-mass-n1040231
Times Wire, S. (2020). 2 killed, 18 hurt in Chicago weekend shootings. Chicago Sun Times.
Retrieved from https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2020/3/30/21197864/chicago-
weekend-shootings-homicide-gun-violence-march-27-30