Objective:
The specific aims of this proposed research are to understand perceptions of community violence and firearm violence, explore notions of safety, and examine the similarities and differences among various individuals and organizations operating in violence prevention spaces among a diverse population of communities that live in urban and rural communities in Southern New Jersey. This explorative approach will rely on primary data collection to understand what violence prevention/safety promoting programs, practices, and policies are in place by local and state institutions and community efforts; what the spectrum of these efforts can inform us about what builds individual and community perceptions of safety; and what programmatic elements may be overlooked or essential to violence prevention efforts in local communities. Community safety goals, and the mechanisms with which to achieve them, are at times simultaneously in unison and at odds – this research aims to highlight the spectrum of how the causes, contributing factors, and solutions to violence broadly, and firearm violence specifically, vary among people and organizations, and how the mechanisms of the processes for asset-focused community safety can contribute to future research, policy, and practice.
The intended population for this research study will center around three Southern New Jersey cities that experience both higher rates of violence than other municipalities in their counties, and traditionally have been underrepresented in funding and violence prevention initiatives. This target population represents localities in New Jersey that capture populations from “non-major cities” (populations under 75,000) but that represent diverse residents and unique components of communities that straddle urban/rural dynamics, an area that currently remains under researched in the nuances of how violence affects these communities, and how firearm violence proliferates in these communities. This proposed project also provides focus on three counties Southern New Jersey (in the coastal area, the greater Philadelphia region, and the Southernmost part of the state), where a dearth of resources and research exists in comparison to the Central and North regions of the state.
Funded By:
New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center
Project Status:
In progress
Principal Investigator (PI):
Devon Ziminski, PhD
Co-Principal Investigator (PI):
Caroline Harmon-Darrow, PhD
Amount Awarded:
$85,543