For Release: Wednesday, August 7, 2019
VPC Study is Primer on Community Violence and Its Impacts
Washington, DC — Following the recent series of mass shootings and extreme gun violence in Gilroy, El Paso, Dayton, Brooklyn, and Chicago, increased attention is being focused on the community trauma that results from such attacks and its long-term negative impacts. These effects are detailed in the Violence Policy Center (VPC) study The Relationship Between Community Violence and Trauma: How Violence Affects Learning, Health, and Behavior.
Released in 2017, the 23-page report, funded by The California Wellness Foundation (available in both English and Spanish), is designed as a primer for gun violence prevention advocates, policymakers, and the general public. In putting forth the question, “What mark, beyond the physical, do bullets leave?,” the study provides a foundation of key concepts and research related to community trauma in the context of firearms violence in an easily accessible format.
VPC Executive Director Josh Sugarmann states, “A primary goal of this study is to build awareness that the severe harm inflicted by firearms violence goes far beyond the horrific physical injury that bullets inflict.”
The full study is available in English at http://vpc.org/studies/trauma17.pdf and in Spanish at http://vpc.org/studies/traumaesp17.pdf.
The study’s original press release is available at http://vpc.org/press/americans-living-in-communities-where-gun-violence-is-prevalent-more-likely-to-experience-negative-health-and-behavioral-outcomes/.
The Violence Policy Center is a national educational organization working to stop gun death and injury. Follow the VPC on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
