Q & A with Andy Papachristos on Gun Violence Research

A story describing research by Andy Papachristos, ISPS Faculty Fellow and Associate Professor of Sociology, was published today on the NSF News website (and cross-posted by Yale News).

The study applies public health models to gun shooting incidents in cities such as Chicago, Boston, Oakland, and New Haven. Papachristos and his team find that shootings have properties similar to epidemics of disease: they affect particular communities disproportionately and multiply through exposure and can spill over into new areas after reaching a certain threshold.

The study, funded by the NSF, finds that “a high concentration of shooting victims were actually connected within the same social networks as the accused shooters – and that, as an individual becomes exposed to more gunshot victims, his or her own chance of victimization increases.”

See NSF story here and Yale News story here.

Information about the grant can be accessed here.