What is the role of global health professionals in relation to violence, specifically gun violence?

What is the role of global health professionals in relation to violence, specifically gun violence? Many researchers have explored the proximal (immediate) determinants of firearm violence, like the availability of guns. In a recent study, universal background check laws and permit requirement laws were associated with lower homicide rates among both white and black populations (Knopov et al., 2019). But the causes of gun violence go deeper than gun ownership. For example, Golding and Fitzgerald (2019) have shown that early abuse and neglect, father absence, and exposure to family and neighborhood violence exacerbate boys’ risk for violent behavior. There is multidisciplinary literature on the deeper social and systemic determinants of firearm violence.

As public health professionals, our task is to explore and prevent disease, disability, and premature death, but violence is widely considered outside the orbit of normal public health practice—except when it comes to the huge and expensive task of helping the victims. In this Assignment, you will address the double question: Is firearm violence a public health issue, and should we apply the tools of public health research and interventions to preventing it?

The Assignment