On Thursday, Feb. 2, at noon in the large conference room, Professor Brooklynn Hitchens will present the first seminar for this semester's series.

Title: The Cumulative Effect of Gun Homicide-Related Loss on Neighborhood Perceptions among Street-Identified Black Women and Girls: A Mixed-Methods Study

Abstract: Hitchens will present her recently published article in Social Science & Medicine on how the public health epidemic of urban gun violence has collateral consequences for low-income Black women and girls. Racial disparities in death indicate that Black women and girls are disproportionately bereaved by violent loss across their lifetime. Yet the context and consequences of this loss remain largely understudied. Using street participatory action research (Street PAR) and a mixed-method (survey and interview) design, Hitchens examines the effect of gun homicide-related loss of relatives/friends on subjective neighborhood perceptions among street-identified Black women and girls (ages 16 to 54). She reveals how they are tasked with the “gendered punishment” of traumatic loss while nurturing families and communities, while also mitigating their own risk in distressed contexts. She ultimately contends that their experiential knowledge is critical to better understanding both the problems and solutions of gun violence in urban America.