Gun Violence, a Public Health Epidemic

Preventing violence in America is an essential component of building healthy communities. Violence, both at the interpersonal and community levels, is an urgent public health problem.

Our hope is to create greater public interest in combatting violence in all its dimensions—from bullying to gang violence to childhood trauma, in the context of a broad range of public health issues that prevent people and communities from being as healthy as they can be.

Research shows that different types of violence tend to occur together. Places where you have higher rates of gun violence are also places where you have higher rates of domestic violence, child abuse, and other types of assaults. our approach is to focus on the root causes of violence overall. We have been increasingly focused on protecting families with young children because that represents our best hope for creating lasting change.

In connection with programs focused on preventing violence, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has supported numerous studies examining this issue. The below articles provide a sampling of analysis and research findings stemming from these efforts.

• Bridging the Response to Mass Shootings and Urban Violence: Exposure to Violence in New Haven, Connecticut. American Journal of Public Health, 2017.
• Mental Illness and Firearms Background Checks—Combatting Violence Without Inhibiting Care. JAMA commentary, 2016.
  
• Gun Violence, Mental Illness, and Laws that Prohibit Gun Possession Evidence from Two Florida Counties. Health Affairs, 2016.
  
• Reducing Gun Violence in America—Informing Policy with Evidence and Analysis. John Hopkins Press, 2013.
  
• Guns, Public Health, and Mental Illness, An Evidence-Based Approach for Federal Policy (Consortium for Risk-Based Firearm Policy, 2013. 
  
• Mental Illness and the New Gun Reforms: The Promise and Peril of Crisis-Driven Policy. JAMA Commentary, 2013.
  
• Trauma Deserts: Distance From a Trauma Center, Transport Times, and Mortality From Gunshot Wounds in Chicago.
  
• Wounded: Life After the Shooting.
  
• Stop Shooting. Keep Talking. Start Living. CeaseFire: A Proven Method to Reduce Shootings and Killings.
  
• New Guide Shows How to Provide Psychological First Aid After Terrorist Acts or Natural Disasters.
  
• A Mental Health Intervention for Schoolchildren Exposed to Violence. 
  
• Media Exposure and Acute Stress Following the Boston Marathon Bombings.
  
• Preventing Gun Violence: How Laws Can Help.  

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has long considered preventing violence in America an essential component of building healthy communities. Violence, both at the interpersonal and community levels, is an urgent public health problem.

Our hope is to create greater public interest in combatting violence in all its dimensions—from bullying to gang violence to childhood trauma, in the context of a broad range of public health issues that prevent people and communities from being as healthy as they can be.