On October 22, Beck Institute President Dr. Judith Beck will speak at the Symposium on Cognitive Behavioral Interventions for Violence Prevention hosted by the Center for the Study and Practice of Violence Reduction (VRC) at the University of Maryland. To learn more about current research into the prevention of community gun violence, we spoke with the VRC’s Founding Director, Professor Thomas Abt. Professor Abt teaches, studies, and advises on the use of evidence-informed approaches for reducing violence in the United States and globally. He is the author of Bleeding Out: The Devastating Consequences of Urban Violence – and a Bold New Plan for Peace in the Streets and his TED talk on community gun violence has been viewed more than 200,000 times.
Can you start with a brief overview of the latest research into community gun violence—how prominent it is, who the perpetrators and victims are, and some of the underlying causes?
Sadly, gun violence is the leading cause of death for young people, eclipsing drug overdoses and car accidents. The vast majority of these deaths are caused by the everyday gun violence that happens on the streets of our urban communities. Most of the victims of this violence are men without hope or opportunities who get locked into cycles of violent retribution against one another. Hurt people hurt people, and today’s victim—if they survive—could be tomorrow’s perpetrator. There are structural reasons for this violence. Over generations, racial segregation and the concentrated poverty that followed produced social dysfunction such as crime and violence in our most marginalized communities. There is also the ubiquity of firearms in the United States—more than one per adult—that makes commonplace conflicts much more likely to be deadly.
This often leads people to think there’s not much we can do about this violence, or that to do anything, we’ll need to make broad reforms that will take generations to achieve. Thankfully, that’s not the case.
Have you seen any promising real-world solutions to the problem of gun violence? What are the opportunities and barriers to implementing these solutions widely?
I have seen many. In 2016, Christopher Winship and I completed a systematic meta-review of anti-violence studies—over 1000 in total. We learned that the most successful strategies have a few things in common. First, they focus intensively on those at the highest risk for violence. Second, some use sanctions and some use supports, but the most powerful approaches use both. Third, we learned that to be sustainable over the long run, the strategies must be perceived as legitimate. We culled these lessons down to three fundamental principles for effective violence reduction: focus, balance, and fairness.
There’s no one-size-fits-all solution, but evidence-informed strategies can make a difference without new laws or big budgets, although those would certainly help.
What is the role of cognitive and behavioral interventions in reducing gun violence?
Cognitive Behavioral Interventions (CBIs) are being increasingly widely used to address criminal and even violent behavior, and there’s a great deal of evidence showing that, when implemented well, these interventions make a positive difference, even with people who are the most difficult to reach and work with.
For instance, in 2017, READI Chicago offered transitional employment, training, and cognitive behavioral therapy to 2,500 men at the highest risk for gun violence in the city. A randomized controlled trial showed that after 18 months, READI participants saw 63 percent fewer arrests and 19 percent fewer victimizations for shootings and homicides. Many participants continued to be involved in crime, but the intervention made a big difference in terms of the most violent, serious offenses.
We’ve learned that, with these most difficult cases, you can’t just give opportunities without intensive education and treatment on how to make the most of them. Cognitive and behavioral change seems to be a prerequisite for success. I love the idea of midnight basketball and things like that, but for these deeply traumatized individuals, it takes more intensive interventions to produce real change.
What is one action that our audience can take to help prevent and reduce gun violence in their communities?
Let’s keep it concrete: ask your local leaders if they have a READI-style program that uses CBI to reduce serious violence. If not, push to create an intervention that blends cultural competence with clinical rigor to save lives. Also, there’s training and technical assistance available so no one needs to reinvent the wheel. We know these programs work; now we need to scale them, taking care to preserve quality.
Learn more about Professor Abt’s work and register for the Symposium.