Exploring lived experiences of gunshot wound survivors: A key to ethnographically informed public health interventions for curbing firearm violence

Webb, Paul Bryce; Jimenez, Jack; Elder, Andre; Cotte, Alfredo Ortega; Ravichandran, Apoorva; Holbrook, Emily; Baer, Roberta D.; Wilson, Jason W.

doi:10.1016/j.injury.2023.111240

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Black men are also exposed to racialized gendered socialization that minimizes their vulnerabilities and ascribes to them supernatural physical strength and mental resiliency [ 9 ]. Black men have systemically been exposed to a range of labels forced upon them through problematic and racialized structures that have presented them as torpid and unintelligent [ 10 – 14 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The alternative consideration is that all victims are equally deserving of medical care and prevention efforts. While other research on individuals who experienced nonfatal firearm injuries referred to participants as victims and/or victims and patients/participants [ 14 , 17 , 19 ]; as both survivors and victims’ [ 15 , 18 ]; or as survivors [ 16 ] they did not identify the definition or meaning of victim or survivor within the study’s context, nor identify if the language used was ascribed to participants or self-identified by participants.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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“I am a survivor!”: Violently Injured Black Men’s Perceptions of Labeling After a Violent Firearm Injury

Baker,

VanHook,

Ziminski

et al. 2024

J Urban Health

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Self-appraisal after a life-altering event is a critical process for individuals, often comprised by assigned labels that may not align with an individuals’ perceptions of themselves or of their situation. Existing research within this victim-survivor dichotomy largely rests in the interpersonal violence space, with a victim assuming legal recourse and wrongdoing, and a survivor associating with positive personal characteristics like grit and resilience. Much existing literature on self-appraisal after interpersonal injury is heavily concentrated within the sexual violence literature, and this study applies these concepts to a sample of Black men injured by firearms. Ten Black men enrolled in a hospital-based violence intervention program (HVIP) were interviewed to understand how they label their experience of firearm injury, and if their perceptions aligned with common labels seen among other populations and/or in other areas of study (e.g., cancer, domestic violence). Each participant assigned themselves their own label, with three labels emerging: survivor, victim and survivor, and neither victim nor survivor. The results illustrate the nuance of experiences beyond the victim-survivor dichotomy, and how labels and personal identities may shift following injury into new terms and considerations of resilience and trauma processing. More research is warranted to understand the factors that shape self-labeling within this population, including influences of masculine norms, racialized stereotypes, community context, and availability of services. Findings support public awareness campaigns to reframe surviving violence as a strength, and for community partners and practitioners to increase access to culturally competent and trauma-informed mental healthcare.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“I am a survivor!”: Violently Injured Black Men’s Perceptions of Labeling After a Violent Firearm Injury

Baker,

VanHook,

Ziminski

et al. 2024

J Urban Health

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Lived experiences of people impacted by gun violence: qualitative analysis of the prescriptions for repair project

Rice,

Owen,

Johnson

et al. 2024

Trauma Surg Acute Care Open

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BackgroundRestorative justice interventions can help address the harm created by gun violence, although few restorative justice programs focus solely on survivors or loved ones of victims of gun violence. Our aim was to assess how gun violence impacts those injured by firearms through qualitative analysis of their lived experiences.MethodsFrom August 2022 to October 2023, we operated a program entitled Prescriptions for Repair in Durham, North Carolina, USA, which was supported by community groups, public government, and academia. Through a series of structured listening sessions using a restorative justice framework, trained community-based facilitators helped 30 participants (11 survivors of gun violence and 19 loved ones of victims of gun violence) tell their stories through a non-judgmental narrative process. We conducted a qualitative thematic analysis of the listening sessions from 19 participants to define the major lessons learned from survivors of gun violence. We summarized participant responses into individual-level and community-level views on how to ‘make things as right as possible’.ResultsThe lived experiences of gun violence survivors and their loved ones confirmed the inherent value of structured listening programs, how poverty, race and racism impact gun violence, and the need to focus resources on children and youth.ConclusionsListening to the survivors of gun violence through restorative justice programs can help address the personal and community harm resulting from gun violence.Level of evidenceLevel IV, prospective observational study.

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Exploring lived experiences of gunshot wound survivors: A key to ethnographically informed public health interventions for curbing firearm violence

Cited by 2 publications

References 16 publications

“I am a survivor!”: Violently Injured Black Men’s Perceptions of Labeling After a Violent Firearm Injury

“I am a survivor!”: Violently Injured Black Men’s Perceptions of Labeling After a Violent Firearm Injury

Lived experiences of people impacted by gun violence: qualitative analysis of the prescriptions for repair project

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