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Abstract
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OBJECTIVE--To determine the prevalence of handgun ownership among urban high school youth and investigate associations with socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and deviant behaviors. DESIGN--Survey of half of the Seattle, Wash, public high schools, which enroll 50% of the school district's 11th-grade students (N = 970). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Self-reports of handgun ownership, perceived access to handguns, racial/ethnic identity, social status (Hollingshead's Two Factor Index of Social Position), and social deviance (Seattle Self-Report Instrument) were determined. RESULTS--Thirty-four percent of the students reported easy access to handguns (47% of males, 22% of females) and 6.4% reported owning a handgun (11.4% of males, 1.5% of females). Reported firearm experiences indicated a high rate of handgun utilization: 33% of handgun owners had fired at someone, 9.7% of female students reported a firearm homicide or suicide in family members or close friends, and 6% of male students reported carrying a handgun to school sometime in the past. Handgun ownership was more common among students who reported deviant behaviors. Adjusting for age, gender, and racial/ethnic group and controlling for covariation among the problem behaviors, gang membership (odds ratio [OR], 8.8; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.7 to 20.8), sentencing by a judge (OR, 4.6; 95% CI, 1.3 to 15.5), selling drugs (OR, 3.7; 95% CI, 1.8 to 7.8), suspension or expulsion from school (OR, 3.5; 95% CI, 1.7 to 7.0), and assault and battery (OR, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.1 to 5.9) were associated with handgun ownership. However, 22% of male handgun owners did not report any of the above behaviors. CONCLUSION--The availability of handguns to the urban high school students surveyed is pervasive, and it is not limited to high-risk groups.
VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The purpose of this article by Callahan and Rivara was to determine the prevalence of handgun ownership among urban high school youth as well as to investigate the relationship between socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and deviant behaviors.
METHODOLOGY:
This study was a quasi-experimental, cross-sectional survey of 970 Seattle, Washington 11th-grade students attending five public high schools. Only 87% of the students answered the questionnaire: 12% were absent, one parent withheld permission, and 16 students refused to participate. The survey was anonymously administered by one of the authors. It contained 76 questions on SES, social behavior, and deviant behavior, half of which were from the Seattle Self-Report Instrument (validated in 14,000 youth). The participants were asked to identify which deviant acts they had done in the past 3 years. Social status was measured using Holingshead's Two Factor Index of Social Position based on the highest occupation and education in the participant's household. Handgun ownership included personal ownership and shared ownership with friends. Handgun access was coded as easy if the student selected "I already have one" or "I could get one in a few days"; other responses were coded as difficult. "Bivariate analyses were conducted using the Yates corrected x statistic or two-tailed Fisher's Exact Test. Prevalence ratios were generated using Taylor series 95% confidence levels (CIs). The odds ratio with Cornfield's 95% represents the ratio of the odds of handgun ownership in those with a selected behavior to the odds of ownership in those without the behavior. Logistic regression analysis generated adjusted odds ratios, controlling for age, gender, racial/ethnic group, and other problem behaviors." Seventeen percent of the students did not report the occupation and 15% did not report the education level of the primary wage earner. Data on SES was missing for 27% of the participants, primarily for minority racial/ethnic groups: forty-eight percent of Asians/Pacific Islanders, 33% of African Americans, compared to 14% of whites. High-risk individuals such as frequently absent students, school dropouts, and incarcerated youth were not included in the study. While the validity of adult self-reported handgun ownership is known, the validity of adolescent self-reported information is not.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
"Thirty-four percent of the students reported easy access to handguns (47% of males, 22% of females) and 6.4% reported owning a handgun (11.4% of males, 1.55 of females)." Thirty-three percent of handgun owners had fired at someone, 9.7% of female students reported a firearm homicide or suicide within their family or close friends, and 6% of male students reported carrying a handgun to school at sometime in the past. After controlling for age, gender, race/ethnicity, and problem behaviors, handgun ownership was found to be more common among students who reported more deviant behaviors (gang membership, sentencing by a judge, selling drugs, robbery, assault and battery) and being suspended or expelled from school. However, 22% of male handgun owners did not report any of the above behaviors. Twenty-seven percent of handgun owners identified hunting or target shooting as the primary reason for owning any firearm. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
KW - Urban Youth
KW - Urban School
KW - Washington
KW - Juvenile Firearms Ownership
KW - Senior High School Student
KW - Grade 11
KW - Late Adolescence
KW - Juvenile Violence
KW - Juvenile Offender
KW - Self Report Studies
KW - Firearms Availability
KW - Firearms Violence
KW - Firearms Carrying Incidence and Prevalence
KW - Firearms in School
KW - Juvenile Firearms Carrying
KW - Firearms Carrying Causes
KW - Racical Factors
KW - Ethnic Factors
KW - Socioeconomic Status
KW - Socioeconomic Factors |