Citation

Smith RD, Welch JC. Society 2022; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s12115-022-00783-z

PMID

36406240

PMCID

PMC9651883

Abstract

In 2015, Pittsburgh had the 21st highest murder rate in the USA at 18.6 murders per 100,000 population. By 2022, its murder rate had declined to 12.32 per 100,000, ranking it number 58 among American cities with greater than 100,000 residents. The article's principal concern is with identifying factors that may have contributed to mitigations of gun violence in metro-Pittsburgh, and especially with how local anti-violence mobilizations within and between key sectors may have contributed to these violence reductions. Activist cadres of youth, social service organizations, governmental decision-makers, foundation leaders, and faith leaders are examined, with attention to how their respective sectors may have been pushed beyond established scopes of concern to take up the fight against gun violence. Drawing upon original interview data from 30 local leaders and from published formal statements and policy issuances from relevant institutional sectors, the article investigates Pittsburgh gun violence and responses, emphasizing the importance of strategically positioned leaders who possessed commitments and capabilities to leverage Pittsburgh's ample institutional resources on behalf of anti-gun violence objectives.

Language: en

Keywords

Public policy; Violence; Neighborhoods; Guns; Collaboration; Ecosystems; Funding; Leadership; Protest; Social capital