Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2022, Psychology/Clinical

From 1999 to 2016, firearm violence was the leading cause of death in adolescents in the U.S. (Curtin, et al., 2018). Given the impact that youth gun violence has in terms of increased mortality, social and economic costs, and reduced public safety, identifying risk factors for gun carrying and gun violence in adolescence and young adulthood remains a high research priority (National Research Council, 2013). In addition, Black youth living in impoverished communities are disproportionately more likely to be both victims and perpetrators of gun violence (Blumstein, Rivara, & Rosenfeld, 2000; Lizotte et al., 2000); thus, addressing youth gun violence may be an important way to reduce health inequities. Previous research has indicated that youth are more likely to carry and/or use a gun if they have been exposed to violence (Reid et al., 2017), if they have a poor future orientation (Rowan et al., 2019), or if they have negative perceptions of procedural justice (Papachristos et al., 2012). However, studies have generally not examined these risk factors in tandem, and thus it is unknown how each uniquely contributes to the prediction of gun use and gun carrying. This study's aim is to analyze the unique relationships among violence exposure, future orientation, perceptions of procedural justice, and gun carrying and gun use among Black adolescent and young adult males. This study chose to focus on Black males in adolescence and young adulthood, given their disproportionate exposure to and involvement in gun violence, and the disparate experiences between Black and White youth in the U.S. that may culminate in differential susceptibility to these risk factors. The present study used data from Pathways to Desistance study, a comprehensive longitudinal study of treatment and processing of juvenile offenders (Pathways to Desistence, n.d.). Logistic regression analyses were used to determine whether levels of future orientation, violence exposure, and procedural justice pr (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Meagan Docherty PhD (Advisor); Eric Dubow PhD (Committee Member); Carolyn Tompsett PhD (Committee Chair) Subjects: Psychology; Public Policy