In the Eye Of the Beholder: Perceptions of Gun Violence Plaguing Chicago's Urban, Under-Resourced Communities of Color

Science Center A154

The purpose of this research is to explore how individuals perceive gun violence along with how variance in perception is created and carried out based on factors such as personal demographics and an individual's relationship to the crime/criminal. Ultimately, I want to explore what leads to the perpetuation of gun violence in urban communities of color. I will be using Chicago's urban, crime-prone neighborhoods as a case study. This idea of ‘perception of crime’ is the first lens to understanding the multifactorial research question of: what are the causal factors of crime, specifically, gun violence, in urban, under resourced, and impoverished, communities of color--mainly poor, Black communities? The intent of this research question is to provide understanding around why they continue to be central zones for mayhem, disarray, and violence that historically and presently has lead to death. Through my research I will delineate perceptions of gun violence among three entities: the Police, members of the community in which the crime occurred, and the perpetrator of the crime. I will illustrate how a lack of understanding about why individuals commit crime coupled with the criminal’s distance from the law and inadequate understanding of what is legal and illicit behavior leads to the continuity of gun violence.