Dr. Monique Williams

This research study, led by Dr. Monique Williams, is the result of a collaboration between Whitney/Strong and the University of Louisville, and was funded by the Jewish Heritage Fund.

This research study, led by Dr. Monique Williams, is the result of a collaboration between Whitney/Strong and the University of Louisville, and was funded by the Jewish Heritage Fund. The purpose of the study was to learn from young people who have been directly impacted by gun violence in Louisville and elevate their voices in the broader conversation. Specifically, the study focuses on the social, emotional, and economic impacts when a person is shot as a child in West Louisville. Beginning in early 2023, Dr. Williams conducted interviews with 20 people, ages 14 to 45, who were shot by age 18 while living in West Louisville. She conducted a phenomenological analysis of the results and found four commonalities shared by all of the youth survivors: (1) the expectation of gun violence; (2) traumatic experiences post-victimization; (3) shifts in expectations and outcomes for their lives; (4) what they believe helps.

Perhaps, the greatest value of this study is the window it provides into the minds of youth gun violence survivors. Too often, those making decisions about how to prevent or respond to violence are personally removed from the lived experience of gun violence. Dr. Williams provides a scientific approach to understanding the collective essence of the child survivor experience while also sharing the keen insights of those closest to the issue in their own words.

Background & Problem Statement

The urban center west of downtown Louisville, known as West Louisville, bears a disproportionate burden of violence in the city, with homicide death rates more than five times higher in West Louisville than the rest of Louisville, and ten times higher than the US. The life expectancy in West Louisville is 8-13 years lower than in Louisville overall, and 15 years below the predominantly white, affluent, east end of the city, only separated from West Louisville by about five miles. In 2020, Louisville's homicides and nonfatal shootings exceeded previous record-highs, increasing 48% and 81%, respectively. Louisville's young adults are most impacted by this violence, perpetuating a cycle where those most exposed to violence are also the most likely to be victims and/or perpetrators. Following a year of record-breaking violence, public safety and violence prevention are receiving renewed attention and priority. This study sought to provide a more in-depth view of the social and economic impacts of gun violence on individual survivors through a qualitative exploration of the impact of gun violence on child survivors and their personal development following their shooting.

The focal point of this study asks the question: How does gun violence socially and economically impact youth survivors of gun violence in the city of Louisville?

The study utilized a phenomenological approach to create an explanation of the phenomena that has a collective essence, derived from individual experiences (Wilson, 2014; Creswell, 2018). The findings broaden our knowledge of, create awareness about, and clarify the relationship(s) between this lived experience and the theories/frameworks we use to explain them. A total of twenty semi-structured narrative interviews were conducted with both adults who survived an incident of gun violence during childhood, as well as current child survivors of gun violence. Participants had to be at least 13 years old and had been shot with a gun. The interview was guided by a topical interview guide, however, participants could discuss any topic they chose that best expressed their experiences with gun violence. For analysis of the qualitative data, the study utilized grounded theory techniques, which means we did not start with a theoretical framework, but rather sought the emergence of theory and meaning from the data. There were 3 data sources used for analysis: 1) interviews, 2) researcher memos, 3) and field notes.

Across all our participants, four themes were identified as significant to their experiences and how they make meaning of them. These include (in no particular order):

Belief that experiencing gun violence “is expected”

-Participants exist with an expectation of being impacted by gun violence tied to perceptions of community norms and neighborhood attributes.

-Community norms accepted violence as the status quo. There was consensus that gun violence is to be expected, given the apathy that exists within the community

-A key attribute of the community that participants felt led to gun violence was the lack of activities available for young people, also attributes like vacant and abandoned properties, unkempt yards, and littering.

Traumatic experiences post-victimization

-Grown child survivors tended to name PTSD. Child survivors tended to discuss the current experiences of PTSD, without naming it.

-Hypervigilance is a main way PTSD shows up in survivors’ lives. Other traumatic experiences mentioned were sleeping problems from insomnia to nightmares, an inability to feel completely safe alone or with others, and irritability that inhibits healthy engagement and communication.

-The idea of being victimized again is prevalent amongst survivors of gun violence and so is the idea of empowerment through weapon carrying so as not to be victimized again. All participants expressed a need and/or desire to carry some form of weapon after being shot. The majority referenced a gun as the weapon of choice.

Shifting expectations and outcomes out of life

-“Life is just different” is an envivo code, pulled directly from participant quotes and is described as a state of being after being shot that is identifiably different than before becoming a survivor, that only survivors can understand, and is understood amongst survivors with minimal explanation.

-Some participants discussed the impact of physical limitations on their career trajectories, such as causing them to rethink their career goals, and impacting their ability to have hope for their futures.

-Mental health is at the center of their frustrations. Many discussed physical limitations being connected to depression, hopelessness, and a lack of desire for the things in life of which they once dreamed.

-A few survivors discussed the impact of being shot in a way that had a positive effect on their career trajectories, saying that being shot focused them and made them intentional to stay away from certain places.

Views of what helps

-All participants discussed support – or lack thereof – as a critical component to healing and working towards economic stability. Grown child survivors talked about their familial and friend support systems. Current child survivors (and their caregivers) talked about their familial support, as well as community-based violence prevention programs.

-Survivors expressed the hospital as a key space for support.

-Survivors describe the need for trauma-informed practices across sectors due to trauma symptoms being misunderstood in the settings they are required to navigate – like work and school.

While the results within the qualitative data are not surprising, they do shed light on the local, Louisville context of how child survivors of gun violence are impacted socially and economically. Trauma is a huge factor that impacts the social and economic growth of Louisville children. Continuing to ensure that city infrastructures and systems are trauma-informed is a critical element to supporting the health and well-being needs of survivors.

Louisville is experiencing a crisis in gun violence, with hundreds of shootings happening each year; that translates to hundreds of traumatized individuals, families, and communities having to shift life in many ways to adapt to necessary change for survival. This impacts Louisville’s economy in many ways. Mental and physical disabilities change workforce capacity. Impacted children become impacted adults who are potentially unable to contribute to Louisville’s workforce; the city literally cannot afford for gun violence not to be controlled. There are comprehensive, healing centered strategies for addressing gun violence; they are evidence based and, when fully funded and implemented properly, have shown effectiveness in saving lives and reducing instances of shootings. Participants in this study mentioned many different local violence reduction programs and their effectiveness in moving them from a place of trauma to a process of healing. Community-led public safety strategies are key and integral to any overarching gun violence reduction strategy for the city.