Attitudes towards Violence in Urban, Suburban, and Rural Areas: A Comparative Analysis

• In Event: A Review of Community Violence Intervention Programs in the Greater Philadelphia Region: A Multi-Study Panel

Abstract

A primary objective for Community Based Violence Intervention (CVI) programs utilizing the public health model championed by Cure Violence is to change the underlying attitudes towards violence of those most at risk of gun violence, and the wider community they are a part of. This is based on the premise that if violence is de-normalized and not accepted in a community that it will decrease the incidents of violence in that community. From past evaluations of programs using the adaptations of the Cure Violence model we have data on attitudes towards violence in urban areas. However, we lack comparable measures of attitudes towards violence in other geographic typologies. This paper presents the findings of surveys measuring the attitudes towards violence in three distinct geographic typologies: Urban, Rural, and Suburban. The paper discusses the similarities and differences of the results from the surveys and the implications that this has for public health based community violence intervention programs. Additionally, attention is given to whether measures of attitudes towards violence should be operationalized differently in unique geographic typologies.

Authors

• Jay Szkola, Rowan University

• Devon Ziminski, Rutgers University

• Kwan-Lamar Blount-Hill, Arizona State University

• Michelle Lyttle Storrod, Widener University