Syndemic Spaces: The Co-Location of Gun Violence, Overdose, and Structural Disadvantage

• In Event: Studies of the Spatial Overlap of Drug Use, Drug Treatment and Crime

Abstract

Gun violence and drug overdose deaths are concentrated in disadvantaged communities, yet the degree to which their spatial patterns align remains underexplored. This study examines the geographic co-occurrence of these harms alongside structural disadvantage to assess whether they reflect a shared ecology of urban inequality and social disorganization. Using nationwide data from the United States National Emergency Management Services Information System and the Social Deprivation Index, we examine spatial variation in overdose and gun violence nationwide. We first quantify the spatial clustering of gun violence, overdose deaths, and structural disadvantage using spatial autocorrelation measures, then estimate the degree of spatial co-occurrence at the sub-city level to assess their geographic overlap. Findings contribute to place-based criminological theory by showing how structural disadvantage concentrates both violent and non-violent harms through shared ecological mechanisms, consistent with strain-based accounts of how environmental stressors erode social stability and increase exposure to risk.

Authors

• Greg Midgette, University of Maryland / RAND

• Codey Carr, University of Maryland, College Park