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The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Critical Perspectives on Mental Health pp 1–6Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Gun Violence

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Abstract

Gun violence persists as a devastating public health crisis in the United States. Each year, an estimated 1,600 children die from gun violence, another 6,200 survive gunshot injuries, and thousands more are indirectly impacted (e.g., children who have witnessed gunfire, heard gunshots, or know a friend or family member who has been shot). Though there is notably little research in the area of gun violence prevention in comparison to other public health issues of this magnitude, the existing research underscores the breadth of childhood exposure to gun violence and its direct relationship to poor mental health outcomes. This section ends with a discussion of the implications of this relationship for clinicians and educators: individuals engaged in the prevention of and response to gun violence exposure and, by extension, the promotion of the mental health and well-being of children.

Keywords

  • Gun violence
  • Youth violence
  • Mental health
  • Adverse childhood experience
  • Child health

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Further Reading

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health and Behavior Studies, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Dawn Myers & Sonali Rajan

  2. Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands

    Tasja Müller

  3. Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Sonali Rajan

Authors
  1. Dawn Myers
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  2. Tasja Müller
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  3. Sonali Rajan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sonali Rajan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Counseling & Educational Psychology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA

    Jessica Nina Lester

  2. The Greenwood Institute, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK

    Dr. Michelle O'Reilly

Section Editor information

  1. Teacher Education & Administration, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA

    Tran Templeton

  2. Rhode Island College, Providence, RI, USA

    Victoria Restler

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Myers, D., Müller, T., Rajan, S. (2021). Gun Violence. In: Lester, J.N., O'Reilly, M. (eds) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Critical Perspectives on Mental Health. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12852-4_58-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12852-4_58-1

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