Original article
Episodic and persistent gun-carrying among urban African-American adolescents

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Abstract

Purpose

To examine whether similar risk factors influenced episodic and persistent gun-carrying among urban African-American adolescents.

Methods

The sample consisted of 705 African-American youths (48.9% male; mean age at baseline = 14.56 years) who were interviewed annually throughout high school as part of a larger study on students who leave school before graduation. Episodic gun-carrying was defined as carrying a gun during one or two waves of the study. Persistent gun-carrying involved carrying a gun during three or four waves. Data were analyzed using multinomial logistic regression to test how risk factors assessed at ninth grade influenced the persistence of gun-carrying.

Results

Fifteen percent of students reported carrying a gun episodically, and 5% persistently. “Male gender” (OR = 3.61, 95% CI = 2.16–6.04), “adult weapon-carrying” (OR = 1.58, 95% CI = 1.20–2.09), “marijuana use” (OR = 1.03, 95% CI = 1.01–1.06), “selling drugs” (OR = 3.24, 95% CI = 1.52–6.92), and “fighting” (OR = 1.57, 95% CI = 1.14–2.15) distinguished noncarriers from episodic carriers. Frequency of fighting (OR = 1.60, 95% CI = 1.00–2.57) and selling drugs (OR = 3.29, 95% CI = 1.16–9.35) distinguished episodic gun-carriers from persistent gun-carriers. Variables associated with victimization did not uniquely differentiate among the patterns of gun-carrying. These results were similar for males and females.

Conclusions

Similar risk factors characterize episodic and persistent gun-carrying. Specifically, selling drugs and fighting had a strong dose–response relationship with the persistence of gun-carrying. In this population, episodic gun-carrying should be viewed as very risky and not merely as youthful experimentation or a defensive behavior.

Section snippets

Models of gun-carrying

There is evidence for several explanatory models of adolescents’ gun-carrying. The Protection Model suggests that young people carry weapons, including guns, to protect themselves from assault or robbery. In fact, “protection” is often the most common reason adolescents give for carrying weapons 7, 8. Those who previously have been victimized may view carrying a weapon as their only way to avoid such future victimization. Even without having been victimized, witnessing or fearing violence may

Sample

The sample consisted of 705 African-American high school students from four public high schools in a mid-sized city in the Midwest. Approximately half of the students in the study were female (n = 360) and half were male (n = 345). These data were collected as part of a larger study of students at risk for leaving school before graduation: participating students all had grade point averages of 3.0 or lower and were not listed as developmentally disabled in school records. Trained interviewers

The prevalence of persistent gun-carrying

More than three-quarters of the students in the study never carried a gun (n = 543, 80%). An additional 15% (n = 107) carried a gun episodically, whereas 5% (n = 55) carried a gun persistently throughout high school (Table 2). Gun-carrying varied by gender, with males being more likely than females to carry a gun episodically or persistently (χ2(2) = 39.22, p < .001). Gun-carrying did not vary by socioeconomic status (F(2,679) =.83, p = .44).

Univariate differences in predictor variables

Almost all the predictors in the three models varied

Discussion

About one in four students in this study carried a gun at some point during high school. This disturbingly high figure is consistent with those reported in other studies of African-American urban youths. In one such study, DuRant et al [23] reported that 27% of young people who live in or near public housing had carried a hidden weapon during the previous year. Another study among mostly African-American students in high crime areas in Washington, DC, found that 22% of eighth graders had

Conclusion

In this study, young people who carried guns persistently rather than episodically were more likely to use them against others. Yet our conclusion is that episodic and persistent patterns of gun-carrying differ by a matter of degree rather than being qualitatively distinct phenomena. Specifically, African-American high school students who fight and who sell drugs, are much more likely to carry a gun. Indeed, the large effect sizes of these risk factors suggest that any ninth graders found to be

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Grant No. DA07484. The views or policies expressed do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The authors wish to thank the students, parents, teachers and administrators who made this study possible. Preparation of the manuscript benefited greatly from the comments of several anonymous reviewers.

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