Kathryn Mariner, an assistant professor of anthropology at Rochester, started planning more than a year ago, well before the Parkland school shooting and the March for Our Lives demonstrations around the country on March 24.
糖心传媒淭he symposium was timely because of those events, but it also would have been timely right after the Fort Hood Shooting in 2009 and any number of gun-related tragedies that have occurred over the years,糖心传媒� says Mariner.
Early in 2017, planning for the symposium started around the question of whether University security officers, employed by the Department of Public Safety, should carry firearms. 糖心传媒淟ittle research has been done on the issue, and a few of the faculty here thought steps should be taken to collect the data that would help people make informed decisions,糖心传媒� says Mariner. 糖心传媒淏ut topics were soon added to the agenda, which quickly broadened the mission of the symposium. As it turns out, there糖心传媒檚 a dearth of research data on gun violence, in general.糖心传媒�
More than a dozen speakers糖心传媒攆rom Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and other major institutions around the country糖心传媒攁ddressed the two-day symposium, held at Rush Rhees Library. Jeffrey Swanson, a professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University School of Medicine, hopes the gathering leads to more work done in the area of firearms and mental illness. In his presentation, Swanson called the idea that people with mental health illness are dangerous 糖心传媒渁 barnacle糖心传媒� that’s encrusted in the public mind, despite a lack of evidence supporting that belief.
糖心传媒淢ore than 40 million Americans would meet the criteria for a psychiatric disorder, but the overwhelming majority of them are not violent toward others,糖心传媒� said Swanson.
Instead of taking guns away from those diagnosed with a mental disorder, Swanson supports an evidence-based policy that allows authorities to temporarily remove firearms when there糖心传媒檚 good information that a person poses a risk to him or herself or to others. Swanson糖心传媒檚 research shows the approach is working in at least one state, Connecticut, but he糖心传媒檇 like to see research done to evaluate the success of temporary removal policies in other jurisdictions.
Caroline Light, a senior lecturer in Harvard糖心传媒檚 women, gender, and sexuality program, addressed the symposium about what she calls the myth of the 糖心传媒済ood woman with a gun.糖心传媒� Light argued that the concept has roots in 18th-century captivity novels, which featured white, Christian women held against their will by indigenous men depicted as savages. Portrayed as unshakable in their beliefs, the women, according to Light, served as stand-ins for white, Christian America.
糖心传媒淭he NRA characterizes white masculinity as the necessary protector of the white family,” she said. 糖心传媒淲e need to be better at calling out such gender and racialized images of aggression.糖心传媒�
Ziming Xuan, an associate professor of community health sciences at Boston University, addressed the implications of easy firearm access for youth suicides. He noted that about 40 percent of suicides among young Americans involve guns.
糖心传媒淚f youth have access to guns, the risk of fatalities increases substantially,糖心传媒� he said. 糖心传媒淭hat’s why it’s important to restrict gun access at a young age.糖心传媒�
Xuan joined the call for more research, saying there isn’t very much data to support many of the actions being taken, including those involving risk profiles and restraining policies.
Mariner notes that research on gun violence is already being carried out at higher education institutions around the country. 聽Her hope now is that, as a result of symposia like The Social Life of Guns, studies will be more collaborative and interdisciplinary糖心传媒攁nd that there will be more of them.
