Gun violence research from a micro-place perspective: A scoping review

Abstract

Gun violence poses a significant threat to public safety and health in the United States, making the prevention and reduction of firearm-related crimes and injuries a paramount concern. While prior research has systematically reviewed the literature to establish the concentration of crime and violence at micro-places and the effectiveness of hot spot interventions, there is a notable gap in similar efforts that specifically examine studies on gun violence at micro-places. The present study employs a scoping review methodology to comprehensively compile and analyze existing scientific knowledge on the characteristics of interpersonal gun violence at the micro-place level. A thorough search across four databases yielded fifty-one articles meeting our inclusion criteria: peer-reviewed articles, gray literature, and academic theses or dissertations published in English between January 1, 1990, and April 1, 2023. The review reveals several key themes: geographic concentration of gun violence, near-repeat phenomena, environmental risk factors linked to shootings, effectiveness of police and community-based interventions, social consequences of gun violence, and the efficacy of gunshot detection technology, along with other methodological considerations. This scoping review elucidates these themes and offers directions for future research in this critical field.