What does research on gun violence look like? Sarah talks with NMVVRC Associate Director, Dr. Angela Moreland, about legislation that affects how mass shootings are researched.
What does research on gun violence look like? Sarah talks with NMVVRC Associate Director, Dr. Angela Moreland, about legislation that affects how mass shootings are researched.
If you have a question about war, or if there’s something else going on in the world that you want us to break down, write to us or record a message and email us at listen@akidsco.com.
Follow the show on Apple Podcasts or wherever podcasts are found and check out other podcasts made for kids just like you by visiting akidsco.com.
Sarah Jones Breaks It Down: A Kids News Podcast
S1 EP07 Mass Shootings and Dickey’s Amendment
[INTRODUCTION]
Sarah: This is Sarah Jones Breaks It Down.
I’m Sarah, and I’m here to help us better understand what’s happening in the world.
Why?
Because, as a journalist, that’s my job.
And this world isn’t just filled with adults…
Julia: Nope!
Sarah: It’s our world.
So, every week we’ll talk about the stories that you may overhear some adults talking about and we’ll…
Group of Kids: Break it down.
Sarah: Break. It. Down.
[TOPLINE]
Sarah: Mass shootings. It seems like they're on the news every other week. And it's when four or more victims are murdered with a firearm in a single event.
And your generation is growing up in a world where they're becoming way too common.
And as adults argue over policies and rights and gun control, have you ever heard them talk about Dickey's Amendment?
It's a piece of legislation that makes researching gun violence from a public health perspective, a little tricky. And in this episode, we're going to explain why.
[BREAKDOWN]
Sarah: Before we really get into Dickey’s Amendment, we have to break down the difference between research and opinion.
And here with me to break down all of this is Dr. Angela Moreland, who is the associate director of a research center called the National Mass Violence Victimization Resource Center or NMVVRC.
Angela: Our center was developed and it was funded as a cooperative agreement with the office for victims of crime, about four years ago.We don't lobby. We are very, um, Very intentional about that.
We are specifically researching the impact of incidents that occur on people.
Sarah: Before NMVVRC, research was mostly focused on a specific mass violence incident. But this center works with others to pull that research together and analyze it across locations.
Angela: So we have partners with multiple organizations and multiple places across the country. Okay. and our big job is to kind of be the connector to be able to when someone re requests something regarding mass violence, whether that be an organization or, um, or Congress, or, you know, governors, mayors, but also specific cities or specific sites, because something's occurred, they can contact us. And then our job is to get the resources in their hands when they need them.
Sarah: So first, as promised, let’s get into the difference between research and opinion.
Angela: Um, I could say that, you know, red M and Ms are my favorite. And you could say that blue are yours. And if that's our opinion, that's correct. Um, however, if we studied and we surveyed say 10,000 people, and we had them taste the M and M and say, which one is the best and red came out most of the time. We still can't say with fact that red is the best M and M because we didn't ask everyone in the world. So we have to, it's not a fact, but what we would say is research shows that red M and M's are the best. And that's basically saying that we, we studied and we researched a lot of people, and that's what the finding. So research is based on actual findings of whether it be that's more behavioral research.
And some research we is inconclusive, you know, we do it and we don't have a significant finding. And that may be because. We don't really know, but once we hit a certain amount of significance, so once, and it's about 80% once we know with, with pretty good certainty that that's there, then that's when we can say research supports that.
Sarah: And research is basically too information based on fact finding, right?
Angela: Yes, exactly.
Sarah: So people will then sometimes take that information and make decisions. M and M might then decide, oh, we're gonna make a bag of just red M and Ms. Since people love it.
Angela: And that's why the why research is so incredibly important because one person can have an opinion and think that, but the only real way to make decisions and whether it's marketing decisions, you know, from a company or whether it's medical decisions or it's decisions for us on what do victims. So we do research.
Sarah: But research has to go through a critical review process called vetting. And it’s always important to check whether the research you’re looking at is reliable.
A quick way to check your sources is 1) check where the research funding is coming from. 2) Check how the data is collected. Was it a survey of a specific audience? Was it done at random? How many people were asked was it 10 or 1,000s? And 3) Has it been peer reviewed.
If an article has been peer reviewed it will say that or the journal may state that all research has been peer reviewed. If something has been peer reviewed it means it has gone through a specific process where the author’s work has been thoroughly vetted by others who are experts in the same field, hence the name peer reviewed.
That’s why it’s called “peer reviewed”, because it’s done by peers.
This step is necessary for ensuring academic scientific quality.
Going through this quick checklist can be really helpful for any kind of scientific study.
Sarah: There have been hundreds of mass shootings across the US in 2022.
Angela: But when you look at actual numbers, it's actually only 2% of, um, of homicides that occur in the United States each year.
Sarah: One thing that NMVVRC noticed when compiling data from several mass shooting incidents was the impact it had on the mental health of the community where it happened.
Of the people who live in a community where a mass shooting has happened, 70% generally are scared it will happen again. Researchers are looking at how they can better support communities.
Angela: How can we improve lives for victims so that we can hopefully decrease these from happening again, and decrease that fear that you know, that it will happen at all times. It’s this balance between making sure we prepare communities and prepare people for what could happen. But also not have people live in fear of that happening at all.
Sarah: Mass shootings take a huge toll on a community’s health. And I’m talking about the whole community: people who weren’t at the shooting, but happen to just live in the area where the incident happened.
Angela: They have more significant mental health problems. Um, they have much higher levels of PTSD and depression than the general population.
You have many more mental health problems.
And then I think one of the major findings that we found is that of people who had prior trauma. So if you had experienced physical assault or sexual assault in the past, you were much more impacted.
Sarah: But Dr. Moreland says there are ways to counter that negative impact on the mental health of a community.
Angela: Social support has a big impact on that.
Sarah: So because of research, we now know a bit more of how mass shootings impact a community and some ideas on the best way to support them.
But what about the questions that are on everyone’s mind?
Angela: …Why it's happening in America and how we can decrease that.
Why these incidents are happening? What is the follow up? What is the risk?
Sarah: ….Why don't we know the answers to those yet when we've, you know, have a generation now that's grown up with this kind of happening?
Angela: I mean, one piece is because of the limits on research that have happened, that hopefully is improving, um, over the past few years. So Dickey's amendment was passed in 1996.
That says CDC, which is the Center for Disease Control could not fund any research that was looking at gun safety or gun violence. So that has significantly impacted our field for the past 20 years, because it has made it very difficult.
Sarah: It’s tremendously reduced the budget by eliminating federal dollars
Angela: Which in the research world, most of what we do as federal dollars, we don't, our institutions don't pay for research.
It's the, um, government that, that pays for research in order to be able to. Prove science and increase, um, science and knowledge.
Sarah: And the amendment still stands.
Angela: There have been several, um, attempts and several different pieces of language that have come out that have kind of made it a little bit more lenient that says, yes, you can, you can research gun safety, you can research gun violence. Um, but the funding just isn't there.
Sarah: Researching mass gun violence as a public health issue isn’t easy.
Angela: What makes it really difficult is that, um, people tend to look at it as a very black and white issue that a lot of times, if we research gun. Anything about guns. It means that we're people are trying to change laws or that people are trying to change, you know, gut opinions about gun violence.
However, the main piece of it is that we need to be able to have research, to examine just what the impact of mass violence in general is. And a lot of times that's limited because it. Blanket amendment and this blanket law.
Sarah: There have recently been spikes in funding.
Angela: So in fiscal year 2020. Oh, so yeah, about two years ago, the fiscal year federal budget did include 25 million for CDC and NIH to research, um, reducing gun related deaths and injuries. And that's probably been the closest that we've been able to get to examining victimization caused by guns,
Sarah: But that's still research after it happens?
Angela: Well, yes it is. And it has to be, it is very, it's very tricky. It's a very thin line between being able to examine gun impact and not have it be making recommendations toward. What should happen when it comes to gun control, I think is the main piece.
Sarah: What would have to change for you to be able to research any aspect of gun violence, to kind of in an unrestricted way, find out why this is happening and how to stop it before it happens. What, what would you need?
Angela: I mean, I think Dickey's amendment is a huge piece of it. I also just think it's a, a very. political piece in a very political part. And I think a lot, we would have to come a lot further as far as being open, because I think the problem with research is. We conduct the research and we are independent researchers.
Our job is to conduct the research and then explain the findings. And if we're afraid to explain the findings, because they don't line up with what the government would like or what, whoever the funding source would like, then that causes a concern. So I think that's where the biggest piece of it comes in is as researchers, our job is to present the actual findings.
So. We find something that is. That it's controversial or that doesn't necessarily line up with specific agendas, then that makes it very difficult, both for us to be able to do that. But then also we risk for their funding because if that happens, will we get funded again, to be able to study something that people want a specific answer to.
[UNDER-REPORTED]
Sarah: So now you know a little bit more about Dickey’s Amendment and researching mass gun violence as a public health issue.
But information is for everyone, and everyone matters…
Group of Kids: Everyone matters.
Sarah: That's why we make sure to cover stories that aren’t in the headlines but should be.
So, remember last time when we explained justice and peacekeeping?
Well there’s a case that’s heading to the International Court of Justice.
It’s a genocide case against Myanmar over war crimes and atrocities committed against Rohingya people, who are an ethnic minority group.
Some of the war crimes the military in Myanmar is accused of include mass murder and torching villages, with the “intent to destroy the Rohingya as a group in whole or in part”.
And targeting a group of people with an intent to erase them from the world is genocide.
So we’ll be following this case and will keep you posted.
[CLOSING]
Sarah: Thank you for listening and for breaking it down with me today.
If you have a question about Myanmar or mass violence or Dickey's Amendment, or if there’s something else going on in the world that you want us to break down, write to us or record a message and email us at listen@akidsco.com.
Sarah Jones Breaks It Down is written and reported by me, Sarah Jones. You can learn more about me and my work at sarahjonesreports.com.
Our show is edited and produced by Matthew Winner with help from Chad Michael Snavely and the team at Sound On Studios.
Our executive producer is Jelani Memory. And this show was brought to you by A Kids Podcast About.
Follow the show on Apple Podcasts or wherever podcasts are found and check out other podcasts made for kids just like you by visiting akidsco.com.
Thank you for hanging out with me and stay curious!