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Introduction to Guns, Gun Violence and Gun Homicides: Perspectives from the Caribbean, Global South and Beyond

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Book cover Guns, Gun Violence and Gun Homicides

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Risk, Crime and Society ((PSRCS))

Abstract

This introductory chapter presents a contextual overview of ‘Guns, Gun Violence and Gun Homicides: Perspectives from the Caribbean, Global South and Beyond’. Gun violence cuts across socio-economic, ethnic and geographic boundaries and impacts inner cities as well as suburban and rural communities, and the victims are young and old, male and female. While research on guns and gun violence is deeply embedded in the scholarship emanating from the Global North, similar scholarly efforts are limited in the Caribbean, Global South and Beyond. However, it is obtuse to suggest that the deleterious impacts and effects of gun violence are only felt in the Global North and should only be researched in that context. This chapter presents an introduction to a wide-range of perspectives on guns, gun violence and gun homicides emanating from scholars and locales outside of the Global North. The chapters contained in this book provide explanations to the nebulous concerns regarding the exponential growth in deaths and injuries caused by guns and the apparent inability of several states to protect their citizenry from the pain and suffering inflicted on a sometimes unsuspecting population. Other chapters in this collection focuses on and sheds light on the nexus between guns and drug trafficking, political patronage and armed violence. The chapters also offer directions for future policy making and contains recommendations for violence prevention, gun control and human security. Within this context, the Editor of this collective makes a case for the need for reconceptualization, empirical research and new frameworks for action among scholars outside of the restrictive framework of the Global North. This introductory chapter ends with a summary of the fourteen articles contained in this edited book, demonstrating their multi and interdisciplinary focus, as well as the various methodological tools employed by the authors in bringing indigenous, rights-based, gender sensitive perspectives on guns, gun violence and gun homicides and their impacts on the Caribbean, Global South and Beyond.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Behavioural Sciences, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago

    Wendell C. Wallace

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  1. Department of Behavioural Sciences, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago

    Wendell C. Wallace

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Wallace, W.C. (2022). Introduction to Guns, Gun Violence and Gun Homicides: Perspectives from the Caribbean, Global South and Beyond. In: Wallace, W.C. (eds) Guns, Gun Violence and Gun Homicides. Palgrave Studies in Risk, Crime and Society. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84518-6_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84518-6_1

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-84518-6

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