Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-ph5wq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-29T12:00:52.129Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

THE CULTURAL ECOLOGY OF GUN VIOLENCE

Culture of Honor and Code of the Street

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 June 2021

Arthur L. Whaley*
Affiliation:
Independent Scholar, Houston, Texas
*
Corresponding author: Arthur L. Whaley, P. O. Box 20551, Houston, TX 77225. E-mail: dr.a.l.whaley@nym.hush.com

Abstract

Gun violence and related risk factors differ for African American and European Americans. However, there may be overlap in the psychosocial and contextual factors with respect to cultural processes related to gun violence in Black and White communities. The purpose of this article is to compare the culture of honor perspective associated with rural and suburban gun violence of European American males in the southern region to the code of the street value system ascribed to the gun violence of African American males in northern urban cities. The cultural values underlying gun violence will be reviewed in terms of cultural origins, family and community support, and ecological evidence. The central question is whether there are sufficient commonalities between the cultural ecology of the two value systems such that one has practice and policy implications for the other. The current analysis of culture-of-honor and code-of-the-street value systems vis-à-vis gun violence reveals several points of overlap in philosophy and function. Implications for policies and practices to prevent gun violence stemming from culture-of-honor and code-of-the-street value systems include (1) psychological interventions to address the perceived threats to the self; (2) neighborhood interventions to promote a sense of collective efficacy among residents; (3) addressing racial and economic inequality; (4) better gun control laws; and (5) media campaigns and interventions designed to change social and cultural norms for violence. It is important to note the pervasiveness of these value systems may vary by ethnicity and race which must be taken into consideration in violence prevention efforts.

Type
State of the Discourse
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Hutchins Center for African and African American Research

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Anderson, Elijah (1999). Code of the Street: Decency, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner City. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.Google Scholar
Bailey, Rahn K. (2018). At Gunpoint: Firearms Violence from a Psychiatrist’s Perspective. Parker, CO: Outskirts Press.Google Scholar
Brown, Ryan P., Osterman, Lindsey L., and Barnes, Collin D. (2009). School Violence and the Culture of Honor. Psychological Science, 20(11): 14001405.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bushman, Brad J., Newman, Katherine, Calvert, Sandra L., Downey, Geraldine, Dredze, Mark, Gottfredson, Michael, Jablonski, Nina G., Masten, Ann S., Morrill, Calvin, Neill, Daniel B., Romer, Daniel, and Webster, Daniel W. (2016). Youth Violence: What We Know and What We Need to Know. American Psychologist, 71(1): 1739. http://doi.org/10.1037/a0039687.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Buttrick, Nicholas (2020). Protective Gun Ownership as a Coping Mechanism. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 15:121. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691619898847.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cohen, Dov, and Nisbett, Richard E. (1994). Self-Protection and the Culture of Honor: Explaining Southern Violence. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 20(5): 551567.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, Dov, and Nisbett, Richard E. (1997). Field Experiments Examining the Culture of Honor: The Role of Institutions in Perpetuating Norms about Violence. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23(11): 11881199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, Dov, Nisbett, Richard E., Bowdle, Brian F., and Schwarz, Norbert (1996). Insult, Aggression, and the Southern Culture of Honor: An “Experimental Ethnography”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70(5): 945960.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cohen, Geoffrey L., and Sherman, David K. (2014). The Psychology of Change: Self-Affirmation and Social Psychological Intervention. Annual Review of Psychology, 65: 333371. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010213-115137.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cohen, Patricia, and Cohen, Jacob (1984). The Clinician’s Illusion. Archives of General Psychiatry, 41(12): 11781182.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Delgado-Rodriguez, Miguel, and Llorca, Javier (2004). Bias. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 58(8): 635641.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fagan, Jeffrey, and Wilkinson, Deanna L. (1998). Guns, Youth Violence, and Social Identity in the Inner Cities. Crime and Justice, 24: 105188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Felson, Richard B., and Pare, Paul-Philippe (2010). Gun Cultures or Honor Cultures?: Explaining Regional and Race Differences in Weapon Carrying. Social Forces, 88(3): 13571378.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Griffiths, Elizabeth, and Tita, George (2009). Homicide in and around Public Housing: Is Public Housing a Hotbed, a Magnet, or a Generator of Violence for the Surrounding Community? Social Problems, 56(3): 474493.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henry, P. J. (2009). Low-Status Compensation: A Theory for Understanding the Role of Status in Cultures of Honor. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97(3): 451466.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Intravia, Jonathan, Wolff, Kevin T., Gibbs, Benjamin R., and Piquero, Alex R. (2017). Violent Attitudes and Antisocial Behavior: Examining the Code of the Street’s Generalizability among a College Sample. Deviant Behavior, 38(9): 957974.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kemal, Samaa, Sheehan, Karen, and Feinglass, Joe (2018). Gun Carrying among Freshmen and Sophomores in Chicago, New York City, and Los Angeles Public Schools: The Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 2007–2013. Injury Epidemiology, 5(1): 12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40621-018-0143-1.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kennedy, Brian P., Kawauchi, Ichiro, Lochner, Kimberly, Jones, Camara, and Prothrow-Stith, Deborah (1997). (Dis) respect and Black Mortality. Ethnicity & Disease, 7(3): 207214.Google ScholarPubMed
Kubrin, Charis E., and Weitzer, Ronald (2003). Retaliatory Homicide: Concentrated Disadvantage and Neighborhood Culture. Social Problems, 50(2): 157180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, Matthew R., Thomas, Shaun A., and Ousey, Graham C. (2010). Southern Culture and Homicide: Examining the Cracker Culture/Black Rednecks Thesis. Deviant Behavior, 31: 6096.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lowry, Richard, Powell, Kenneth E., Kann, Laura, Collins, Janet L., and Kolbe, Lloyd J. (1998). Weapon-Carrying, Physical Fighting, and Fight-Related Injury among U.S. Adolescents. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14(2): 122129.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mahiri, Jabari, and Conner, Erin (2003). Black Youth Violence Has a Bad Rap. Journal of Social Issues, 59(1): 121140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Majors, Richard, and Billson, Janet M. (1993). Cool Pose: The Dilemmas of Black Manhood in America. New York: Lexington Books.Google Scholar
Matsueda, Ross L., Drakulich, Kevin, and Kubrin, Charis E. (2006). Race and Neighborhood Codes of Violence. In Peterson, Ruth D., Krivo, Lauren J., and Hagan, John (Eds.), The Many Colors of Crime: Inequalities of Race, Ethnicity, and Crime in America, pp. 199220. New York: New York University Press.Google Scholar
McNeeley, Susan, and Yuan, Yue (2017). A Multilevel Examination of the Code of the Street’s Relationship with Fear of Crime. Crime & Delinquency, 63(9): 11461167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morenoff, Jeffrey D., Sampson, Robert J., and Raudenbush, Stephen W. (2001). Neighborhood Inequality, Collective Efficacy, and the Spatial Dynamics of Urban Violence. Criminology, 39(3): 517558.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newman, Katherine, and Fox, Cybelle (2009). Repeat Tragedy: Rampage Shootings in American High School and College Settings, 2002–2008. American Behavioral Scientist, 52(9): 12861308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nisbett, Richard E. (1993). Violence and U.S. Regional Culture. American Psychologist, 48(4): 441449.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Prothrow-Stith, Deborah, and Weissman, Michaele (1991). Deadly Consequences: How Violence Is Destroying Our Teenage Population and a Plan to Begin Solving the Problem. New York: HarperCollins.Google Scholar
Rich, John A., and Grey, Courtney M. (2005). Pathways to Recurrent Trauma among Young Black Men: Traumatic Stress, Substance Use, and the “Code of the Street”. American Journal of Public Health, 95(5): 816824.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sampson, Robert J., Morenoff, Jeffrey D., and Earls, Felton (1999). Beyond Social Capital: Spatial Dynamics of Collective Efficacy for Children. American Sociological Review, 633–660.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sampson, Robert J., Raudenbush, Stephen W., and Earls, Felton (1997). Neighborhoods and Violent Crime: A Multilevel Study of Collective Efficacy. Science, 277: 918924.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shnabel, Nurit, Purdie-Vaughns, Valerie, Cook, Jonathan E., Garcia, Julio, and Cohen, Geoffrey L. (2013). Demystifying Values-Affirmation Interventions: Writing About Social Belonging Is a Key to Buffering Against Identity Threat. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39(5): 663676.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shihadeh, Edward S., and Flynn, Nicole (1996). Segregation and Crime: The Effect of Black Social Isolation on the Rates of Black Urban Violence. Social Forces, 74(4): 13251352CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stewart, Eric A., Schreck, Christopher J., and Simons, Ronald L. (2006). “I Ain’t Gonna Let No One Disrespect Me”: Does the Code of the Street Reduce or Increase Violent Victimization among African American Adolescents? Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 43(4): 427458.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stewart, Eric A., and Simons, Ronald L. (2006). Structure and Culture in African American Adolescent Violence: A Partial Test of the “Code of the Street” Thesis. Justice Quarterly, 23(1): 133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stewart, Eric A., and Simons, R. L. (2010). Race, Code of the Street, and Violent Delinquency: A Multilevel Investigation of Neighborhood Street Culture and Individual Norms of Violence. Criminology, 48(2): 569605.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stroebe, Wolfgang, Leander, N. Pontus, and Kruglanski, Arie W. (2017). Is It a Dangerous World Out There?: The Motivational Bases of American Gun Ownership. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 43(8): 10711085.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ward, Janet V. (1995). Cultivating a Morality of Care in African American Adolescents: A Culture-Based Model of Violence Prevention. Harvard Educational Review, 65(2): 175189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webster, Daniel W., Gainer, Patricia S., and Champion, Howard R. (1993). Weapon Carrying among Inner-City Junior High School Students: Defensive Behavior vs. Aggressive Delinquency. American Journal of Public Health, 83(11): 16041608.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Westreich, D. (2012). Berkson’s Bias, Selection Bias, and Missing Data. Epidemiology, 23(1), 159164.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Whaley, Arthur L. (2003). Ethnicity/Race, Ethics, and Epidemiology. Journal of the National Medical Association, 95(8): 736742.Google Scholar
Whaley, Arthur. L. (2020). The Massacre Mentality and School Rampage Shootings in the United States: Separating Culture from Psychopathology. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 30: 313. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2414.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilkinson, Deanna, and Fagan, Jeffrey (2000). Situational Contexts of Gun Use by Young Males in Inner Cities, Final Report. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/194120.pdf (accessed April 30, 2021).Google Scholar
Wilson, William J. (1987). The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, the Underclass, and Public Policy. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Wolfson, Julia A., Teret, Stephen P., Azrael, Deborah, and Miller, Matthew (2017). U.S. Public Opinion on Carrying Firearms in Public Places. American Journal of Public Health, 107(6): 929937.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
World Health Organization (2009). Changing Cultural and Social Norms that Support Violence. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO Press.Google Scholar