Gun carrying by high school students in Boston, MA: Does overestimation of peer gun carrying matter?

David Hemenway; Mary Vriniotis; Renee M. Johnson; Matthew Miller; Deborah Azrael

doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2010.11.008

Gun carrying by high school students in Boston, MA: Does overestimation of peer gun carrying matter?

David Hemenway, Mary Vriniotis, Renee M. Johnson, Matthew Miller, Deborah Azrael

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

31 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper investigates: (1) whether high school students overestimate gun carrying by their peers, and (2) whether those students who overestimate peer gun carrying are more likely to carry firearms. Data come from a randomly sampled survey conducted in 2008 of over 1700 high school students in Boston, MA. Over 5% of students reported carrying a gun, 9% of boys and 2% of girls. Students substantially overestimated the percentage of their peers who carried guns; the likelihood that a respondent carried a gun was strongly associated with their perception of the level of peer gun carrying. Most respondents believed it was easier for other youth to obtain guns than it was for them. Social marketing campaigns designed to lower young people's perceptions about the prevalence of peer gun carrying may be a promising strategy for reducing actual gun carrying among youth.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	997-1003
Number of pages	7
Journal	Journal of Adolescence
Volume	34
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2010.11.008
State	Published - Oct 2011
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Contagion
Firearms
Gang
Gun carrying
Social marketing campaigns
Social norms

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health
Social Psychology
Developmental and Educational Psychology
Psychiatry and Mental health

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10.1016/j.adolescence.2010.11.008

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title = "Gun carrying by high school students in Boston, MA: Does overestimation of peer gun carrying matter?",

abstract = "This paper investigates: (1) whether high school students overestimate gun carrying by their peers, and (2) whether those students who overestimate peer gun carrying are more likely to carry firearms. Data come from a randomly sampled survey conducted in 2008 of over 1700 high school students in Boston, MA. Over 5% of students reported carrying a gun, 9% of boys and 2% of girls. Students substantially overestimated the percentage of their peers who carried guns; the likelihood that a respondent carried a gun was strongly associated with their perception of the level of peer gun carrying. Most respondents believed it was easier for other youth to obtain guns than it was for them. Social marketing campaigns designed to lower young people's perceptions about the prevalence of peer gun carrying may be a promising strategy for reducing actual gun carrying among youth.",

keywords = "Contagion, Firearms, Gang, Gun carrying, Social marketing campaigns, Social norms",

author = "David Hemenway and Mary Vriniotis and Johnson, {Renee M.} and Matthew Miller and Deborah Azrael",

note = "Funding Information: The Boston Youth Survey 2008 (BYS) was funded in part by the Joyce Foundation and by a grant from the CDC/NCIPC ( U49CE00740 ) to the Harvard Youth Violence Prevention Center (David Hemenway, Principal Investigator). The BYS was conducted in collaboration with the Boston Public Health Commission (Barbara Ferrer, Director), Boston{\textquoteright}s Office of Human Services (Larry Mayes, Chief), Boston Public Schools (Carol Johnson, Superintendent) and the Office of Mayor Thomas M. Menino. The survey would not have been possible without the participation of the faculty, staff, administrators, and students of Boston Public Schools.",

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AU - Azrael, Deborah

N1 - Funding Information: The Boston Youth Survey 2008 (BYS) was funded in part by the Joyce Foundation and by a grant from the CDC/NCIPC ( U49CE00740 ) to the Harvard Youth Violence Prevention Center (David Hemenway, Principal Investigator). The BYS was conducted in collaboration with the Boston Public Health Commission (Barbara Ferrer, Director), Boston’s Office of Human Services (Larry Mayes, Chief), Boston Public Schools (Carol Johnson, Superintendent) and the Office of Mayor Thomas M. Menino. The survey would not have been possible without the participation of the faculty, staff, administrators, and students of Boston Public Schools.

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Gun carrying by high school students in Boston, MA: Does overestimation of peer gun carrying matter?

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Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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