Cities across America are facing a gun violence epidemic and Baltimore City has been amongst the hardest hit. Last year, a spike in homicides put the area at a record high rate of 55 per 100,000 people. Right before the memorial day break, the count for murders during 2016 passed the century mark. This gives a projected annual rate of 39 per 100,000. A slight improvement, but still not good enough.


                                                          Read the article from the Baltimore Sun.


The spirit of the city is quite a bit calmer, and more people are talking about social change. However, the urban renewal projects set in place to try to create an environment that naturally deters violence still have much work to do, as these things to not happen overnight. 

I came across an article recently that described the relationship of gang membership with suicide attempts. While everyone seems to know about how gang violence increases the amount of homicides on the streets, perhaps more surprising is the its relationship to self-inflicted injury.

                                                            Read the full article here.

It describes a study from the journal of Criminal Justice and Behavior that found that gang members are TWICE as likely to attempt suicide as the normal population. The risks and highly stressful environment of street violence has an enormous affect on those who participate, and the results are extremely tragic. 

As we continue in the fight against gun violence, we find that the symptoms we see are so often a terrible summation of past traumas that congeal into a formidable effect of unpredictability and aggression. Intervening in these situations as mediators and therapists gives us the best chance of properly dealing with these issues.