Firearm Involvement in Delinquent Youth and Collateral Consequences in Young Adulthood: A Prospective Longitudinal Study, Chicago, Illinois, 1995-1998 (ICPSR 37371)

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Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose

Firearm violence is a substantial public health problem. Despite the declines in homicide and other violent crime, firearms were responsible for nearly 200,000 homicides from 2000 to 2015. Deaths from firearms are most common among inner-city youth. The rate of death due to firearms is over twice as high in African Americans compared with non-Hispanic whites; African American males are affected disproportionately.

Both perpetration and victimization of firearm violence are common among delinquent youth. However, prior studies have not examined how exposure to firearms during adolescence predicts subsequent perpetration and victimization of firearm violence. This study is the first prospective longitudinal study to examine how exposure to firearms during adolescence predicts the perpetration and victimization of firearm violence through young adulthood. The study has several strengths:

1. a large and diverse random sample of juvenile detainees (N=1829) that includes youth processed as juveniles and transferred to adult court;
2. a prospective longitudinal design: participants were first interviewed in the late 1990s and tracked and reinterviewed up to 13 times during the 16 years after detention, up to a median age of 32 years;
3. detailed self-reported data and records on criminal activity, injury and mortality, and risk and protective factors known to affect perpetration and victimization;
4. enough females (n = 665 sampled at baseline) to examine differences by sex; and
5. sufficient racial/ethnic diversity (including ethnic diversity among Hispanics) to provide needed empirical data on Hispanics, now the largest racial/ethnic minority in the United States

The proposed study aimed to address this gap in the literature. The researchers examined firearm involvement (access, ownership, and use) during adolescence and young adulthood (up to a median age of 32), and how involvement differed by sex and race/ethnicity. They examined how firearm involvement during adolescence predicts the perpetration of firearm violence in young adulthood. They examined patterns of firearm victimization (injury and mortality) over time. Finally, they examined how firearm involvement during adolescence and young adulthood predicts firearm victimization in adulthood.

Study Design View help for Study Design

The researchers conducted follow-up interviews at approximately 3, 5, 6, 8, 12, 14, 15, and 16 years after the baseline interview (hereafter referred to as "after detention") for the entire sample; subsamples were interviewed at 3.5, 4, 10, 11, and 13 years after the baseline interview. Participants were interviewed whether they lived in the community or in correctional facilities; 81.6 percent of participants who were still alive had an interview at year 16. Interviews were conducted through 2014.

Participants signed either an assent form (less than 18 years old) or a consent form (greater than 18 years old). The institutional review boards of Northwestern University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved all study procedures and waived parental consent for persons younger than 18 years, consistent with federal regulations regarding research with minimal risk.

Persons who were incarcerated for 30 days prior to an interview were not asked about certain behaviors (e.g., owning a firearm, easy access) since prisoners are not allowed to keep weapons. At the 16-year interview, the researchers added retrospective questions about gunshot injury during adolescence for a subsample of participants. Therefore, subsamples used for analyses of specific risk factors vary. Information on firearm-related deaths (homicide, suicide, or accident) were obtained or verified through official records from state medical examiners' offices.

Sample View help for Sample

A stratified random sample of 1,829 youth at intake from Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (CCJTDC) in Chicago, Illinois, was recruited between November 20, 1995, and June 14, 1998. This baseline sample was stratified by gender, race/ethnicity (African American, non-Hispanic white, Hispanic, "other" race/ethnicity), age (10-13 years or 14 years and older), and legal status (processed in juvenile or adult court) to obtain enough participants to examine key subgroups (e.g., females, Hispanics, younger persons). There were a total of 13 strata, as listed below. There were too few female detainees of each race/ethnicity and detainees identified as "other" race/ethnicity to further stratify these groups. Detainees aged 10 to 13 years were not stratified by legal status because they were generally too young to be considered for transfer to adult court.

Sampling Strata:

1. African American females
2. Non-Hispanic white females
3. Hispanic females
4. African American males, aged 10-13 years
5. Non-Hispanic white males, aged 10-13 years
6. Hispanic males, aged 10-13 years
7. African American males, 14 years or older and processed as adult transfer
8. Non-Hispanic white males, 14 years or older and processed as adult transfer
9. Hispanic males, 14 years or older and processed as adult transfer
10. African American males, 14 years or older and processed as a juvenile
11. Non-Hispanic white males, 14 years or older and processed as a juvenile
12. Hispanic white males, 14 years or older and processed as a juvenile
13. Other race/ethnicity

Detainees were eligible to be sampled regardless of their psychiatric morbidity, state of drug or alcohol intoxication, or fitness to stand trial. Within each stratum, the project used a random-numbers table to select names from Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center's intake log. The final sampling fractions for the stratum ranged from 0.018 to 0.689.

Universe View help for Universe

Male and female juvenile detainees, ages 10 to 18, at intake to the Cook County (IL) Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (CCJTDC) between November 20, 1995 and June 14, 1998.

Unit(s) of Observation View help for Unit(s) of Observation

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Mode of Data Collection View help for Mode of Data Collection

Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables

At all follow-up interviews, the researchers asked participants about:

• firearm use (recent use, age of first use);
• access to firearms (current ownership, firearm in household, ease of obtaining a firearm, membership in a gang that carries firearms);
• perpetration of firearm violence (firing a firearm or showing a firearm in a threatening manner; age at first perpetration, perpetration since last interview);
• and victimization (gunshot injury; threatened with a weapon).

Response Rates View help for Response Rates

Of the 2,275 names selected at Baseline, 4.2 percent (34 youth and 62 parents or guardians) refused to participate. There were no significant differences in refusal rates by sex, race/ethnicity, or age. Some youth processed as adults (automatic transfers) were counseled by their lawyers to refuse participation; in this stratum, the refusal rate was 7.1 percent (26 of 368 youth). Twenty-seven youth left the detention center before the researchers could schedule an interview; 312 were not interviewed because they left while the researchers were locating their caretakers for consent. Eleven others were excluded: 9 participants who became physically ill during the interview and could not finish it, 1 participant who was too cognitively impaired to be interviewed, and 1 participant who seemed to be lying. The final sample size for the baseline interview was 1,829.

Unlike most longitudinal studies, the researchers retained and reinterviewed all participants, even if they were incarcerated at follow-up. For the researchers' most recent completed wave (16 years after detention), they interviewed 81.6 percent of participants still living at the time of their follow-up. They retained 80.1 percent of males and 84.4 percent of females; more African Americans were retained (86.3 percent) than non-Hispanic whites (73.6 percent) and Hispanics (77.7 percent).

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Original Release Date View help for Original Release Date

2020-07-29

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Weight View help for Weight

Some strata were over-sampled to obtain enough information on key subgroups (e.g., females, Hispanics). Sampling weights are provided in the Main dataset, as well as sampling weights adjusted for nonresponse (e.g., withdrew, died) at follow-up (also see the User's Guide).

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