By Patrick Smith, WBEZ Chicago, October 11, 2021
Chicago’s plan to bring down its staggeringly high levels of gun violence leans hard on an anti-violence strategy known as street outreach.
The outreach workers, often former gang members, try to intervene in ongoing gang conflicts by convincing young men to put guns down, to forgo revenge. They have “lived experiences” that give them the perspective and reputation needed to gain entry into the groups driving the city’s gun violence.
Judy Moskowitz, a professor of medical social sciences at the Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, said most of the people doing the work have been exposed to extreme trauma. Many have been victims of violence or committed acts of violence themselves. They’ve lost friends and loved ones. On top of that, all of the workers experience “extreme stress” being exposed to trauma through the clients they work with day after day as they mediate disputes and respond to shootings.
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