Three Decades of Epidemic Black Gun Homicide Victimization in Toronto: Analyzing Causes and Consequences of a Criminological Approach

This dissertation analyzes Black gun violence and homicide victimization in Toronto from a health equity and critical race perspective rather than prevailing criminological theories. Young Black men in Toronto are estimated to be five times more likely to become victims of homicidal violence (Gartner & Thompson, 2004). Utilizing a publication-based dissertation format, the first manuscript (Chapter 2) highlights a declining public safety of young Black men over three decades and questions why this phenomenon is not regarded as a public health crisis. It identifies some key public health considerationsrelated to violence prevention, early intervention, and treatment. The theoretical framework (Chapter 3) contextualizes core assumptions of criminological theories with striking inequities across key social determinants of health, significant intersectionalities, and persistent patterns of systemic racism. The second manuscript (Chapter 4) applies a Critical Race Theoretical (CRT) framework to the available literature. CRT highlights the ongoing relevance of systemic racism to the current framing of Black gun-violence by the media, education, and criminal justice system. The third manuscript (Chapter 5) explores potential pathways from experiencing structural violence to the increased risk of homicide victimization. The implementation of the politically motivated War on Drugs compounds risks and vulnerabilities associated with the key determinants of socioeconomic status -- especially because of over-policing and excessive incarceration. The fourth manuscript (Chapter 6) argues that the War on Drugs (WOD) approach has strengthened systemic anti-Black racism across key sectors of society. The fifth manuscript (Chapter 7) analyzes an 11-year period (2004-2014) and finds Black homicide rates to be highest in neighbourhoods with intersecting socioeconomic disadvantage and a high proportion of Black residents. However, neighbourhoods of less socioeconomic disadvantage with smaller proportions of Black residents also have some of the highest Black homicide rates -- probably due to racial stigmatization. The sixth and final manuscript (Chapter 8) describes dominant public stigmatizations, as well as health promotion potential in Afrocentric resiliency building. The chapter elucidates how public racial stigmatization drives and sustains Black homicide victimization (BHV) through self-stigmatization. Afrocentrism provides an alternative narrative with which to counter dominant deficit narratives and engender agency in individuals and communities.