The UTC Graduate School is pleased to announce that Katlyn Whittenburg will present Master's research titled, Click, Click, Boom: A Multi-Level Analysis of Repeat Firearm Offending in Chattanooga, Tennessee on 02/19/2024 at 9:00am in 540 McCallie Room 461. Everyone is invited to attend. 

Criminal Justice

Chair: Rick Dierenfeldt

Co-Chair: 

Abstract:

Criminologists have long noted the exacerbated rates of firearm-related offending in the United States in comparison to other developed nations. There has been a renewed focus on gun crime in the wake of a recent dramatic reversal of the long-trending decrease in firearm-related violence. Although they provide valuable insights, explorations of the factors that contribute to firearm offending are often restricted to large metro areas like Chicago, New York City, and Philadelphia—which may have limited generalizability to more common small and medium sized cities in the United States. This study attempts to address this concern through examination of the factors that contribute to firearm re-offending among arrestees in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Specifically, multi-level analysis is used to explore the relative influence of neighborhood conditions, arrestee demographics, gang involvement, and offense characteristics on the odds of repeat firearm offending among a sample of individuals arrested for gun crimes committed between 1/1/21 and 4/30/23 (n = 937).