“Findings from a 2023 Chicagoland social work study provide new education and leadership implications for social work practice and research. The study found that while community gun violence is widespread and was firmly believed to be a social justice issue, the scope of the social work profession’s education, knowledge, training, and involvement in this issue is nascent. Thus, we are joined in the belief that profession should begin to further invest in and contribute to the literature on the topic, evidence-based trauma interventions specific to survivors and widespread prevention efforts.

New insights have been brought forward for the social work profession at large, for social work professionals within Chicagoland, and for those who have survived community gun violence or those who may be conceived as being at the highest risk of being impacted by it. As the city that led the nation in the development of the field, the social work profession runs deep and wide in Chicago. It is not a stretch to say that social work is in Chicago’s blood. Chicago is also the city that leads in media headlines, as its residents continue to bleed out, in the pervasive violence and trauma that are gun violence tragedies. Given the limited information on this topic in social work literature, it comes without surprise, that Chicagoland social workers are interested in uplifting this issue as a rather important one for the profession at large to become more aware of, interested in, and more prepared to face. Thus, the profession should also begin to further invest in and contribute to the literature on the topic. ”