Three Decades of Epidemic Black Gun Homicide Victimization in Toronto: Analyzing Causes and Consequences of a Criminological Approach
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THREE DECADES OF EPIDEMIC BLACK GUN HOMICIDE VICTIMIZATION IN TORONTO: ANALYZING CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF A CRIMINOLOGICAL APPROACH AKWATU ALLEYNE KHENTI A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN HEALTH YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO March 2018 © Akwatu Khenti, 2018 ii ABSTRACT Violence involving the deliberate use of physical force or power (threatened or actual), between individuals or directed toward a community or group, can lead to injury, death, and mental and/or psychological harm (World Health Organization, 2010). According to one estimate, young Black men in Toronto are five times more likely to be victims of homicidal violence than the majority population (Gartner & Thompson, 2004). Whether young Black Toronto males have similar disproportions in injury, mental and/or psychological harm is indeterminate at this time due to the lack of relevant race based data. Utilizing a publication-based dissertation format, the first manuscript (Chapter 2) highlights the 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 considerations—related to violence prevention, early intervention, and treatment. To gain perspective on the sources of this phenomenon, 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 not worked to either reduce iii illicit drug use, or gun violence associated with the drug trade, largely because intersections of neighbourhood poverty and systemic racism have remained peripheral to the various public responses. The WOD has instead strengthened systemic anti-Black racism across key sectors of society. The fifth manuscript (Chapter 7) analyzes an 11-year period (2004-2014) and provides evidence of a violence epidemic that properly extends over three decades. It 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. BHV refers to the violence-inflicted deaths of persons socially perceived, and racialized, as Blacks in circumstances usually involving guns (Thompson, 2014). Self-stigmatization becomes much more likely to emerge as vulnerable persons adopt stigmatizing attributes as elements of their self-concept. Afrocentrism provides an alternative narrative with which to counter dominant deficit narratives and engender agency in individuals and communities. Social policy failure, explored in in chapter 9, is the logical conclusion given the evidence of the steady increase of drug use and gun violence over the 11-year study period. I recommend a strategy of fostering Black social cohesions and resiliencies whilst striving to improve society’s social welfare supports, implementing anti-racism policies and programs, and ensuring harm reduction policies and programming are readily available. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I want to thank my family, especially my children Adisa and Tina (daughter in law), Riya, Raile, Akil, and Asa, for the patience they have extended to me over the past few years. My grandson Aidan has also been a source of inspiration during his first crucial year with his warm reception to my periodic visits. My parents, Philip and Yvonne Alleyne, remain the firm foundations of the academic and social justice endeavours throughout my life. My sister Sharon, and cousins Annmarie(s), Annette, Selwyn, as well as their partners, have been supportive throughout this journey. My partner throughout this journey, Victoria Yebuga, has contributed a great deal to the tenacity needed to reach the finish line. This Ph.D. in the Health Policy & Equity program owes a great deal to the patience and unswerving support of my supervisors Dr. Dennis Raphael and Dr. Farah Ahmad. They have addressed all my questions with the utmost seriousness and facilitated my personal and academic growth through these past years. The committee members Dr. Raphael, Dr. Marina Morrow, and Dr. Charmaine Williams have all lent their incredible expertise and wide- ranging experiences to this academic project and I will be forever grateful for their enduring patience and profound feedback. Finally, a note of thanks to CAMH colleagues who supported me through this academic endeavor, especially Gail Czukar and Dr. Jürgen Rehm; as well as expressed appreciation for the faculty in the Health Policy & Equity program, particularly Domenica Lam and Collette Murray, for their administrative support throughout my time in graduate school. Finally yet importantly, a thank you also to my Ph.D. defense committee members, including Dr. Catherine Chalin and Dr. Pablo Idahosa. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract .................................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................. iv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION: THREE DECADES OF EPIDEMIC BLACK GUN HOMICIDE VICTIMIZATION IN TORONTO 1.1 Background and Context ................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Outline ............................................................................................................................. 4 1.3 References ....................................................................................................................... 7 Transitional Content ............................................................................................................ 13 CHAPTER 2: HOMICIDE AMONG YOUNG BLACK MEN IN TORONTO: AN UNRECOGNIZED PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS? 2.1 Abstract .......................................................................................................................... 15 2.2 Potential Sources of the Crisis ....................................................................................... 17 2.3 Experiencing Concentrated Poverty .............................................................................. 18 2.4 Over-Policed and Under-Supported .............................................................................. 19 2.5 Negative Educational Experiences ................................................................................ 20 2.6 Identity Confusion ......................................................................................................... 21 2.7 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 21 2.8 References ..................................................................................................................... 23 2.9 Résumé .......................................................................................................................... 25 Transitional Content ............................................................................................................ 26 CHAPTER 3: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 3.1 Contextualizing Criminological Explanations............................................................... 29 3.1.1 The Importance of Critical Race Theory .................................................................... 30 3.1.2 The Role of History .................................................................................................... 31 3.1.3 Deconstructing Media, Education, and Criminal Justice ........................................... 32 3.2 The Criminological Perspectives ................................................................................... 36 3.2.1 Social Disorganization Theory ................................................................................... 37 3.2.1.1 Background ........................................................................................................................ 37 3.2.1.2 Relevance to Toronto........................................................................................................ 38 3.2.1.3 Contradictions of Social Inequality ...............................................................................