Factors Associated with an Offender Using a Firearm during a Crime

Literature Review: Key Variables and Concepts – Outline

 Instructions for literature review: Focus on articles published in the past 5 years. If you find a study that everyone else seems to cite that is older than 5 years, it is probably a seminal article and probably can be included in your literature review.

 Below, I have listed the factors you will examine using your research questions, and these are the factors that you focus on in your literature search.  I have grouped them more according to the way you might find them in psych literature. These will be the factors that you focus on in your literature review. I suggest that for each factor, you research the literature to find original studies that have examined the relationship: 1) between the factor and an offender’s use of a firearm during a crime, and if no research comes up, 2) between the factor and any use of a firearm, and if you still come up empty, 3) between the factor and any act of aggression.

Knowing how these factors have been defined in your database, please feel free to adjust the way the factor is worded to search for psych articles. As you find articles, you may end up re-organizing the way factors are grouped according to the research that has been done.

Also, as you conduct your literature review, if you find articles focused on factors that you haven’t listed here that are associated with either an offender’s use of a firearm during a crime, anyone’s use of a firearm or aggression in general, be sure to include these in your literature review too.

 Outline of topics for your literature search (continues onto the second page):

 Demographic Variables

Age

Gender

Ethnicity

Other demographic variables

1. Legal Issues/Previous arrests or previous behavior

Previously carrying a weapon

Runaways

Threats against others

Fighting

Juvenile Justice/Conduct Disorder history

Other legal issues/previous behavior problems

III. Deviant peers

IV Dysfunctional families

Domestic abuse incidents

1. Mental illness

Diagnosis

Inpatient at psychiatric facility

Threats or acts of self harm

1. Narcotics/substance abuse/alcohol abuse