Engineering the firearm ecosystem
ll giorno giovedì 04 Febbraio 2021 alle ore 14.00, sulla piattaforma Microsoft Teams (apertura Team 13:50),
il Prof. Maurizio Porfiri, della New York University Tandon School of Engineering, New York, U.S.A.
terrà un Colloquium intitolato:
"Engineering the firearm ecosystem: research on media coverage and firearm acquisition in the aftermath of a mass shooting"
ABSTRACT
We are experiencing an unprecedented surge of mass shooting events in the U.S. These events often elicit heated discussion among the public, polarizing opinions on firearm control, as seen and amplified in the media. Previous studies have demonstrated a strong, positive correlation between the frequency of mass shootings and increased firearm prevalence in the U.S. We present an information-theoretic framework, which goes beyond correlational analysis to unravel causal links between mass shootings, media coverage on firearm control, and firearm prevalence. Using empirical data covering from 1999 to 2017, we demonstrate directional information transfer between the time-series of media coverage and the number of background checks, suggesting that media coverage may increase public fear of more stringent firearm control and, in turn, drive firearm prevalence. In other words, people might rush to buy guns because they fear that new regulations may come into effect and their right to acquire a weapon be challenged. Interestingly, this tendency is mediated by the legal environment of the State, whereby permissive States experience the strongest rush toward firearm acquisition. Disentangling causation from correlation is critical in firearm research toward empowering policy-makers with strong, objective support for effective policy solutions. This research, published in Nature Human Behavior and Patterns, constitutes the basis of a new initiative supported by the National Science Foundation to elucidate and engineer the firearm ecosystem in the U.S.
Per partecipare
Il Team è reperibile con il codice 2hvyhfx
Per qualsiasi dubbio o richiesta contattare gli organizzatori micol.benetti@unina.it e marco.coraggio@unina.it
Data:
04/02/2021