Michael Siegel, Gun Violence Research.
Dr. Siegel is a professor at the BU School of Public Health. Prior to coming to Boston, he completed his residency in Preventive Medicine at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health and trained in epidemiology at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Siegel has developed a novel firearms research agenda. His major contributions include: (1) being the first to examine the relationship between gun ownership and stranger vs. non-stranger firearm and total homicide rates; (2) developing a new and improved proxy measure for state household gun ownership; and (3) developing a comprehensive state-level database of gun ownership, firearm violence rates, and more than 20 state-level control variables covering a three-decade period from 1981 through 2015. This is the most extensive and comprehensive database of its kind. He is also developing a database of state firearm laws covering all 50 states for the period 1991-2016. He is co-author of a book, entitled “Marketing Public Health: Strategies to Promote Social Change,” that grew out of his teaching experience at the School. He has been active in promoting smoke-free bar and restaurant policies throughout the country and has served as an expert witness in several major tobacco litigation cases.
The Relationship Between Structural Racism and Black-White Disparities in Fatal Police Shootings at the State Level
A study published in early 2018 led by Siegel finds that states with a greater degree of structural racism, particularly residential segregation, have tighter racial disparities in fatal police shootings of unarmed victims.
Published in the Journal of the National Medical Association, this is the first study to examine the relationship between structural racism and racial disparities in fatal police shootings at the state level. Even controlling for rates of arrest, the researchers found a strong association between the racial disparity in unarmed fatal police shootings and a range of structural racism indicators, with residential segregation showing the most pronounced association.
“The problem of police killings of unarmed Black victims should not be viewed merely as a problem of flawed action on the part of individual police officers, but more as a consequence of the broader problem of structural racism,” says senior author Michael Siegel, professor of community health sciences. “Unjustified homicide by police should be added to the long list of the public health consequences of societal racism.”
The study used combined data on fatal police shootings of victims not known to be armed from January 1, 2013 through June 30, 2017, obtained from the Mapping Police Violence Project database, the most reliable source of data on police shootings.
Additional research:
Collins T, Greenberg R, Siegel M, Xuan Z, Rothman EF, Cronin SW, Hemenway D. State Firearm Laws and Interstate Transfer of Guns in the USA, 2006-2016. J Urban Health. 2018 Apr 18. PMID: 29671188. READ AT: PubMed
Kalesan B, Zuo Y, Xuan Z, Siegel MB, Fagan J, Branas C, Galea S. A multi-decade joinpoint analysis of firearm injury severity. Trauma Surg Acute Care Open. 2018; 3(1):e000139. PMID: 29766128. READ AT: PubMed
Mesic A, Franklin L, Cansever A, Potter F, Sharma A, Knopov A, Siegel M. The Relationship Between Structural Racism and Black-White Disparities in Fatal Police Shootings at the State Level. J Natl Med Assoc. 2018 Apr; 110(2):106-116. PMID: 29580443. READ AT: PubMed
Siegel M, Xuan Z, Ross CS, Galea S, Kalesan B, Fleegler E, Goss KA. Easiness of Legal Access to Concealed Firearm Permits and Homicide Rates in the United States. Am J Public Health. 2017 Dec; 107(12):1923-1929. PMID: 29048964. READ AT: PubMed
Smith VM, Siegel M, Xuan Z, Ross CS, Galea S, Kalesan B, Fleegler E, Goss KA. Broadening the Perspective on Gun Violence: An Examination of the Firearms Industry, 1990-2015. Am J Prev Med. 2017 Jun 17. PMID: 28648260. READ AT: PubMed
Siegel M, Pahn M, Xuan Z, Ross CS, Galea S, Kalesan B, Fleegler E, Goss KA. Firearm-Related Laws in All 50 US States, 1991-2016. Am J Public Health. 2017 Jul; 107(7):1122-1129. PMID: 28520491. READ AT: PubMed
Kalesan B, Adhikarla C, Pressley JC, Fagan JA, Xuan Z, Siegel MB, Galea S. The Hidden Epidemic of Firearm Injury: Increasing Firearm Injury Rates During 2001-2013. Am J Epidemiol. 2017 Apr 01; 185(7):546-553. PMID: 28338922. READ AT: PubMed
Aaron DG, Siegel MB. Sponsorship of National Health Organizations by Two Major Soda Companies. Am J Prev Med. 2017 Jan; 52(1):20-30. PMID: 27745783. READ AT: PubMed
Naimi TS, Ross CS, Siegel MB, DeJong W, Jernigan DH. Amount of Televised Alcohol Advertising Exposure and the Quantity of Alcohol Consumed by Youth. J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2016 Sep; 77(5):723-9. PMID: 27588530. READ AT: PubMed
Siegel M, Rothman EF. Firearm Ownership and Suicide Rates Among US Men and Women, 1981-2013. Am J Public Health. 2016 Jul; 106(7):1316-22. PMID: 27196643. READ AT: PubMed
Siegel M, Galloway A, Ross CS, Binakonsky J, Jernigan DH. Jello Shot Consumption among Underage Youths in the United States. J Child Adolesc Subst Abuse. 2016; 25(3):188-193. PMID: 27087771. READ AT: PubMed
Kalesan B, Mobily ME, Vasan S, Siegel M, Galea S. The Role of Interpersonal Conflict as a Determinant of Firearm-Related Homicide-Suicides at Different Ages. J Interpers Violence. 2016 Feb 03. PMID: 26843182. READ AT: PubMed
Siegel M, Ross CS, Albers AB, DeJong W, King C, Naimi TS, Jernigan DH. The relationship between exposure to brand-specific alcohol advertising and brand-specific consumption among underage drinkers–United States, 2011-2012. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse. 2016; 42(1):4-14. PMID: 26479468. READ AT: PubMed
Siegel M, Ayers AJ, DeJong W, Naimi TS, Jernigan DH. Differences in alcohol brand consumption among underage youth by age, gender, and race/ethnicity – United States, 2012. J Subst Use. 2015 Nov 01; 20(6):430-438. PMID: 26557044. READ AT: PubMed