Abstract for: How violence begets violence: Seeking systemic solutions to the persistent transmission of community violence where you live

Interpersonal violence is often addressed individually, despite systemic factors influencing community violence patterns. Health systems frequently overlook neighborhood-level causes, leading to individual-focused interventions. This study aims to identify key systemic causal factors that individuals living in high-violence neighborhoods seek to change through social action. Our goal is to uncover novel system-level public health intervention targets, using causal loop diagrams to understand violence transmission from community advocates' perspectives. This study employs system dynamics qualitative mapping to explore violence transmission dynamics through lived experiences. We conducted a total of 22 interviews with 11 adult community advocates from a major health system in a high-poverty, high-violence northeastern city. We identify central concepts, variables, and feedback loops from 6 of the 11 interviewees, developing and refining individual causal loop diagrams. These diagrams are then synthesized to identify key feedback loops and stocks for potential system-level interventions. Preliminary findings from initial interviews reveal novel systemic factors influencing violence transmission and interruption. For instance, honesty about bias in history taught in a neighborhood’s public school emerged as a significant factor. We are developing individual causal loop diagrams from these insights, with a preliminary summary CLD based on six interviewees prepared for the conference. These findings highlight community-identified systemic drivers beyond individual-level issues. This study innovatively applies system dynamics to explore community system-level interventions for violence, moving beyond an interpersonal problem framework. By identifying novel systemic factors at the neighborhood level, our approach aims to improve response options when violence exposures are persistently perceived by residents who are also community advocates. This work provides novel perspectives on how communities can leverage their own systems to foster health and well-being when facing persistent community violence.