Lived experiences of people impacted by gun violence: qualitative analysis of the prescriptions for repair project.

Background: Restorative justice interventions can help address the harm created by gun violence, although few restorative justice programs focus solely on survivors or loved ones of victims of gun violence. Our aim was to assess how gun violence impacts those injured by firearms through qualitative analysis of their lived experiences.

Methods: From August 2022 to October 2023, we operated a program entitled Prescriptions for Repair in Durham, North Carolina, USA, which was supported by community groups, public government, and academia. Through a series of structured listening sessions using a restorative justice framework, trained community-based facilitators helped 30 participants (11 survivors of gun violence and 19 loved ones of victims of gun violence) tell their stories through a non-judgmental narrative process. We conducted a qualitative thematic analysis of the listening sessions from 19 participants to define the major lessons learned from survivors of gun violence. We summarized participant responses into individual-level and community-level views on how to 'make things as right as possible'.

Results: The lived experiences of gun violence survivors and their loved ones confirmed the inherent value of structured listening programs, how poverty, race and racism impact gun violence, and the need to focus resources on children and youth.

Conclusions: Listening to the survivors of gun violence through restorative justice programs can help address the personal and community harm resulting from gun violence.

Level of evidence: Level IV, prospective observational study.