“If Not Us, Then Who?”: Frontline Social Workers’ Perspectives on Gun Violence

Purpose: Social work research on preventing gun violence has been sparse and little is known about how much practitioners discuss guns with clients. Method: Frontline social workers were recruited purposively from the western region of New York state in the United States. This qualitative study used inductive content analysis of focus group and interview transcripts with 27 social workers to explore whether and how they discuss gun violence and safety with clients, their training history, perceived barriers to discussing gun violence, and their view of their role in addressing gun violence. Results: Most participants had minimal training, but wanted more. Conversations with clients were generally limited. Social workers’ personal opinions and experiences weighed heavily; however, they stressed the importance of engaging with clients neutrally. Conclusions: Social work needs to develop and test trainings that could provide practitioners with information and skills needed to effectively prevent gun violence.