CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 45Racial and Ethnic Identity ResearchHealth disparities and outcomesGun Ownership and Violence Research

Measuring Structural Racism and Its Association with Racial Disparities in Firearm Homicide

Open access
Siegel, Michael, Rieders, Madeline, Rieders, Hannah, Moumneh, Jinan, Asfour, Julia, Oh, Jinseo, Oh, Seungjin·2023·Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities
DOI 10.1007/s40615-022-01485-2PMC PMC9744051
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Structural racism is strongly related to racial health disparities. However, surprisingly few studies have developed empirical tools to measure structural racism. In addition, the few measures that have been employed have only considered structural racism at the neighborhood level. To expand upon previous studies, this paper uses a novel measure to measure structural racism at the county level for the non-Hispanic Black population. METHODS: We used confirmatory factor analysis to create a model to measure the latent construct of structural racism for 1181 US counties. The model included five indicators across five dimensions: racial segregation, incarceration, educational attainment, employment, and economic status/wealth. Structural equation modeling and factor analysis were used to generate factor scores that weighted the indicators in order to produce the best model fit. The resulting factor scores represented the level of structural racism in each county. We demonstrated the utility of this measure by demonstrating its strong correlation with Black-White disparities in firearm homicide rates. RESULTS: Our calculations revealed striking geographic differences across counties in the magnitude of structural racism, with the highest values generally being observed in the Midwest and Northeast. Structural racism was significantly associated with higher Black firearm homicide rates, lower White homicide rates, and a higher Black-White racial disparity in firearm homicide. CONCLUSIONS: These new measures can be utilized by researchers to relate structural racism to racial health disparities at the county level.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1007/s40615-022-01485-2

Cites

4 of 4 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • The data demonstrate the effects of long-standing structural racism on the epidemiology of firearm injuries.

    “Combined with the fact that the vast majority of firearm injuries in these urban areas were to Black males, the data demonstrate the effects of long-standing structural racism on the epidemiology of firearm injuries [9–11].”

    From Firearm injuries in Missouri (2023) · cites this paper as [9]

    The Discussion reports that county-level structural racism scores were associated with higher Black firearm homicide rates and greater Black–White disparities. That supports a relationship with firearm homicide, but the paper does not establish causal effects or address firearm injuries generally. Its Methods measure county-level homicide rates, not the urban injury patterns described in the citing sentence. Page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.87)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 28

  1. [1]Braveman P, Arkin E, Proctor D, Kauh T, Holm N. Systemic and structural racism: definitions, examples, health damages, and approaches to dismantling. Health Affairs. 2022;41(2):171–178. 10.1377/hlthaff.2021.01394. Accessed 23 July 2022. 35130057 · DOI · Paper page
  2. [3]Riley AR. Advancing the study of health inequality: fundamental systems of exposure. SSM Popul Health. 2020;10:100555. 10.1016/j.ssmph.2020.100555. Accessed 24 October 2022. PMC7029174 32099895 · DOI
  3. [4]Bailey ZD, Feldman JM, Bassett MT. How structural racism works—racist policies as a root cause of U.S. racial health inequities. N Engl J Med. 2021;384(8):768–773. 10.1056/NEJMms2025396. Accessed 24 October 2022. PMC11393777 33326717 · DOI · Paper page
  4. [5]Hardeman R, Homan P, Chantarat T, Davis B, Brown T. Improving the measurement of structural racism to achieve antiracist health policy. Health Affairs. 2022;41(2):179–186. 10.1377/hlthaff.2021.01489. Accessed 23 July 2022. PMC9680533 35130062 · DOI · Paper page
  5. [6]Jahn JL. Invited commentary: comparing approaches to measuring structural racism. Am J Epidemiol. 2021;191(4):548–551. 10.1093/aje/dwab261. Accessed 24 October 2022. PMC9630390 34718384 · DOI
  6. [7]Adkins-Jackson PB, Chantarat T, Bailey ZD, Ponce NA. Measuring structural racism: a guide for epidemiologists and other health researchers. Am J Epidemiol. 2021;191(4):539–547. 10.1093/aje/dwab239. Accessed 24 October 2022. PMC9077112 34564723 · DOI
  7. [8]Homan P, Brown TH, King B. Structural intersectionality as a new direction for health disparities research. J Health Soc Behav. 2021;62(3):350–370. 10.1177/00221465211032947. Accessed 24 October 2022. PMC8628816 34355603 · DOI
  8. [9]Chantarat T, Van Riper DC, Hardeman RR. The intricacy of structural racism measurement: a pilot development of a latent-class multidimensional measure. EClinicalMedicine. 2022;40:101092. 10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.101092. Accessed 24 October 2022. PMC8548924 34746713 · DOI
  9. [10]Chantarat T, Van Riper DC, Hardeman RR. Multidimensional structural racism predicts birth outcomes for Black and White Minnesotans. Health Serv Res. 2022;57(3):448–457. 10.1111/1475-6773.13976. Accessed 24 October 2022. PMC9108042 35468220 · DOI
  10. [11]Brown TH, Homan PA. Frontiers in measuring structural racism and its health effects. Health Serv Res. 2022;57(3):443–447. 10.1111/1475-6773.13978. Accessed 24 October 2022. PMC9108047 35468217 · DOI
  11. [12]Brown T, Homan P. Structural racism and health stratification in the U.S.: connecting theory to measurement. Published online March 20, 2022. 10.31235/osf.io/3eacp. Accessed 24 October 2022. · DOI
  12. [13]Riley AR. Neighborhood disadvantage, residential segregation, and beyond—lessons for studying structural racism and health. J Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. 2018;5:357–365. 10.1007/s40615-017-0378-5. Accessed 24 April 2022. 28573643 · DOI
  13. [14]Dean LT, Thorpe Jr. RJ. What structural racism is (or is not) and how to measure it: clarity for public health and medical researchers. Am J Epidemiol. 2022;191(9):1521–1526. 10.1093/aje/kwac112. Accessed 24 October 2022. PMC9437815 35792088 · DOI · Paper page
  14. [15]Neblett Jr. EW. Racism measurement and influences, variations on scientific racism, and a vision. Soc Sci Med. 2022;August 4:115247. 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115247. Accessed 24 October 2022. 36180279 · DOI
  15. [16]Groos M, Wallace M, Hardeman R. Measuring inequity: a systemic review of methods used to quantify structural racism. J Health Disparities Research and Practice. 2018;11(2):188–205. https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/jhdrp/vol11/iss2/13. Accessed 23 July 2022.
  16. [17]Alson JG, Robinson WR, Pittman L, Doll KM. Incorporating measures of structural racism into population studies of reproductive health in the United States: a narrative review. Health Equity. 2021;5.1:49–58. 10.1089/heq.2020.0081. Accessed 24 October 2022. PMC7929921 33681689 · DOI
  17. [18]Bailey ZD, Krieger N, Agénor M, Graves J, Kinos N, Bassett MT. Structural racism and health inequities in the USA: evidence and interventions. Lancet. 2017;389:1453–1463. 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30569-X. Accessed 24 October 2022. 28402827 · DOI · Paper page
  18. [19]Lukachko A, Hatzenbuehler ML, Keyes KM. Structural racism and myocardial infarction in the United States. Soc Sci Med. 2014;103:42–50. 10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.07.021. Accessed 23 July 2022. PMC4133127 24507909 · DOI
  19. [22]Chambers BD, Erausquin JT, Tanner AE, Nichols TR, Brown-Jeffy S. Testing the association between traditional and novel indicators of county-level structural racism and birth outcomes among Black and White women. J Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. 2018;5:966–977. 10.1007/s40615-017-0444-z. Accessed 24 October 2022. 29218496 · DOI
  20. [23]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;110(2):106–16. 10.1016/j.jnma.2017.12.002. Accessed 23 July 2022. 29580443 · DOI
  21. [24]Siegel M, Critchfield-Jain I, Boykin M, Owens A. Actual racial/ethnic disparities in COVID-19 mortality for the non-Hispanic black compared to non-Hispanic white population in 35 US states and their association with structural racism. J Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. 2021. 10.1007/s40615-021-01028-1. Accessed 23 July 2022. PMC8077854 33905110 · DOI
  22. [25]Siegel M, Critchfield-Jain I, Boykin M, Owens A, Muratore A, Nunn T, Oh J. Racial/ethnic disparities in state-level COVID-19 vaccination rates and their association with structural racism. J Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. 2021. 10.1007/s40615-021-01173-7. Accessed 23 July 2022. PMC8553106 34713336 · DOI
  23. [28]Krieger N Berkman LF Kawachi I Glymour MM Discrimination and health inequities Social epidemiology 2014 New York Oxford University Press 63 125
  24. [31]Feagin JR Structural racism: a theory of oppression 2006 New York Routledge
  25. [32]O’Brien R, Neman T, Seltzer N, Evans L, Venkataramani A. Structural racism, economic opportunity and racial health disparities: evidence from U.S. counties. SSM Popul Health. 2020;11:100564. 10.1016/j.ssmph.2020.100564. Accessed 24 October 2022. PMC7076092 32195315 · DOI
  26. [33]Massey DS Denton NA American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass 1993 Cambridge, MA Harvard University Press
  27. [35]Knopov A, Rothman EF, Cronin SW, Franklin L, Cansever A, Potter F, Mesic A, Sharma A, Xuan Z, Siegel M, Hemenway D. The role of racial residential segregation in Black-White disparities in firearm homicide at the state level in the United States, 1991–2015. J Natl Med Assoc. 2019;111(1):62–75. 10.1016/j.jnma.2018.06.002. Accessed 24 October 2022. 30129481 · DOI
  28. [45]Williams C. After lawsuit, Becker schools lifts ‘gag order’ on educators. Education Minnesota, August 24, 2022. https://educationminnesota.org/news/press-release/after-lawsuit-becker-schools-lifts-gag-order-on-educators/. Accessed 28 October 2022.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Siegel, M., Rieders, M., Rieders, H., Moumneh, J., Asfour, J., Oh, J., & Oh, S.
Affiliations
Tufts University (US)
Corresponding author
Siegel, Michael
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2022-12-12
Volume
10
Issue
6
Pages
3115-3130
ISSN
  • 2196-8837 (ISSN-L)
  • 2197-3792
DOI
10.1007/s40615-022-01485-2
PMC
PMC9744051
OpenAlex
W4311501335
Cited by
45
References
4
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 7
FWCI
14.39
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
Yale University
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Racial and Ethnic Identity Research
  • Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
  • Social Sciences › Health › Gun Ownership and Violence Research
Keywords
structural racism, racial disparities, firearm homicide, black-white disparities, racial segregation, incarceration, educational attainment, employment, economic status, non-Hispanic Black population, racial disparities in health
MeSH terms
Gun Violence, Systemic Racism, White, Black or African American, Firearms, Homicide, Humans, United States, Racial Groups

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review