‘It’s a deep emotional ride’ – 12 young people in Philly’s toughest neighborhoods explain how violence disrupts their physical and mental health

An interaction with police caused one young man’s heart rate to spike to 130 beats per minute, and it stay elevated for 30 minutes. Spencer Platt/Getty Images by Kalen Flynn, University of Pennsylvania In 2023, 410 people were murdered in Philadelphia – more than a quarter of them under age 25. In addition to the people who died, countless others lost loved ones and people they relied on. As a social scientist who studies different forms of violence and how they affect a person’s health, I know that the violence young people in Philadelphia experience is about more than shootings, homicides and physical injuries. Social science recognizes many different types of violence beyond the physical – for example, poverty, racism and negative interactions with police. Furthermore, violence can take a toll on one’s health even if the person is unaware of it. For example, I once interviewed a young man from West Philadelphia and tracked his heart rate. When a shooting occurred outside his living room window, his heart rate spiked suddenly from 51 beats per minute and hit 116. He had heard the gunshot, but it did not upset him. He felt he had been hardened to the violence...