ICD PhD student authors MinnPost column on mental health effects of crime

ICD PhD 3rd year student Bria Gresham recently published an opinion piece in MinnPost’s Community Voices feature titled “It was a night like any other: A victim-oriented approach to crime in Minneapolis”. She shared the experiences of her husband, whose car was stolen and who was robbed at gunpoint while delivering pizzas within the span of a few months last year, and the impacts it had on her family. 

Gresham focused on how the current responses to crime—primarily incarceration and policing—do little to address the mental and physical health impacts on victims. 

“Additionally, a system that emphasizes punishment rather than prevention does nothing to alleviate the mental health burden placed on those exposed to crime,” Gresham wrote. 

Gresham’s research focuses on the effects of and precursors to adverse childhood experiences, particularly in those taking place within the community context. Her current research emphasizes social and structural determinants of health inequities, including health effects of crime exposure. She is a predoctoral trainee in the Minnesota Population Center’s Population Studies program. 

With this lens, Gresham asks us to “consider a victim-oriented alternative” and consider implementing crime prevention efforts that aim to “improve community conditions or boost individual resources, thereby preventing crime and re-offending.” 

To read the full piece, click here.