Associate Professor In-Residence, School of Public Policy | Associate Director, UConn Center for Advancing, Research, Methods, and Scholarship in Gun Injury Prevention (ARMS)
Hartford CT UNITED STATES
Jennifer Dineen is a survey methodologist who focuses on stakeholder attitudes as mechanism for intervention uptake and policy change.
Earlier this week, UConn's Jennifer Dineen co-authored an opinion piece in Vital City where she shared a very candid expert perspective on gun violence and how too often it is only portrayed or explained from the point of view and experience of a male observer.
She shares how topics like intimate partner violence, a lack of data on gun ownership by women, and the risks that pregnant women face are at best overlooked and too often simply ignored.
Jennifer Dineen is a survey methodologist who focuses on stakeholder attitudes as mechanism for intervention uptake and policy change. She is an associate professor in-residence on fellowship in the Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy (InCHIP) at the University of Connecticut and associate director of UConn’s Center for Advancing Research, Methods, and Scholarship (ARMS) in Gun Violence Prevention. View her profile Men are more likely victims and perpetrators of firearm injury, and men are most likely firearm owners. And so we often consider gun violence a mostly male problem. Mostly, but not only — and the way guns shape women’s lives often falls away from the conversation altogether. This issue of Vital City attempts to serve as a corrective. We ask readers to consider the unique impact and ways that women interact with or are harmed by firearms and to then consider solutions. Though American women’s firearm injury and death rates are lower than American men’s, they are much higher than women’s in other countries. And women are increasingly owners of guns, at rates that would’ve been highly surprising a generation ago. When we start to see guns through women’s eyes, the policy conversation changes. It changes the strategy considerations for preventing violence and for educating gun owners. The articles in this issue try to explain what we know about women and firearms and the knowledge gaps that still hinder our understanding. Our goal is to spark future research and data collection and to highlight what policymakers can do now as well as ultimately, finding well-tailored interventions that reduce adverse outcomes (like fear, injury and death) and promote positive outcomes (like safer firearm ownership, health and well-being). Women’s relationship with firearms is distinct from men’s Let’s begin with how women are harmed by weapons. If the classic picture of a male homicide or injury victim is a young man, shot by a stranger, what’s a female gun homicide or injury victim? Far too often, it’s someone targeted by her intimate partner. And, far too often, it’s someone pregnant. In a surprising number of cases, victims are older women. Which is not to say that women don’t get involved in street violence, both on the receiving and the giving end; they do. How women are harmed by guns Women most commonly are injured or killed by guns used by an intimate partner in the context of domestic violence. The presence of a firearm in an abusive household increases the risk of intimate partner homicide fivefold. While homicide is the worst outcome, firearms may also be used in an abusive relationship to exert coercive control; thus their presence changes the threat calculus even when never fired. Further, when women are harmed, it’s often in their own homes, which, as Erdal Tekin and Michael Ulrich detail in their articles, has implications for the interpretation of legal doctrine — a doctrine built on threats outside of the home. Homicide — primarily by firearm — leads to more maternal death (defined as the death of those who are pregnant or have recently given birth) in the U.S. than hemorrhage, hypertension and infection. Stated differently, expectant and new mothers are in greater danger from bullets than biology. Lynn Addington points out that, while there is an age gradient, women over the age of 50 are still at risk of intimate partner homicide (which may also involve the shooter dying by suicide). Finally, women may suffer from firearms due to their caregiver roles. Nelba Márquez-Greene and Zirui Song document that when children and other family members are shot, it is disproportionately women — mothers, sisters, daughters — who absorb the psychological and economic fallout. The full piece is attached above and is a must-read article for anyone interested in this important topic.
And, if you're a journalist looking to know more about violence prevention, gun violence, and how it impacts women in America, then we can help.
Jennifer Dineen is available to speak with media about this topic, simply click on her profile now to arrange an interview today.
Biography
Jennifer Necci Dineen is currently an associate professor in-residence on fellowship in the Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy (InCHIP) at the University of Connecticut. She is associate director of UConn’s Center for Advancing Research, Methods, and Scholarship (ARMS) in Gun Violence Prevention. Dineen is a survey methodologist whose research focuses on stakeholder attitudes as mechanism for intervention uptake and policy change. She also has expertise in understanding how stakeholders interact with political institutions in the policy process. Dineen works on interdisciplinary research teams in the areas of gun violence prevention and school-based mental and behavioral health policy and practice.
Areas of Expertise
Gun Violence Prevention
Gun Injury Prevention
Education Policy
Political Attitudes and Behavior
Qualitative Research Methods
Survey Methodology
Public Policy
Education
University of Connecticut
Ph.D.
Political Science (American Politics, Survey Methods)
A controversial handgun crackdown is coming in California
USA Today online
2025-10-15
The move in California comes as a number of Democratic-led states are looking for their own solutions to the problem of illegal machine gun conversion devices, turning to lawsuits and pondering their own anti-Glock measures in the absence of the company taking steps to thwart the switch devices, said Jennifer Dineen, a professor at the University of Connecticut and member of the Rockefeller Institute of Government’s Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium.
"California is the first to be successful here," Dineen said. "It's a state taking action when a manufacturer does not take action."
Illinois Considers Unusual Approach to Gun Regulations
Governing online
2025-09-29
The bill “really is the first of its kind,” says Jennifer Dineen, associate director of University of Connecticut’s Center for Advancing Research, Methods, and Scholarship (ARMS) in Gun Violence Prevention, and member of the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium.
If the law passes, manufacturers would be unable to operate in Illinois without obtaining the to-be-created state license, and retailers could only sell Illinois consumers guns from licensed manufacturers. This would be enforced with hefty fines for violations — manufacturers could face up to $1 million in fines per month.
Should gun makers and dealers be held responsible for crimes? CT bill would make it so
Hartford Courant print
2025-03-14
Dr. Jennifer Dineen, associate director of UConn’s ARMS Center for Gun Injury Prevention, testified in favor, calling HB 7042 “a crucial step in incentivizing responsible control over the use and transfer of firearms and related products.
“History has shown that industry liability is an effective tool for improving health and safety outcomes for products that, through negligence, accident, or misuse, can cause harm. Even when manufacturers do not voluntarily enhance safety measures, evidence demonstrates that litigation can drive improvements,” she said.
Firearms bill spark fireworks in Judiciary Committee
CT Inside Investigator online
2025-03-13
“History has shown that industry liability is an effective tool for improving health and safety outcomes for products that, through negligence, accidents or misuse, can cause harm,” said Dineen. “Even when manufacturers do not voluntarily enhance safety measures, evidence demonstrates that litigation can drive improvements.”
Dineen cited the Ford Pinto as one such example; sold in the 70’s, the car became notable for its faulty gas tank that was liable to start fires. Dineen said that Ford recalled and revised the vehicle only after facing litigation. Dineen stated that while it is too early to come to definitive conclusions, other states that have recently passed similar bills, such as New York, which passed its own version in 2021, have issued studies claiming “that the crimes that they were targeting with this bill decreased significantly.”
Acknowledging gun violence as a public health issue could be part of the solution
Where We Live Podcast online
2024-09-06
Today, we talk about the intersection of gun violence and public health and the push to view gun violence as a public health issue. We’ll hear from Dr. Jennifer Dineen. Associate Director of the Arms Center for Gun Injury Prevention at UConn.
After another year with COVID and gun violence, teachers are struggling
Disrupted Podcast online
2024-09-06
This week, we talk about how teachers, parents, and students are holding up after a year of violence, COVID-19 and mental health struggles. And later, we'll hear from a political scientist who’s leading a new research center at UCONN, looking at solutions to gun violence.
Ten years after Obama, Biden brings gun safety message back to Connecticut as activists work to build a movement
Hearst Connecticut Media print
2023-06-15
Though she agreed that “an entire movement has grown” in the last 10 years, Jennifer Dineen, associate professor in residence in the Department of Public Policy at UConn, said “the opposing movement has also grown.”
There has been some state-level movement. Connecticut, notably, has passed several pieces of gun reform legislation since Sandy Hook. This year, Gov. Ned Lamont signed a law banning most kinds of open carrying of firearms in public. Concealed carry is allowed with a permit.
Report: Connecticut sees a rise in gun crimes post-pandemic; too soon to say if it's a new trend
Journal Inquirer print
2023-06-11
Jennifer Dineen, a public policy professor at the University of Connecticut, noted that the drop in gun-related crimes during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic was likely due to the high number of people staying home to avoid exposure to the novel coronavirus.
Dineen, who is also the associate director of UConn's Center for Advancing Research, Methods, and Scholarship (ARMS) in Gun Violence Prevention, said that it will take some time to determine whether the recent spike is an ongoing trend.
Should Gun Safety Be On Your Doctor’s Check List? Researchers Want To Know Why It Isn’t
Connecticut Health I-Team online
2022-07-15
A new study by two University of Connecticut researchers aims to find out why doctors aren’t routinely addressing this serious public health problem.
“We looked at why they don’t include firearm security or safety conversations as part of what we call anticipatory guidance,” said Jennifer Necci Dineen, an associate professor in residence at the School of Public Policy at the University of Connecticut, referring to when doctors ask about things like cancer screenings and whether a patient uses a seatbelt.
UConn researchers want to know why gun safety is not on every doctor’s check list
Hartford Courant print
2022-07-16
Dineen and co-researcher Kerri Raissian, an associate professor, did a qualitative survey of 18 family physicians in 18 states, including Connecticut. Most physicians surveyed did not ask about gun safety as a primary question but were apt to bring it up if another answer prompted the inquiry.
“If I screen in for depression, for example, they may ask me if we have guns in our house,” Dineen said. “If I express concern about my partner or, let’s say, one of my children is violent, and I talk to my physician about that, they may ask me if I have guns in the house. But they rarely will bring that up proactively.”
Professor Jennifer Dineen, director of the graduate program in survey research at the University of Connecticut, pointed to the different realities part of Trump’s base and the rest of the country are seeing.
“We’re seeing some increased anxiety among the American public,” she said “What his base is still seeing is not quite the same threat level as others.”
The Pew Research poll indicates that 78 percent of Democrats and 52 percent of Republicans say the coronavirus is a major threat to the nation’s health. It reports that 71 percent of the more than 11,000 respondents said shutting most businesses, except grocery stores or pharmacies, is necessary.
Expanding the Definition of Firearm Exposure to Include Lifetime Prevalence
Society to Advance Violence and Injury Reduction Annual Meeting Denver, CO - 2023
Key Takeaways from a National Exploration of Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Screening Practices in U.S. Schools
44th Annual Conference of the International School Psychology Association Bologna, Italy - 2023
Advancing a Transformativist Approach to Development of Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Screeners
44th Annual Conference of the International School Psychology Association Bologna, Italy - 2023
Improving U.S. Teacher Comprehension of Intervention Fidelity Self-Report Measures through Cognitive Interviewing
44th Annual Conference of the International School Psychology Association Bologna, Italy - 2023
The Harms and Benefits Inventory: Findings from Waves 1 and 2
2nd Moving Beyond Implications: Research Into Policy Hartford, CT - 2024
Research Grants
Women and Firearms. A special issue for Vital City
Arnold Ventures
2025-2027
Harms and Benefits Inventory Wave
Arnold Ventures
2024-2025
Insurance as a Mechanism to Reduce Gun Violence Innovation Day
UConn ARMS
2024-2025
Gun Talk: Identifying the Facilitators and Barriers to Physician-Initiated Conversations Regarding Securing Firearms
Gun Violence Research Center (State of New Jersey)
2023
Cognitive Interviewing to Increase Comprehension of Fidelity Self-Report Measures: A Pilot Study
UConn Office of the Vice President for Research
2020-2024
Using Interviews to Learn What Physicians Can Tell Us about Facilitators and Barriers to Firearm Medical Screenings in Diverse Clinical Settings
UConn InCHIP
2020-2022
Articles
The Crisis We Fail to Name
Vital City
Kerri M. Raissian and Jennifer Dineen
2026-09-30
We invite you to imagine the problem of American firearm injury. What comes to mind? Which communities are the most affected? Who needs the most resources both to prevent and respond to American gun violence? Who owns America’s guns? Who is the most likely to be harmed?
If you’re familiar with firearm death in the United States, you may have had some of the following thoughts, and you wouldn’t have been wrong: The American firearm death rate (12.4 per 100,000 persons) is the highest of any developed country. About 35% of all gun deaths are homicides, 62% are suicides, and 3% are a mix of deaths from mass shootings, from unintentional discharge, involving law enforcement or from undetermined circumstances. And in most of these cases, the hand on the trigger or the individual in the sights of the gun is a man.
Opinion: CT lawmakers, stop treating guns like a special case
CT Viewpoints
2025-04-04
Connecticut should adopt two critical bills. HB 7042 would end the extraordinary and dangerous level of legal protection firearms enjoy, and HB 7137 would ensure people who move to Connecticut from out of state are held to the same background standards as current Connecticut state residents.
Nationally and in Connecticut, the firearm industry is protected by the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), which shields manufacturers and dealers from liability, even when negligence results in injury or death. Firearms are also exempt from regulation by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, meaning no mandatory safety standards apply.
Breaking the Silence: The Role of Screening in Physician-Initiated Firearm Safety Conversations
Health Education & Behavior
2025
This article expands and investigates what physicians perceive as facilitators and barriers to initiating preventive health education, also called anticipatory guidance or medical education, around secure firearm storage in the home (safe storage) and outside the home (Emergency Risk Protection Orders [ERPO]).
On Sept. 4, the United States experienced its 45th school shooting of 2024, this time at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia. Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith called the shooting “pure evil” and reported the suspected shooter would be tried as an adult. Since then, the shooter’s father has also been charged.
A criminal justice response is vital, but it cannot be our only response. Gun laws need an overhaul. The failure to do so means that we will continue charging shooters and their families and attending the funerals of those senselessly killed. Laws are the role of government. Should elected officials fail to act (again), we think it is also fair to hold them responsible for the firearm violence killing our nation’s children.
What families need to know about how to safely store firearms at home
The Conversation
Kerri Raissian and Jennifer Necci Dineen
2024-03-08
For the past few years, guns have been identified as the leading cause of death for children in the United States.
There were 2,571 children age 1 to 17 who died in shootings in the U.S. in 2021, 68% more than the 1,531 that occurred in 2000.
To help reduce the number of firearm-related deaths and injuries among children, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona in January 2024 called upon school and district administrators to talk with parents and guardians about safe firearm storage practices.
The Harms and Benefits Inventory (HBI): Initial Validation of a Novel Assessment of Perceived Harms and Benefits of Firearm Policy and Practice
Injury Prevention
2024
Introduction Understanding gun owners’ perceptions of potential firearm policies’ harms and benefits is critical to successful policy development and implementation. We used national survey data to develop and validate a novel instrument, the Harms and Benefits Inventory (HBI), for policy-makers and advocates to better consider the citizen perspective.
Conversation starters: Understanding the facilitators and barriers to physician-initiated secure firearm storage conversations
Patient Education and Counseling
2024
Objective This paper aims to understand what general practice physicians (GPs) perceive as facilitators and barriers to initiating anticipatory guidance around firearm safety.
District Administrators Perspectives on Current and Ideal Approaches to Identify Approaches to Identifying Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Needs.
Frontiers in Education
2024
Introduction: Leadership support has been identified as a key facilitator to successful implementation of school-based initiatives. School leadership contributions to student academic success and school reform have been documented, but less work has focused on the effects of leadership on school mental health initiatives such as social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) screening. Few studies have investigated administrator knowledge and support for SEB screening or compared their current and ideal approaches to SEB screening, both of which are important to informing directions for implementation supports.
Gun Violence and Gun Policy in the United States: Understanding American Exceptionalism
The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
Kerri M. Raissian, Jennifer Necci Dineen, and Cassandra Crifasi
2023-06-20
America has both the highest gun death rate (12 per 100,000 persons) and the highest gun circulation rate (about 121 firearms in circulation for every 100 persons) of any developed country. Taken together, these statistics might lead one to assume that high gun death rates in America are all but a certain outcome. However, gun death rates vary substantially across America suggesting that a range of solutions to reduce gun death and injury exist. This transdisciplinary volume contains a novel collection of articles that overview the evolution of American gun policy, presents evidence on the efficacy of both policy and non-policy interventions, and provides insight on where we go from here given American culture, norms, and legal structures.
Because Gun Violence Requires Social Science Solutions
Why Social Science?
Jennifer Necci Dineen, Kerri Raissian, and Cassandra Crifasi
2023-02-28
America’s gun death rate is unacceptably high – it is well beyond that of any other developed country. In 2020, there were 45,222 gun related deaths, with 24,264 (54%) of those being suicides and 20,958 (46%) being homicides. Within America, gun violence is the leading cause of death for children (defined as persons being under the age of 18), and it is among the top 5 causes of death of those under the age of 44. These staggering statistics are why many social scientists have labeled American gun violence a “public health crisis.”
Missouri Citizen Perceptions: Giving Second Amendment Preservation Legislation a Second Look
The Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics
2023
In June 2021, Missouri passed the “Second Amendment Preservation Act” (SAPA). Though SAPA passed easily and had gubernatorial support, many Missouri law enforcement agencies, including the Missouri Sheriff’s Association, oppose it. Missing from this policy conversation, and deserving of analysis, is the voice of Missouri citizens.
Good Guys With Guns May Be Heroes—But They’re Not Our Solution
Newsweek
Jennifer Necci Dineen and Kerri M. Raissian
2022-07-22
This past weekend, America experienced yet another mass shooting at Greenwood Park Mall in Indiana. Fortunately, an armed citizen was able to stop the shooter with his own, legally possessed gun. But his heroic success is rare, and while we applaud his courage and skill, "good guys" with guns can only (maybe) end future shootings. What we really need is to prevent them.
While it may ultimately be the case that "the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun," the truth is America's "good guys" have more guns than ever before, and sadly, they have not always stopped the shooter in time. The Texas House of Representatives preliminary report revealed that in Uvalde, Texas, 376 police waited to engage the active shooter for 77 minutes due to systemic failures and miscommunication. Such failures were also seen in Parkland, Fla. in 2018, when 17 students and staff were killed.
It’s time for COVID-19 disaster relief … for mothers
The Hill
Kerri M. Raissian and Jennifer Necci Dineen
2020-11-23
That next wave of COVID-19 is here and no place in the country seems safe from rapidly rising infection rates. While the effects of COVID will be felt in many social and economic sectors, the American family is about to be upended. As public schools from New York City to Denver to Los Angeles shift to remote learning, mothers are bracing for disaster.
Without necessary disaster relief, this is going to get increasingly and needlessly ugly. We must recognize that parents — and mothers in particular — are struggling to meet their dual employment and childcare responsibilities. Though many parents are juggling, women provide the majority of childcare — even in dual earner households. Women are leaving the labor force at higher rates than men simply because they can’t do it all.
