Ecologically-focused interventions have taken center stage in addressing a range of social problems. This book synthesizes the latest research and theoretical advances of these approaches to offer multiple urban green revitalization strategies for combatting gun violence that is primarily impacting African-American/Black, Asian-American, and Latinx urban communities across the nation. Solutions include the introduction of greenspaces (greening), conversion of distressed buildings and vacant lots, and other structural changes to a community. This resource provides readers with a centralized place to draw upon research findings and includes illustrative case studies. Current and future social workers and other helping professionals will be able to work more effectively with the communities of color they serve to bolster interventions and advocate against gun violence.

Melvin Delgado, MSW, PhD, is professor of social work at Boston University. He is the former chair of Macro Practice. He has over forty years of practice, research, and scholarship focused on urban population groups, specifically within the Latinx community. Delgado's research has addressed a variety of social issues and needs, and he has published over thirty books on urban community practice topics. He is currently the editor of the Oxford University book series on social justice and youth community practice. He is the author of Sanctuary Cities, Communities, and Organizations: A Nation at a Crossroads, Urban Youth Trauma: Using Community Intervention to Overcome Gun Violence, and many other books.