Unforgiving Places
The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence
by Jens Ludwig
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Pub Date Apr 21 2025 | Archive Date Mar 20 2025
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Description
In 2007, economist Jens Ludwig moved to the South Side of Chicago to research two big questions: Why does gun violence happen, and is there anything we can do about it? Almost two decades later, the answers aren’t what he expected. Unforgiving Places is Ludwig’s revelatory portrait of gun violence in America’s most famously maligned city.
Disproving the popular narrative that shootings are the calculated acts of malicious or desperate people, Ludwig shows how most shootings actually grow out of a more fleeting source: interpersonal conflict, especially arguments. By examining why some arguments turn tragic while others don't, Ludwig shows gun violence to be more circumstantial—and more solvable—than our traditional approaches lead us to believe.
Drawing on decades of research and Ludwig’s immersive fieldwork in Chicago, including “countless hours spent in schools, parks, playgrounds, housing developments, courtrooms, jails, police stations, police cars, and lots and lots of McDonald'ses,” Unforgiving Places is a breakthrough work at the cutting edge of behavioral economics. As Ludwig shows, progress on gun violence doesn’t require America to solve every other social problem first; it only requires that we find ways to intervene in the places and the ten-minute windows where human behaviors predictably go haywire.
Advance Praise
"This book accomplishes an extremely rare feat: providing a new perspective on an old problem. And it does so for one of the biggest problems plaguing society: gun violence. It is a must-read for every person struggling to make sense of the violence around them."
-- Sendhil Mullainathan, MIT
“If you thought you understood the origins of gun violence, think again—this book might just be the key to saving millions of lives.”
-- Kathryn J. Edin, coauthor of The Injustice of Place: Uncovering the Legacy of Poverty in America
“An extraordinarily important book that challenges conventional wisdom about one of the most vexing problems in the United States: gun violence. Unforgiving Places is provocative, compelling, and essential.”
-- Melissa S. Kearney, author of The Two-Parent Privilege
“A brilliant, engaging, and highly accessible analysis of the causes of gun violence in the United States, enriched with real-world examples from Ludwig’s experience studying crime in Chicago. Unforgiving Places offers a promising foundation for finally making headway at reducing gun violence in America. It is a must-read for anyone worried about the level of gun violence in our country—and especially those motivated to actually reduce it.” -- Cecilia Elena Rouse, Princeton University
“On the list of challenges facing American cities, gun violence may be the most pressing. Unforgiving Places portrays the problem in deeply human and actionable terms. It is the most important book I’ve read on this quintessentially American challenge. Ludwig knows this work, and he knows what works." -- Michael Nutter, mayor of Philadelphia 2008-2016
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9780226828138 |
| PRICE | $27.50 (USD) |
| PAGES | 352 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Educator 1511420
Well-written and researched treatise on the true causes of gun violence. You may be surprised by the findings! Interesting comparison between US and other countries who have similar population sizes.
Jennifer J, Reviewer
This book was not what I expected. What I thought was going to be a book about how Americans are just unique to gun violence, because of more guns and high amounts of inequality.
However, the author quickly disabuses the reader of the usual scapegoats of inequality and the amount of the guns on the streets.
The author argues that its our reflexive, System 2 thinking. Its our knee jerk reaction to a situation that leads to gun violence. Gun violence is more of a crime of passion, then an economic risk, or anything else.
I loved all of the examples that the author laid out, how more cops do not necessarily mean less violence (the story of the grandmother in the wheelchair surrounded by cops, threatening people is branded in my memory).
Mr Ludwig provides examples of things that are working. Breaking the Cycle of Violence, learning how to talk and step back and think about what the situation is really happening, are all things that we need to teach the younger generation.
I liked that Mr. Ludwig just didn't say ok no more guns, or just give people money, no he looked at the behavior and the thinking patterns of people who shot/killed someone with a gun in Chicago to find the answer to Chicago's gun violence.
This book is for anyone interested in gun violence and how to combat it.
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