🚫Causes and Prevention of Violence Unit 1 – Violence: Causes and Prevention

Key Concepts and Definitions

• Violence involves the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community
• Interpersonal violence occurs between individuals and includes forms such as intimate partner violence, child maltreatment, and elder abuse
• Collective violence is committed by larger groups of individuals and can be subdivided into social, political, and economic violence
  • Social violence includes crimes of hate committed by organized groups (terrorist attacks)
  • Political violence includes war and related violent conflicts
  • Economic violence includes attacks by larger groups motivated by economic gain (street gangs, cartels)
• Self-directed violence refers to violence in which the perpetrator and the victim are the same individual and is subdivided into self-abuse and suicide
• Risk factors are characteristics at the biological, psychological, family, community, or cultural level that precede and are associated with a higher likelihood of negative outcomes
• Protective factors are attributes or conditions that can moderate the negative effects of a risk factor and reduce the likelihood of negative outcomes

Types of Violence

• Physical violence involves the use of physical force to cause harm, injury, disability, or death (hitting, kicking, stabbing)
• Sexual violence includes any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, or other act directed against a person's sexuality using coercion
  • Coercion can cover a whole spectrum of degrees of force (physical force, psychological intimidation, blackmail)
• Emotional or psychological violence involves trauma to the victim caused by acts, threats of acts, or coercive tactics (humiliating the victim, controlling what the victim can and cannot do, withholding information from the victim, deliberately doing something to make the victim feel diminished or embarrassed)
• Neglect is the failure to provide for the development and well-being of those under one's care and can include both isolated incidents and a pattern of failure over time
• Intimate partner violence (IPV) refers to behavior by an intimate partner or ex-partner that causes physical, sexual, or psychological harm, including physical aggression, sexual coercion, psychological abuse, and controlling behaviors
• Community violence is exposure to intentional acts of interpersonal violence committed in public areas by individuals who are not intimately related to the victim (robbery, assault, shootings)
• Gun violence involves the use of firearms to threaten or inflict harm and can include homicide, suicide, and unintentional injury or death

Root Causes and Risk Factors

• Individual risk factors for violence include a history of violent victimization or perpetration, substance abuse, mental health problems, and certain demographic characteristics (young age, low income)
• Relationship risk factors include poor parenting practices, family dysfunction, associating with delinquent peers, and intimate partner violence
• Community risk factors encompass poverty, high crime levels, high residential mobility, high unemployment, and the existence of a local drug trade
• Societal risk factors can include rapid demographic changes, economic inequality, gender inequality, policies that create or sustain gaps between different segments of society, and cultural norms that support violence
• Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood (0-17 years) such as experiencing violence, abuse, or neglect; witnessing violence in the home; and having a family member attempt or die by suicide
  • ACEs are linked to chronic health problems, mental illness, and substance misuse in adulthood
• Structural violence refers to systematic ways in which social structures harm or otherwise disadvantage individuals, often creating the conditions for other types of violence to occur (discrimination, unequal access to goods and services)

Psychological and Social Theories

• Social learning theory suggests that violence is learned through observation, imitation, and reinforcement and that individuals learn aggressive behaviors by observing and imitating the behavior of others, especially influential role models
• Strain theory posits that individuals may turn to crime or violence when they are unable to achieve socially approved goals through legitimate channels due to societal strains or stressors (poverty, lack of education)
• Social disorganization theory proposes that crime and delinquency are more likely to occur in communities characterized by social disorganization, which is the inability of a community to realize the common values of its residents and maintain effective social controls
• Ecological systems theory views violence as the product of multiple, interacting levels of influence at the individual, relationship, community, and societal levels
  • This theory suggests that effective violence prevention requires understanding and addressing the complex interplay of factors across these different levels
• Psychodynamic theories focus on the role of unconscious thoughts, feelings, and motivations in shaping violent behavior and suggest that early childhood experiences and unresolved conflicts can contribute to later aggression
• Cognitive theories emphasize the role of mental processes such as perception, reasoning, and decision making in the perpetration of violence and propose that distorted or maladaptive thinking patterns can lead to aggressive behavior

Impact on Individuals and Society

• Physical health consequences of violence can include injuries, disability, chronic pain, gastrointestinal disorders, and sexually transmitted infections
• Mental health consequences may involve post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and suicidal behavior
• Violence can lead to reduced educational attainment and lower occupational status and income, perpetuating a cycle of disadvantage
• Exposure to violence in childhood is associated with a host of negative outcomes, including increased risk for perpetrating or experiencing violence later in life
• Intimate partner violence can result in physical injury, psychological trauma, unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, and homicide
• Community violence can contribute to decreased property values, disrupted social services, and reduced social cohesion and collective efficacy
• Societal costs of violence encompass increased healthcare expenditures, reduced productivity, and the allocation of resources to the criminal justice system and social services
  • The economic cost of violence in the United States has been estimated at over $70 billion annually

Prevention Strategies and Interventions

• Primary prevention aims to prevent violence before it occurs through strategies that address underlying risk factors and promote protective factors
  • Examples include early childhood home visitation programs, parenting skills training, and youth development programs
• Secondary prevention focuses on immediate responses to violence, such as emergency services or treatment for victims, to prevent further harm and reduce the short-term consequences
• Tertiary prevention involves long-term responses after violence has occurred to address the lasting consequences and prevent recurrence (rehabilitation programs for perpetrators)
• School-based violence prevention programs can teach students conflict resolution skills, promote positive social norms, and create a supportive school climate
• Community-based interventions engage multiple stakeholders to change the social and physical environment in ways that discourage crime and promote safety (improving street lighting, creating safe public spaces)
• Policy approaches to violence prevention can involve strengthening and enforcing laws and regulations, changing organizational practices, and shaping social norms to create a climate in which violence is less likely to occur
  • Examples include reducing access to firearms, promoting gender equality, and changing cultural norms that support violence

Case Studies and Real-World Examples

• The Cure Violence model treats violence as a contagious disease and employs violence interrupters and outreach workers to identify and mediate potentially violent conflicts in communities (Chicago)
• The Cardiff Model is a multi-agency approach to violence prevention that combines information from emergency departments with police data to identify violence hotspots and target interventions (Cardiff, Wales)
• The Green Dot bystander intervention program trains students to recognize situations that could lead to violence and intervene safely and effectively (implemented on college campuses)
• The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program is a comprehensive, school-based program designed to prevent or reduce bullying in elementary, middle, and high schools (implemented in schools worldwide)
• The Safe Dates program is a school-based curriculum that aims to prevent dating violence among adolescents through education and skill-building (implemented in the United States)
• The SASA! approach mobilizes communities to reassess gender norms and address power imbalances between women and men to prevent intimate partner violence (Uganda)

Current Trends and Future Directions

• There is growing recognition of the need for a public health approach to violence prevention that focuses on primary prevention and addresses the underlying social determinants of violence
• Trauma-informed approaches to violence prevention and intervention acknowledge the widespread impact of trauma and seek to avoid re-traumatization
• Restorative justice practices, which focus on repairing the harm caused by crime and violence, are increasingly being used as an alternative or complement to traditional criminal justice responses
• Technological innovations, such as mobile apps for reporting violence and social media campaigns to change social norms, are creating new opportunities for violence prevention
• There is increasing attention to the role of gender norms and inequality in perpetuating violence, particularly violence against women and girls
  • Programs that challenge harmful gender norms and promote gender equality are seen as key to preventing violence
• Collaborative, multi-sectoral approaches that engage diverse stakeholders (public health, education, criminal justice, social services) are recognized as essential for effective violence prevention
• Ongoing challenges include the need for more rigorous evaluation of violence prevention programs, the scaling up of effective interventions, and the securing of sustainable funding for prevention efforts