This chapter looks at how violence is a public health issue. Even as rates of violence from several causes have declined, the persistent prevalence of violence in people’s daily lives, both domestically and globally, should give people pause. In theory, violence is eminently preventable. Decreasing violence should therefore be a top priority in the broader pursuit of preventing disease and poor health. Yet violence continues to injure and kill worldwide. At the heart of this failure to prevent violence is the belief that violence is not a health issue. Overwhelmingly, people think of violence as a criminal justice problem, or a sociopolitical concern. This has resulted in the heavy-handed approach to incarceration, which has exacerbated racial divides in the United States and done little to prevent violence. Yet violence is a public health problem, with consequences both individual and collective. Some individuals who experience violence die; those who do not will go on to bear a physical or mental health burden that can last a lifetime. As such, solutions to violence must be rooted in a public health perspective. This means understanding how the context that shapes people’s health each day can raise the likelihood of violence.
Substance Use Among Women And Children In Afghanistan: The Complexities Of An Important Public Health Issue
