Citation

Franco Agudelo S. Int. J. Health Serv. 1992; 22(2): 365-376.

Affiliation

Pan American Health Organization, Bogotá, Colombia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1992, Baywood Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

1601553

Abstract

This article presents a discussion on violence in its historical and cultural contexts while emphasizing its essential relationship to the exercise of force in the interest of power under conditions of inequality. Violence is not merely the bodily or psychological harm that is caused, or the instance of its materialization; it is a process that includes its origins, the conditions that allow it to happen, its different forms of expression, and its individual and collective consequences. Every violent process that becomes concretized or becomes the norm constitutes an interference in the vital human process in its various instantiations: it threatens life, alters health, produces disease, and presents death as a reality or an immediate possibility. Different forms of violence are analyzed: violence that impairs health (torture, disappearances, rape, child abuse, elderly abuse) and violence that kills (suicide, homicide, war). Recent data show that the problem of violence is increasing and pervades in everyday life. This paper also analyzes the impact of the increasing trend of violence on health institution particularly in health services, training institutions and agencies responsible for orienting and financing these institutions. In conclusion, the health institution is presented not just as a victim of violence, but as an agent as well. Modifications within the health sector are needed in the approach, attitude, and behavior towards violence.

Language: en