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Abstract
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Intentional violence is a leading cause of mortality among teenagers and young adults. Whereas violence-related mortality is fairly well recognized among medical practitioners, the literature contains little information regarding violence-related morbidity or medically oriented approaches to preventing violence. Violence-related morbidity data for adolescents from one community revealed that 50% of the male respondents experienced at least one pushing or shoving fight per year, and that by age 16 25% had already been threatened by a weapon. These findings provided the impetus to incorporate regular violence counseling into the routine health care maintenance of adolescents at one health center. Our approach to violence-prevention counseling, obtaining a history of violence, and devising a treatment plan is described and advocated.
VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The article by Stringham and Weitzman addressed the growing rate of intentional violence among teenagers and young adults. The authors offered a violence-prevention counseling plan to treat violence as any other medical concern.
METHODOLOGY:
A non-experimental review of the literature was conducted. The literature consisted of information and statistics from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and a study from the East Boston Health Center. The authors advocated for the implementation of a community based violence prevention program.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
Older teenagers and young adults were the only age group in the United States that had rising mortality rates. Intentional violence was the principal contributor to mortality in these age groups. Homicide was the third leading cause of death among 15-24 year-old males in the United States. The public health community has acknowledged that violence is a major health problem among young adults and adolescents. However, the pediatric and adolescent health care communities have not become extensively involved in violence-related concerns of youth. Also, the literature was lacking in directives about the prevention of adolescent violence. Little data existed concerning how often physicians were faced with the problem of violence in their patients. Physicians did not possess any strategies for investigating or treating violence, in addition to a general lack of evidence that demonstrated the effectiveness of any medically provided interventions. The authors discussed a survey research study that was conducted in a largely white, working class high school in Boston during the 1982-83 school year. Fifty percent of the males experienced at least one pushing or shoving fight per year. Also, by age 16, 25% had already been threatened with a gun or a knife.
AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS:
Although these findings were not supported by empirical data, the authors believed violence could best be prevented by going into the community and educating parents and youth on violence prevention tactics and strategies. They believed clinicians may be quite influential in this area by treating violence as a legitimate medical concern among their patients. Incorporating violence counseling into primary care allowed practitioners to address and begin treating violence as any other medical concern would be treated. Clinicians were helpful in advocating for community and social strategies to reduce violence the authors believed that a school based curricula for teaching nonviolent coping strategies should be encouraged. Violence should be treated as a legitimate medial concern, comparable to the way in which clinicians address more traditional medical issues.
(CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
N1 - Call Number: F-680, AB-680
KW - Juvenile Violence
KW - Public Health Services
KW - Juvenile Offender
KW - Violence Prevention
KW - Public Health Approach
KW - Prevention Recommendations
KW - Violence Treatment
KW - Offender Treatment
KW - Child Violence
KW - Child Offender
KW - Child Treatment
KW - Juvenile Treatment
KW - Adult Offender
KW - Adult Treatment
KW - Adult Violence
KW - Treatment Recommendations
Language: en |