HLT 91 Homework 3/Violence Prevention 10 points
After reading the notes and slides, please express your opinions on the 2 questions below. Write your answers in complete sentences.
Part 1: Having read the slides/notes on the Factors in US Violence, which 2 of these factors mentioned on slides 7 and 8, do you think are the most significant in contributing to violence in our country? Explain your answer. (5 pts)
Part 2: Having read the slides/notes on Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), why do you think someone in an abusive relationship doesn’t just leave? Explain your answer. (5 pts)
Week 4 Lecture Notes Violence Prevention
Slide 1—Title slide. In the past 2 weeks we talked about mental health and stress management. These topics can be linked to violence. In some cases, we know that someone who has been under extreme stress without seeking help can “snap” from too much pressure and act out aggressively towards others. Or having an untreated mental health disorder such as serious depression could cause someone to act out violently against themselves and commit suicide.
Slide 2--You might be wondering why we are talking about violence in a health class. The reason is that we realized back in 1985, that acts of violence are responsible for many cases of premature injuries and deaths in the US. At that point, experts in health began to keep track of the numbers of people who become victims of violence each year and began to try to figure out what we could do to prevent violence.
You can see the basic definition of violence at the top of the slide: “Violence is the use of force or the threat of force to inflict intentional injury (physical or psychological) on oneself or another.” Intentional means “on purpose”—so here someone is acting with the purpose of doing harm to oneself or to others.
Despite all that we hear on the news, violent crime has been quite low in most of the US in recent years. The FBI examined the data on violent crime in the US from 1993 through 2018 and reported a 51% drop (other criminal justice agencies put the decrease as high as 70%).
(Unfortunately, there has been an increase in some types of violence in recent months in many cities, including NYC, as I am sure you are already aware—gun violence leading to shootings and homicides have definitely been on the rise since the beginning of the pandemic. We will have to wait and see if this turns into a longer- term trend or is only temporary.)
Slide 3—Graph illustrating the decrease in crime from 1993—2018.
Slide 4—Adolescents and Young-Adults are those in the age group 15-24.
No one wants to think about dying at that age, yet it does happen. What are the 3 leading causes?
1. Unintentional injuries—these would be what most of us refer to as “accidents.” The most common on the list would be car accidents, but this also includes pedestrian accidents (being hit by a car), bicycle accidents, drownings, poisonings, falls, fires.
2. Suicides—this would be the 2nd leading cause of death in this age group—more on this ahead. Suicide is intentional harm against yourself.
3. Homicides—this is now the 3rd leading cause of death. Homicide is intentional harm against another person.
Notice that the leading causes of death in this age group are not the result of diseases. Adolescents and young adults are still mostly in good physical health early in life. They have not yet had years of poor lifestyle choices (such as a bad diet and too little exercise) to cause heart disease and cancers. So, the causes of death are very different than what we would see in slightly older adults.
Note: Until recently, homicide was #2 on the list. We have had a significant increase in the last couple of years in teen suicides that has resulted in its rise to the #2 position and dropping homicides into the #3 slot. As you saw in last week’s Discussion Board, some experts think this can be in part linked to the rise in social media use.
Slide 5—Let’s look at each of these 3 in more detail, starting with unintentional injuries.
Why are these so common in young people? Young people often do not think about the consequences of their actions—so they take more risks. They are not as experienced as older adults behind the wheel of a car or at activities such as swimming. They tend to be “magical thinkers”—they do not believe that anything bad can happen to them. And it probably will not surprise you to learn that males are more likely than females to be the victims of accidents. They tend to be more likely to engage in those riskier behaviors than females.
You can see on the slide when we
eak down unintentional injuries by type that nothing else comes close to traffic accidents. Drinking and driving, using other drugs when driving, speeding, distractions such as texting or other phone use, have all been linked to the increase in traffic accidents/deaths that we have been seeing in the past few years.
Slide 6—Suicides
Males commit suicide more often than females. However, females attempt suicide more often than males. (See the graph on suicide attempts on this slide.)
The difference is that males are more likely to succeed because of the method they use firearms/ guns. Females are less likely to succeed because they use less lethal methods such as wrist-cutting or overdosing on pills. Either of those 2 choices by females would
ing about death in a much slower manner, leaving time for them to change their mind and call 911 or a friend for help. Or someone else comes home and finds them unconscious and calls 911.
Is there a difference in the rates among different racial and ethnic groups? Yes, Native Americans are more than 2x more likely to die from suicide as other groups. And you can see on the graph that they also have much higher rates of suicide attempts. (Native Americans are also refe
ed to as American Indian/Alaskan Natives—you see that terminology on the graph).
Remember from week 1 that this is another example of a health disparity—a difference in a health condition or outcome based on race/ethnicity.
Slide 7 – What are some of the factors that contribute to violence?
Age, sex and race all play a role as you can see on this slide. Young men have long been the main perpetrators of violence, especially those under 25. It may be because males (as we mentioned earlier with accidents) are more likely to engage in risk-taking. Some also believe that the gender assumptions we have about males play a role. This notion that to be male is to be aggressive, dominant or “macho” still shapes our expectations of masculinity in some communities.
At the age of 25, many men are now beginning to settle down with families and career responsibilities and so their priorities shift. We see less violence in males over 25.
If males are the ones more likely to commit acts of violence, who is more likely to be a victim of violence, males or females? If your answer is “females,” you are probably watching too much TV. The answer is that males are most likely to be the victims of violent crimes. Most acts of violence are committed by men against other men.
Last, on this slide is the role of race. In the US, only 13% of the population is Black, yet 50% of the homicide victims are Black. (Yet another example of a health disparity.) And when it comes to young Black males, homicide is the 2nd leading cause of death (with suicide dropping to 3rd leading cause). This is probably not a surprise if you have been following the Black Lives Matter protests focusing on the use of force by the police against young Black males. Disproportionate numbers of Black men (and some women, like the recent case of Breonna Taylor) have been the victims of police—culminating in the murder of George Floyd in XXXXXXXXXXGang violence in inner cities also contributes to the high homicide rates in this group.
Slide 8-- Here are a few more contributing factors to violence:
Social determinants—those who grow up in low-income communities, with poor education (not graduating high school) and few job options are at greater risk for violence; the discrimination and systemic racism contribute to hate crimes
Family issues—those who grow up in unstable families where there is no consistent caring adult to turn to for support, or who grow up in families where there is drug use or a parent in prison, or have a parent struggling with job loss/ financial instability are at greater risk for violence
Mental health/substance abuse problems—those with these problems often do not act rationally and think through consequences and are at greater risk of violence; many homicides, suicides and assaults are committed with the perpetrator being under the influence of alcohol/drugs. (Please keep in mind that while mental health can be a contributing cause of violence—most of those who have a mental health diagnosis will never act out violently.)
Gun availability—those who have access to a gun are more likely to use it; compared to similar countries you can see that the US has a rate of homicides by guns that is 19 times higher; this is often thought to be because our gun laws are much more relaxed that in other countries. We also know that the rates of suicide are significantly higher in homes where a gun is available.
Media Influence—those who watch a lot of violent films, play violent video games, etc. may become somewhat “immune” to the effects of violence. This effect has been called “desensitization.” It means that we see so much violence as entertainment, when we see it in real life, it does not have much of an effect. (Again, most people who watch violent films or play violent video games never act out and commit an act of violence.)
Important note: No single factor explains why someone becomes violent—usually it is a combination of the factors that you see listed on slides 7 and 8.
Please watch the short video in this week’s folder that reviews some of these factors that increase the risk of violence and others that decrease the risk.
Slide 9--Hate Crimes
Definition: A hate crime is any crime against a person or property that is motivated by prejudice or bias based on race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, disability.
When an act of violence is ruled a hate crime, the penalties against the offender are increased. The reason is because these are crimes that do not just harm an individual.