Quote from C. Everett Coop Fast Facts Substance Abuse and Violence Images in the Media Youth Violence References Violence is defined as the use of force with the intent to harm either oneself or another person or group.(1) Homicide is a leading killer among young people, and African American youths are victims of violence at disproportionate rates compared with other racial and ethnic groups. Violence that is related to substance abuse is common and is often concentrated in poor and underserved communities.(2) "Violence is as much a public health issue for me and my successors in this country as smallpox, tuberculosis, and syphilis were for my predecessors in the last two centuries.”   -Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, M.D., August 1984(3) Fast Facts In the U.S., a third of all fatal injuries are accidental.(4) More than 20,000 people die from interpersonal violence, and more than 2.2 million more suffer nonfatal injuries in the U.S. each year.(4) It is estimated that between one-third and three-quarters of sexual assaults involve alcohol consumption by either the perpetrator, the victim, or both.(2) Homicide is the second leading cause of death among people ages 15 to 19.(5) Children and adolescents who move a lot, including children of immigrants or migrant workers, are considered high risk for developing violent behavior.(5) The effectiveness of parenting interventions on child violence  increases exponentially when children are very young, before antisocial or aggressive behaviors are fully developed. (6,7)   Back to Top  Substance Abuse and Violence The U.S. Department of Justice reports that 54 % of people convicted of violent crimes in state prisons had used alcohol just before the offense.(2)     Images in the Media George Gerbner, from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, carried out a study entitled “Violence and Drugs on Television: The Cultural Environment Approach to Prevention.” He found that women, young people, African Americans, and especially African American women, are disproportionately often portrayed as addiction prone compared with most other characters.  The portrayal of the fatal victimization of female alcoholics is nine times that of males.(2)   Youth Violence From 1990 to 1999, nearly 34,000 young people ages 18 and younger were victims of homicide.  That’s an average of about 9 youths killed each day in the 1990s.(5) Back to Top     Children using guns…(1)   9% of children in the U.S. have shot a gun   4% have carried a gun to school   50% have ready access to a gun … and guns killing children:(1)   Guns are the second leading cause of death among people between 3 and 10 years old in the U.S. Back to Top References 1.Rosenberg ML. Violence in America: an integrated approach to understanding and prevention. J Health Care Poor Underserved 1995;6(2):102-10; discussion 11-2. 2.Johnson EM, Belfer ML. Substance abuse and violence: cause and consequence. J Health Care Poor Underserved 1995;6(2):113-21; discussion 21-3. 3.Earls F. Understanding and controlling violence. J Health Care Poor Underserved 1991;2(1):156-64; discussion 65-6. 4.Friday JC. The psychological impact of violence in underserved communities. J Health Care Poor Underserved 1995;6(4):403-9. 5. Thornton TN, Craft CA, Dahlberg LL, Lynch BS, Baer K. Best Practices of Youth Violence Prevention: A Sourcebook for Community Action (Rev.). Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 2002. 6.Webster-Stratton C, Hancock L. “Training for Parents of Young Children with Conduct Problems: Content, Methods, and Therapeutic Processes.” In: Breismeister J, Schaefer CE, editors. Handbook of Parent Training: Parents as Co-Therapists for Children’s Behavioral Problems. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1998:98-152.  7.Webster-Stratton C, Spitzer A. “Parenting a Youing Child with Conduct Problems: New Insights Using Qualitative Methods.” In: Ollendick TH, Prinz RJ, editors. Advances in Clinical Child Psychology. New York: Plenum Publishers, 1996; 1-62. 8.Dahlberg L.L. “Youth violence in the United States: Major trends, risk factors, and prevention approaches.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine 1998;14(4):259-272. 9.Biglan A, Taylor TK. “Why we have been more successful at reducing tobacco use than violent crime.” American Journal of  Community Psychology 2000;28(3):269-302.        This research was supported by a National Library of Medicine (NLM) Publication Grant #5G08 LM07653-02 in support of the creation of a web site titled Factline: Tracking Health in Underserved Communities, www.factline.org. Saqi S. Maleque, MSPH, Researcher, Principal Investigator: Virginia Brennan, PhD.