Economic ffects of interventions to reduce interpersonal violence

AuthorViorina Maria Judeu
PositionAssist. AGORA University
Pages45-54
45
ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF INTERVENTIONS TO REDUCE
INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE
Assist. Viorina Maria Berde
AGORA University
Abstract:
Violence is defined as: "The intentional use of physical force or power,
threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or
community that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury,
death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation" 11
This definition explicitly includes psychological harm and deprivation
among the effects of violence, with corresponding implications for calculation of
the economic effects of violence. While there is general agreement that
psychological distress is an important component of the economic burden of
violence, most studies have not quantified it in calculating the economic effects of
violence. Among those that have, there is little agreement in the methodologies
used.
This document defines interpersonal violence to include violence between
family members and intimates, and violence between acquaintances and strangers
that is not intended to further the aims of any formally defined group or cause.
Within the broad category of interpersonal violence, family and partner violence
includes child abuse, intimate partner violence and elder abuse. Acquaintance and
stranger violence includes stranger rape or sexual assault, youth violence, violence
occurring during property crimes and violence in institutional settings such as
schools, workplaces and nursing homes. Self directed violence, war, state-
sponsored violence and other collective violence are specifically excluded from
these definitions.
To assess the economic dimensions of interpersonal violence, it is necessary
to understand the causes and identify the factors that increase the likelihood of
people becoming victims and perpetrators of such violence. No single factor can
explain why one individual, community or society is more or less likely to
experience interpersonal violence. Instead, the Report showed that interpersonal
violence is a complex phenomenon rooted in the interaction of many factors
ranging from the biological to the political. To capture this complexity, there was
adopted an ecological model that organizes the risk factors for interpersonal
violence into four interacting levels: the individual level, relationships, community
contexts and societal factors.
11 Ola W. Barnett, Cindy Miller-Perrin, Violence in Family, Harvey Publishing House, London
2002, p.34-36

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