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Addressing the Crisis of Violence

NCJ Number
148068
Journal
Health Affairs Volume: 12 Issue: 4 Dated: special issue (Winter 1993) Pages: 30-45
Author(s)
D E Shalala
Date Published
1993
Length
16 pages
Annotation
The Secretary of Health and Human Services offers some public health-oriented thinking about the crisis of violence in America.
Abstract
Fundamentally, all citizens are involved in the culture of violence--not just perpetrators. An obvious type of cultural violence is the sheer volume of violent images shown through television and movies. An average American child watches some 8,000 murders and 100,000 acts of violence on TV before finishing elementary school. Perhaps due to an abundance of critical attention, the number of violent acts shown by the major networks during prime time decreased from 8.6 per hour in 1991 to 7.7 per hour in 1992. A more subtle type of violence that pervades the media is the stereotyping--racial, ethnic, and gender--that does violence to the soul. Federal policymakers are designing a multiagency approach to violence prevention that should go beyond mere law enforcement. Some components of Head Start and other youth development programs are reviewed, as are alternatives to institutionalization; gun reduction legislation such as the Brady Bill; an emphasis on preserving families; and research into the connection between drugs and violence. 19 references