Violence is the use of physical, verbal and/or emotional force to injure, harm, abuse, damage or destroy. While violence can be self-inflicted, community violence occurs outside the home between people who or may not know each other.
Violence is frequently described through homicide statistics. While homicide is a leading cause of death, especially among 15–34-year-olds, and captures the most severe form of violence, non-fatal violence-related injuries are much more common and help paint the larger picture on the burden of violence and its impact on the health and future of individuals, families, and communities.
Violence disproportionately affects groups oppressed because of their socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, geographic location, or some combination of these factors. Its persistent and inequitable contributions to morbidity and premature mortality in NYC make it a public health priority, and firearms as a source of interpersonal violence have a direct impact on premature death. The implications of community violence on impacted communities include long-term psychological trauma, reduced economic opportunities, deteriorated social cohesion, and increased healthcare costs.
To understand what drives violence, it is important to look at the context and systems within which it occurs and consider the negative impact that historic practices (e.g., redlining) and ongoing social structures (e.g., institutional racism) have on affected groups and communities. Social Determinants of health are conditions people may be born into or fall into over the course of their lives. SDH contribute to violence and convey messages about which groups and communities are deprived of resources and which are privileged by them. Some examples of SDH that contribute to violence include:
- Poverty and presence of employment opportunities
- Access to affordable housing
- Access to quality education, and educational attainment
- Quality of the built environment
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s has invested in the Violence Prevention Initiative (VPI) to address the challenges of community violence by seeking to strengthen neighborhoods disproportionally burdened by it. VPI is rooted in principles of health equity in which everyone should have the opportunity to realize their full health potential. VPI values a multi-strategy, community-centered, and trauma-informed approach to reduce risk factors that contribute to violence. VPI highlights the SDHs that contribute to the violence in disinvested communities, prioritizes solutions that help address behavioral and structural barriers, and works across systems and communities to reinvest in neighborhoods most affected by violence.
