Intentional Injury: Are There No Solutions?

Abstract

Injury control has gained gradual acceptance as both a public policy concern and the focus of scholarly research during the last decade. Observers have noted the costs to American society of both intentional and unintentional injuries and have sought to identify preventive intervention strategies that can reduce their incidence and impact. Although many of these intervention efforts have just begun, researchers have been far more successful at identifying potential strategies for the prevention of unintentional than for intentional injury. Indeed, many observers have asked whether the majority of intentional injuries can be prevented at all. In this paper I examine the various problems associated with the prevention of intentional injuries such as homicide, assaultive violence, and suicide. Homicide among blacks is used to illustrate the variety of theoretical, ideological and practical concerns that must be confronted in efforts to successfully prevent intentionally induced injury.Proponents of efforts to designate injury, both intentional and unintentional, as a health concern have suggested that one result of such a designation will be the development of more effective strategies for the prevention of injuries.