Fed: Violence needs to be treated as public health problem

AAP General News (Australia)
08-23-2000
Fed: Violence needs to be treated as public health problem

CANBERRA, Aug 23 AAP - Violence in the community should be treated as a public health
issue as much as a matter for the courts, a new study has found.

The Australian Institute of Criminology paper by David McDonald said violence had long
been recognised as one of the chief causes of early death, along with infectious disease.

Mr McDonald said public health policy aimed to protect, promote and restore people's
health and and it was not clear how it would include violence.

But he said the consequences of violence - physical and psychological injury - clearly
fell within the public health definition.

"This link has been recognised in the international community in recent years," he said.

"The initiatives of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and its related bodies have
been prominent.

"Like WHO, though in a more subdued manner, Australia has declared interpersonal violence
to be a public health issue."

Mr McDonald said the public health and criminal justice systems used differing approaches
to problems.

The public health approach involved defining the problem, identifying causes and risk
factors and developing and testing possible solutions.

Criminal justice involved retribution, deterring others from committing offences and
jailing and rehabilitating the offender.

Mr McDonald said the criminal justice system was interested in apportioning blame while
the public health system focused more on seeing the offender as a victim of circumstance.

"These ideologies may lead to quite different perceptions of the causes of violence
and the appropriate perceptions for preventing violence and dealing with violent people,"

he said.

"The key issue is that the various sectors need to complement each other and inter-relate
strategically."

AAP mb/daw/apm

KEYWORD: VIOLENCE

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