Public health has spent a substantial amount of time, energy, human and political capital "proving" that its' approaches to violence and abuse warrant government expenditures. Public health efforts often focus on demonstrating that their approaches are "scientifically" valid and may provide a more objective analysis of violence and abuse than other models. However, this presentation will argue that the predominant value of public health interventions is not in their "science based" approach. The conceptual argument proposed will be that public health approaches have the most value as a "countervailing force" to the expansion of the criminal justice system. Over the course of the last 30 years, acutely over the last 15 years, the criminal justice system has exploded. The criminal justice model has become the overwhelming policy option to address violence and abuse. The presentation will review the legislation in existence and passed in the past 3 decades to address violence and abuse: the growth in both criminal justice and public health expenditures in violence and abuse: the polarization caused by criminal justice approaches & racial disparities of and caused by the criminal justice.
Learning Objectives: 1. Understand the growth and utilization of criminal justice policies as the primary social response to violence and abuse. 2. Understand the recent growth and utilization of public health anti-violence policies. 3. Understand how the primary value of the public health model is as a "countervailing force" to the criminal justice system. 4. Understand a progressive/radical perspective that may result in both a decrease in violence and abuse and a decrease in growth of the criminal justice system.
Keywords: Violence, Criminal Justice
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.