 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
James Gilligan, MD, President, Center for the Study of Violence and Adjunct Professor, New York University, Harvard University, 2620 Edgehill Rd, Cleveland Hts, OH 44106, 1-617-834-7551, jamesgilliganmd@worldnet.att.net
The US has had the highest homicide rates in the industrialized world for at least the past half-century, despite having increased its imprisonment rate to the highest level both in its history and in the entire world. Evidence that this approach, based on punishment and fear, only stimulates shame and humiliation, which in turn stimulates violence, led the San Francisco County Sheriff’s Department to launch an innovative alternative. This intensive and comprehensive jail-based violence-prevention program, the Resolve to Stop the Violence Project, emphasizes restorative rather than retributive or punitive justice, minimizes the psychological and sociocultural factors that cause violent crime, and maximizes the factors that prevent it, as demonstrated by the fact that it has led to a 100% reduction in “in-house” violence, and an 82% reduction in violent recidivism one year post-release. Punishment stimulates violence through the exertion of power, which serves as an example and as a stimulant of shame, which in turn makes exigent the individual’s perceived need for power. Fear is not effective in inducing nonviolent behavior because it creates or reinforces the hierarchical social structure of dominance and submission. Allaying fears that inmates have, of the guards and of each other, has been shown to diminish violent behavior substantially in the prison setting and following release. To be effective, programs must be multidimensional, addressing the multidetermined nature of violence; mindful of psychological and sociocultural dynamics, or the sources of violent behavior; and emphasize restoration over retribution, so as to prevent rather than stimulate violence.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Violence Prevention, Jails and Prisons
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
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.