Midterm 2 Flashcards
Violence and Health
Violence is an integral aspect of life for all whether experienced directly or not
- We are all impacted by war and related crimes
- Sexualized violence is endemic in Western cultures
- Mass rape of women and girls is a well-documented weapon of war.
- Violence is a complex social and public health problem that is strongly associated with the distribution of social + structural determinants of health
- related to historical and contemporary patterns of thought, perspective, attitudes and behaviours
- Deep roots in cultural, political, and economic contexts
What is Violance?
WHO defines violence as:
“The intentional use of physical force or power against yourself, another person, or a group or community”
- violence can be threatened or actual
- Can result in or is likely to result in injury, or death.
- The word power and phrase “use of physical force” are included to expand the conventional understanding psychological harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation
- Can include threats and intimidation
Role of CHN (Violence)
- Unique position
- Public policy
- Capacity building across disciplines and sectors
- Violence prevention
- Evidence-based strategies
Family Violence
- Any form of abuse or neglect that a child or adult experiences from a family member or someone with whom they have an intimate relationship
- Some of it is against the law
Many terms with similar meanings:
- Domestic Violence
- Intimate Partner Violence
-> Dating Violence
-> Violence Against Women
-> Gender-BasedViolence
- Child Abuse
-> Child Maltreatment or neglect
- Elder Abuse
-> Neglect
Who Is The Most At Risk of Violence?
- Women + Children
- First Nations, Inuit, and Metis people
- People with disabilities
- People who identify as 2SLGBTQIA+
- Family violence affects Canadians in all types of families and relationships - no matter how old they are, where they live, or how much money, education or type of job they have
- It can affect people of every race, religion, and sexual orientation
Who can be involved in violence?
Can happen between anyone in a family or close intimate relationship in opposite and same-sex relationships
Examples:
o Child abuse, neglect, and childhood exposure to intimate partner violence
o Elder abuse and neglect
o Early and forced marriage and “honour” related violence
o Female genital mutilation
Family Violence Based on police reports and population surveys in Canada
- Estimated over 323,000 Canadians were victims of violent crimes where the perpetrators were family members
- 2/3 of victims of intimate partner violence (IPV), and family-related homicide are women
- 1⁄3 Canadians report having experienced abuse before the age of 15
Statistics: Youth and Children According to Statistics Canada
In 2016, approx. 54900 children and youth lived with:
- family violence (age 17 and younger)
- Approx. 16200 (30%) were victims of family violence perpetrated by a parent, sibling, spouse or other family member
- Majority (59%) of children and youth were abused by their parents
- From 2011-2016 rates of family-related sexual assault against children remained 4-5 times higher among female victims
- Children with physical or mental disability were at an even greater threat of experiencing physical and psychological abuse + sexual abuse
Statistics: Older Adults According to Statistics Canada (2018)
- More than 10300 seniors (age65+) were victims of police-reported violence crime in Canada
- 58% were women which was 19% higher than older adult men
- Overall, older adult victims were likely to have been victimized by their child (32%), spouse (27%), or other family member (29%)
Micro aggression
Associated with ageism, genderism, heterosexism, sexism, and racism are also common forms of violence
- For example: LGBT youth experience verbal homophobic abuse that is often preceded by physical abuse
- For example: In Canada, the violence of genocide, including cultural genocide against First Nations, Inuit, and Metis people is a well-documented form of violence that impacts Indigenous people and the country
The Cost of Violence
- Lifelong ill health
- Early death
- Costs the health, criminal justice, social and welfare, and economic sectors billons of
dollars per year - ACE Pyramid
ACE Study
- Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) study is one of the largest investigations of childhood abuse and neglect + household challenges and later-life health and well-being
- Conducted from 1995-1997 in two waves
- Over 17 000 people from southern California completed confidential surveys
- Data collection remains ongoing
- ACE events are categorized into three groups: abuse, neglect, household challenges
- Participant demographics are available by age, gender, race, and education
How to Use the ACE Study
- Anticipate and recognize current risk for ACEs in children and history of ACEs in adults
- Refer patients for effective support
- Link adults to family-centred treatment approaches that include substance abuse
treatments and parenting interventions - Employers can adopt and support family-friendly policies like paid family leave and flexible schedules
- Communities can improve access to childcare by expanding eligibility, activities offered, and family involvement
Root Cause of Societal Violence
- Approaching from a structural perspective enables us to think about the role of systemic processes and how they create violence.
- Violence is framed and organized by health care systems , legal systems, and other societal institutions
- We don’t see the root cause of violence because they are hidden below the surface in systemic structures
- Systemic oppressions include heterosexism, racism, and sexism are all examples of these structures
- Systemic oppression is a broad term describing systemic injustice that intersect and impede peoples aspirations, progression, and quality of life
Privilege happens in those with power
- Examples of privilege include: white privilege, settler privilege, heterosexual privilege, male privilege, and class privilege
- These are some of the underlying structures that create and sustain the many forms of violence
- Privilege gives people/groups access to unearned power more than others
- It is very difficult to see for some people
White privilege
- Finding children’s books that overwhelmingly present caucasian race
- Learning about caucasian race in school curriculum
- Media biased towards caucasian race (humanizing white killers while dehumanizing people of colour)
Heterosexual privilege
- Not being identified or labeled - politically, socially, economically, or otherwise by your sexual orientation
- No one questions the “normality” of your sexuality or believes it was “caused” by psychological trauma, sin, or abuse
- Not having fear that family/friends/coworkers will find out about your sexual orientation, and it will have negative consequences
- Can walk in public holding your partners hand/hug/kiss infant of others without disapproval, comments, laughter, harassment or threats of violence
- Can easily find a religious community that will welcome both you and your partner
Settler privilege
- Not being forcefully relocated to a different area
- Not being denied the right to vote on decisions affecting land owned by your ancestors for a millennia (FN people didn’t have the right to vote federally until 1960)
- Being able to access clean drinking water in your community
- Having your medical concerns listened to in hospital
- Knowing that if a member of your family went missing, an effort would be made to find them
Male privilege
- Being less likely to be interrupted when you’re speaking
- People automatically assume you know what you’re talking about
- Social norms allow you to take up more physical space
- You can buy clothes with functional pockets at better prices
- You’re less likely to experience IPV, stalked, or be a victim of revenge porn
Class privilege
- Buying what you want without worry
- Knowing people of similar class background by exclusively frequenting places people gather (school, clubs, workplace)
- Being in control of how you spend your time
- Can live where you choose, and move when/ where you choose + expect to be welcomed
- Believed to be innocent by the criminal justice system at least until proven guilty
Role of the CHN (Societal Violence)
- need to focus on tackling the root, or structural, systemic cause of violence and inequities
- It’s important to re-frame vulnerable people as people under threat
- The language of vulnerability implies that an individual/community is somehow more prone to experiencing health inequities. Similar to saying someone might be prone to catching a cold
- Pivotal role in violence prevention
- Screening and early detection of violence
- Prevention at all levels
- Expanded collaboration across sectors
- Work with community partners to intervene at all levels of health prevention and promotion
- Data to support strategies can be hard to find with respect to violence, due to the reliance on individual reports
People, Poverty, Power Model (3P)
- Provides an overarching way for CHN’s to understand and intervene
- Enables CHN’s to act for social change
- Addresses violence and its economic, psychological, spiritual, and physical health impacts
- This model demonstrates that violence involves more than individual behaviour
- The model is a result of direct interaction between oppressive societal structures and social conditions ie. poverty
- How people perceive power imbalances informs how they see their value and position in the world
- Central to this model is trauma, poverty, power, violence, and people
People, Poverty, Power Model - Trauma
- Results from people’s cumulative stressful experiences
- It is different from stress, trauma is long-term, and has greater physiological, psychological, and spiritual impact
- Makes people more sensitive to perceived risk
- Different kinds of trauma intersect and can compound
People, Poverty, Power Model - Poverty
- Central to experiences of community violence
- Related to factors and conditions usually found in poor neighbourhoods
- Directly + indirectly linked to structural oppression
- Power + poverty are supporting foundations of peoples trauma
- Can also experience social poverty as a result of inequities like lack of social support, connection, community support, access to culturally safe care