Public health, youth violence, and perpetrator well-being.

Abstract

Youth violence poses a significant public health issue due to its health antecedents (e.g. health inequalities, mental health issues, alcohol misuse) and consequences (i.e. physical and psychological morbidity, and mortality). While violence and its desistance have traditionally been the purview of the criminal justice system, the importance of a preventative public health approach has been increasingly acknowledged. The public health approach employs scientific methods, seeks to intervene at multiple levels (primary, secondary and tertiary), and advocates for the involvement of multidisciplinary stakeholders. This paper outlines the public health approach to youth violence; discusses examples of current public health research into youth violence prevention (i.e. school-based interventions, and gang interventions); and provides a brief review of the evidence regarding youth violence perpetrators and well-being, which suggests mixed outcomes (positive and negative) depending upon intentionality of violence, and congruency with group norms. The paper concludes by highlighting future research directions.PUBLIC HEALTH, VIOLENCE AND WELLBEING 3

Rethinking How We View Gang Members: An Examination into Affective, Behavioral, and Mental Health Predictors of UK Gang-Involved Youth

“…Responses to gangs have largely focused on strategies and policies that aim to deter and suppress gangs with policy-based interventions, such as injunctions being employed to separate known or perceived gang members (Wood et al, 2016). This retaliatory approach to tackling gang violence, in comparison to the much-needed public health and multi-agency approach adopted in parts of the United Kingdom, such as in Scotland (Deuchar and Ellis, 2013;Neville et al 2015), and more recently London (Mayor Office for Policing and Crime, 2018, 2019), has several implications. First, it fails to address the underlying risk factors of gang membership, including low self-esteem (Dmitrieva et al, 2014) and mental health difficulties, such as suicide and depression (Watkins and Melde, 2016), and which our findings support.…”

“…There is growing consensus that a public health approach should be adopted to address youth violence and this includes gang involvement (Gebo, 2016; Neville et al, 2015). The public health approach ‘takes a population-based approach and aims to improve the health and safety of the population’ (Neville et al, 2015: 323).…”

“…There is growing consensus that a public health approach should be adopted to address youth violence and this includes gang involvement (Gebo, 2016; Neville et al, 2015). The public health approach ‘takes a population-based approach and aims to improve the health and safety of the population’ (Neville et al, 2015: 323). The public health approach is based on a four-stage model, which states (1) ‘the problem’, (2) identifies the risk and protective factors associated with youth violence and/or gang involvement, (3) develops and evaluates responsive interventions at varying levels, and (4) implements successful programs (see Dahlberg and Krug, 2002).…”

An integrated public health and criminal justice approach to gangs: What can research tell us?

“…Gang members are significantly more likely to be victimized than non-gang members. Gang members have a host of subsequent problems, including mental health disorders and substance abuse, though it is unclear if these problems attracted them to gangs in the first place ( Neville et al, 2015 ). Regardless, these issues must be addressed to fully contain the problem and to rehabilitate the host.…”

“…Much of the literature linking public health and criminal justice to date has provided examples of promising collaborative approaches and programs ( Mercy et al, 1993 , Welsh et al, 2014 , Neville et al, 2015 ). Missing from these discussions is a grounded, integrated conceptual framework that specifically addresses gangs.…”