Repeat Victims of Violence

Abstract

Repeat victims of violence (violence victim recidivism) is a phenomenon known throughout the nation by those who work in hospital emergency departments. A level I trauma center in Baltimore, Md, conducted this study to investigate the postulated risk factors for repeat victims of violence, ie, unemployment, limited educational attainment, and involvement with illicit drug use or drug dealing. Design: A case-control study identified 200 cases and 224 controls during a 16-month period. Cases were persons admitted with traumatic injury secondary to violent assault who had been previously hospitalized for a similar reason. Controls were a random selection of eligible age-and sex-matched patients admitted for reasons unrelated to violent injury. Results: Prominent risk factors associated with recidivism were African American male, median age 31 years, unemployed, lacking medical insurance, annual income less than $10000, current drug user, past or present drug dealer, and a positive test for psychoactive substances on admission to the hospital. One hundred seventy-two (86%) of the cases felt that disrespect (called "dissing" in the local vernacular) was involved with their injury. Conclusions: The multiplicity of risk factors and the fact that they are interrelated mandate a comprehensive approach to the difficult problem of violence recidivism. Experiments in hospital-based intervention strategies are needed.

Understanding the service needs of assault-injured, drug-using youth presenting for care in an urban Emergency Department

“…19,22,25 Nonetheless, prior studies have been limited by: 1)the use of convenience samples; 2) the inclusion of only those with biological markers of substance use, alone; 3) interviewing patients long after the assault event took place; 4) the lack of use of diagnostic criteria for substance use/mental health disorders; 5) the lack of a non-injured comparison group of drug using youth. 26–33 Thus, the association between prior violence and other risky behaviors reported in previous studies might simply reflect the higher prevalence of these risky behaviors among youth seen in urban, socio-economically disadvantaged EDs for any reason. 34–36 …”

Effects of a Web-based Educational Module on Pediatric Emergency Medicine Physicians’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors Regarding Youth Violence

“…1 Youth presenting to the ED with injuries from violence have greatly increased risk for future violent injury and death. 2,3 Indeed, preventing further violence may be more critical than any immediate clinical care. 4,5 The American College of Emergency Physicians 6 and the American Association of Pediatrics 7 both have policy statements calling for improved identification, counseling, and referral of victims of violence.…”

Who Shot Ya? How Emergency Departments Can Collect Reliable Police Shooting Data

“…Many HVIPs collect data on the circumstances of injury; these data are of particular importance in identifying the risk factors for repeat violent injury because the data is used to develop effective violence intervention strategies. [28][29][30][31][32] Yet, to our knowledge, there are no studies on how HVIPs collect police-involved shooting data. Furthermore, the vast majority of studies on recording community violence by medical and police services have been conducted in the UK.…”