The economic dimension of interpersonal violence

Department of Injuries and Violence Prevention, World Health Organization 2004
Available online as PDF file [70p.] at: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2004/9241591609.pdf
“………Interpersonal violence is defined to include violence between family members and intimate partners and violence between acquaintances and strangers that is not intended to further the aims of any formally defined group or cause. Self-directed violence, war, state-sponsored violence and other collective violence are specifically excluded from these definitions.
This report, based on an extensive review of peer reviewed articles and published and unpublished reports, treats the following themes:
· The economic effects of interpersonal violence in a variety of socioeconomic and cultural settings.
· The economic effects of interventions intended to reduce interpersonal violence.
· The effects of economic conditions and policies on interpersonal violence - with particular reference to poverty, structural adjustment, income equality and social investment.
Many of the studies detailing the costs of violence are from the USA where child abuse results in $94 billion in annual costs to the economy - 1.0% of the gross domestic product. Direct medical treatment costs per abused child have been calculated by different studies to range from $13 781 to $42 518. Intimate partner violence costs the USA economy $12.6 billion on an annual basis - 0.1% of the gross domestic product - compared to 1.6% of the gross domestic product in Nicaragua and 2.0% of the gross domestic product in Chile. Gun violence - which includes suicides - has alone been calculated at $155 billion annually in the USA, with lifetime medical treatment costs per victim ranging from $37 000 to $42 000.

The approaches taken to several key methodological issues differed substantially across the studies reviewed. Studies documenting the economic effects of interpersonal violence have used a broad range of categories of costs. Those estimating indirect costs - including the opportunity cost of time, lost productivity and reduced quality of life - provided higher cost estimates than studies that limited the costs of violence to direct costs alone. Other key methodological issues included the economic values assigned to human life, lost productive time and psychological distress. The rate at which future costs and benefits are discounted, in accounting terms, also varied across studies.

Given the wide range of methodological differences and extensive gaps in the existing literature on the economics of interpersonal violence, there is a clear need for systematic future research into the costs of violence. Such research should follow rigorous methodological guidelines, be inclusive of both direct and indirect cost categories, and - perhaps most importantly - be comparable across countries and settings. ….”

This reference was originated from the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO/WHO, is part of an effort to disseminate information Related to: Equity; Health inequality; Socioeconomic inequality in health; Socioeconomic health differentials; Gender; Violence; Poverty; Health Economics; Health Legislation; Ethnicity; Ethics;
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