Measuring the social and economic costs of violence can be difficult, and most estimates only consider direct economic effects, such as productivity loss or the use of health care services. Communities and societies feel the effects of violence through loss of social cohesion, financial divestment, and the increased burden on the healthcare and justice systems. Initial estimates show that early violence prevention intervention has economic benefits. The IOM Forum on Global Violence Prevention held a workshop to examine the successes and challenges of calculating direct and indirect costs of violence, as well as the potential cost-effectiveness of intervention.

Contents

• THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
• PLANNING COMMITTEE FOR WORKSHOP ON SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC COSTS OF VIOLENCE: THE VALUE OF PREVENTION
• FORUM ON GLOBAL VIOLENCE PREVENTION
• Reviewers
• 1. Introduction
  • ORGANIZATION OF THE REPORT
  • DEFINITIONS AND CONTEXT
  • ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  • REFERENCES
• Part I. Workshop Overview
  • 2. Approaches to Measurement and Costing Methodology
  • 3. Challenges in Calculating Costs
  • 4. Toward a Bigger Picture of the Costs of Violence
    • ENUMERATED COSTS
    • ESTIMATED COSTS
    • NEUROBIOLOGICAL EFFECTS AND LONG-TERM OUTCOMES OF VIOLENCE
    • REFERENCES
  • 5. The Promise of Investing in Violence Prevention
• Part II. Papers and Commentary from Workshop Speakers
  • 6. Direct and Indirect Costs of Violence
    • THE COSTS OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE— AN INTERNATIONAL REVIEW
    • CONSEQUENCES OF ELDER ABUSE: THE NEEDS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS
    • COSTS OF FIREARM VIOLENCE: HOW YOU MEASURE THINGS MATTERS
    • THE CONTAGION OF VIOLENCE: THE EXTENT, THE PROCESSES, AND THE OUTCOMES
    • HOW PERSISTENT FEAR AND ANXIETY CAN AFFECT YOUNG CHILDREN’S LEARNING, BEHAVIOR, AND HEALTH
    • REFERENCES
  • 7. Context and Place
    • SOCIAL CONTEXTS AND VIOLENCE
    • THE IMPACT OF WAR ON CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND MENTAL HEALTH: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF RISK AND RESILIENCE AMONG FORMER CHILD SOLDIERS IN SIERRA LEONE
    • INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE IN LOW- AND MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES: HIGH COSTS TO HOUSEHOLDS AND COMMUNITIES
    • YOUTH VIOLENCE IN KINGSTON, JAMAICA
    • REFERENCES
  • 8. Investing in Prevention
    • THE VALUE OF PREVENTION
    • COMMUNITIES THAT CARE: BRIDGING SCIENCE AND COMMUNITY PRACTICE TO PREVENT ADOLESCENT HEALTH AND BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS INCLUDING VIOLENCE
    • REFERENCES
• Appendix A Workshop Agenda
• Appendix B Speaker Biographical Sketches
• Appendix C Planning Committee Biographical Sketches
• Appendix D Forum Member Biographical Sketches

Rapporteurs: Deepali M. Patel and Rachel M. Taylor.

This study was supported by contracts between the National Academy of Sciences and the Department of Health and Human Services: Administration on Aging, Administration on Children, Youth, and Families, Office on Women’s Health; Anheuser-Busch InBev; Avon Foundation for Women; BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company); Catholic Health Initiatives; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Eli Lilly and Company; Department of Education: Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools; Department of Justice: National Institute of Justice; Fetzer Institute; F. Felix Foundation; Foundation to Promote Open Society; The Joyce Foundation; Kaiser Permanente; National Institutes of Health: National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Office of Research on Women’s Health, John E. Fogarty International Center; Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the organizations or agencies that provided support for this project.

Suggested citation:

IOM (Institute of Medicine) and NRC (National Research Council). 2012. Social and economic costs of violence: Workshop summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.