Citation

Naumova EN. J. Public Health Policy 2022; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group -- Palgrave-Macmillan)

DOI

10.1057/s41271-021-00333-7

PMID

34983962

Abstract

Along with large calamities like natural disasters, environmental degradation, and pandemics fueled by viral mutation and social discourse, aggression now brewing comes on various scales: micro-, macro-, and mega-aggression. While mega-aggression episodes spill over to large-scale conflicts for economic or political gains, macroaggression occurs at a structural level intended to exclude targeted groups either by action or omission. And microaggression refers to commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental slights toward stigmatized or culturally marginalized groups. At any scale, aggression dramatically reduces the ability of public health professionals to prevent, respond to, and recover from any shock. These shocks could stem or result from various hazards and dangers, from military conflicts in war-prone areas, radioactive exposures due to man-made and natural disasters, guns in hands of mentally ill, or bullying on school playgrounds.

For public health professionals, it means we need a much broader prevention framework to address the whole spectrum of aggression. This framework should include critical areas of occupational health, mental health, and social wellbeing--along with recognizing the drivers and consequences of microaggresion, macroagression, and mega-aggression...

Language: en