Citation

Lam LT, Han DH, Zhang W, Tang L. Front. Public Health 2021; 9: e724182.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Frontiers Editorial Office)

DOI

10.3389/fpubh.2021.724182

PMID

34307292

Abstract

Violence, particularly among young people, has long been identified as an important global public health issue by (1). With the publication of the World Report on Violence and Health (WRVH), the issue was propelled onto the international health agenda (2). To provide a platform for a better understanding of violence, facilitating data collection for epidemiological investigation, and designing intervention strategies appropriate for the prevention of violence, a framework was proposed in the WRVH (2). In this framework, there consisted of a matrix combining the broad types of violence and the nature of violence to further enhance the structural understanding of the multiplicity of the construct. Three broad types of violence reflecting the agency or the perpetrators of violence, namely self-directed, interpersonal, and collective, were included with physical, sexual, psychological, and deprivation, and neglect as the nature of violence (2). To provide further exposition on the matrix, Rutherford and colleagues also came up with a glossary for each category of violence with clear definitions (3).

In terms of the strategies for the intervention and prevention of youth violence, epidemiological data play an important role. Based on the data collected by UNICEF, it was reported that more than 170 million children under the age of five are living in a household with a mother being a victim of intimate partner violence, and over one-third of students of 13-15 years have experienced bullying. About three-quarters of children aged between 2 and 4 are subjected to violent discipline by their parents or carers regularly and about 10% of children are still not receiving proper legal protection from corporal punishment globally (4, 5).

Violence against children and young people is a complex problem, so are the solutions in tackling this global issue. Some evidence-based solutions and preventive interventions have been suggested by UNICEF (6). However, with the global COVID-19 pandemic crisis still lingering, it is anticipated that the situation will be greatly affected by a multitude of potential causes such as the confinement to a limited space due to the lockdown containment measure, unemployment due to a low level of economic activities, shortage of resources in supporting the necessary services in providing protection and relief to children, young people and parents (7). As such, greater efforts in research are required in searching for intervention strategies in the current global environment.

This Research Topic aims to draw together a group of researchers with a keen interest in youth violence prevention and intervention to explore the topic from diverse disciplinary and methodological backgrounds...

Language: en

Keywords

children; prevention; epidemiology; youth; intervention; violence; aetiology (etiology)