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Abstract
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VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The purpose of this article by Widome was to examine the three E's (education, enforcement, and engineering) identified by pediatricians in the 1950's and to illustrate their relevance to the problem of children and guns today.
METHODOLOGY:
A non-experimental design was employed for this study. The author used information from past pediatric conferences. He utilized reports, speeches, papers, and minutes from the meetings of the Accident Prevention Committee, a committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
The author presented examples of how the three E's have worked for past problems of childhood injury: "engineering" includes the design of fuses and circuit breakers to prevent house fires; "enforcement," or regulation, includes the legislation that requires homes with pools to have appropriate fences to protect children from drowning, and; "education" involves attempts to influence behavior, such as persuading bicycle riders to wear helmets. The study discussed how this framework could be applied to guns. The author posited that guns are consumer products and they should be subject to the same safety standards as other consumer products. The study argued that because guns are weapons, there are limits to built-in safety designs. The author stated that, therefore, enforcement and education strategies should be examined. He asked, "Why is it that a high chair that can pinch a finger is withdrawn promptly from the market, whereas the unencumbered commerce in guns that 6-year-olds can discharge unintentionally, or that 10-year-olds can discharge purposefully, remains unquestioned?" (p. 381)
AUTHOR'S RECOMMENDATIONS:
The author noted that the early injury strategies which were so successful for reducing accidental poisonings and other injuries from a variety of causes should be employed for gun injuries. He recommended that three E's be diligently applied to reduce gunfire injuries.
(CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
Firearms Control
Firearms Injury
Firearms Legislation
Firearms Volence
Violence Prevention
Educational Factors
Child Victim
Child Firearms Use
Accidental Injury
Firearms Policy
Violence Intervention |