Examples of Intentional Injuries

Child Maltreatment: includes child abuse and child neglect

"Any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or other caregiver (e.g., clergy,
coach, and teacher) that result in harm, potential for harm, or threat of harm to a child."
"Acts of Commission (child abuse) include words or overt actions that cause harm, potential
harm, or threat of harm to a child that are deliberate and intentional. Harm to a child may or
may not be the intended consequence. Intentionality only applies to the caregivers' actsnot
the consequences of those acts. Examples of maltreatment involving acts of commission include
physical, sexual, and psychological abuse."
"Acts of Omission (child neglect) include the failure to provide for a child's basic physical,
emotional, or educational needs or to protect a child from harm or potential harm. Like acts of
commission, harm to a child may or may not be the intended consequence. Examples of
maltreatment involving acts of omission include physical neglect, emotional neglect,
medical/dental neglect, educational neglect, inadequate supervision, and exposure to violent
environments" (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011).

Community Violence: includes neighborhood violence

Violence that occurs primarily outside of the home and involves individuals who may or may not
know each other, but who are unrelated. Some of the acts that fall under the community
violence umbrella include sexual assault, burglary, use of weapons, muggings, the sounds of
bullet shots, as well as social-disorder issues such as the presence of teen gangs, drugs, and
racial divisions. Additionally, community violence typically includes direct and indirect
victimization through experiencing violence, witnessing violence, or hearing about violence in
one's neighborhood.

Elder Abuse: includes elder maltreatment and mistreatment

"Elder maltreatment includes any abuse and neglect of persons age 60 and older by a caregiver
or another person in a relationship involving an expectation of trust. Examples of elder
maltreatment include physical abuse, sexual abuse/abusive sexual contact, psychological or
emotional abuse, neglect, abandonment, financial abuse, or exploitation" (Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 2011).

Homicide

"Death due to the intentional assault of another person by any means:

Intent to kill is not necessary for a homicide to occur

Homicides, as well as all other forms of violence, are associated with intentional
behaviors"

(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011).

Intimate Partner Violence: includes domestic violence

"Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) includes physical, sexual, or psychological harm by a current or
former partner or spouse. This type of violence can occur among heterosexual or same-sex
couples and does not require sexual intimacy. IPV can vary in frequency and severity. It occurs
on a continuum, ranging from one hit that may or may not impact the victim to chronic, severe
battering. The four main types of IPV include physical violence, sexual violence, threats of
physical or sexual violence, and psychological or emotional violence" (Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 2011).

School Violence

"School violence typically refers to student-on-student and student-on-teacher acts of physical

harm" (Stuart Henry, What Is School Violence? An Integrated Definition, ANNALS, AAPSS, 567,
January 2000).

Sexual Violence

"Sexual violence (SV) includes any sexual act that is perpetrated against someone's will. SV
encompasses a range of offenses, including a completed nonconsensual sex act (i.e., rape), an
attempted nonconsensual sex act, abusive sexual contact (i.e., unwanted touching), and
noncontact sexual abuse (e.g., threatened sexual violence, exhibitionism, verbal sexual
harassment). All types involve victims who do not consent or who are unable to consent or
refuse to allow the act" (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011).

Suicide

"Suicide is death caused by self-directed, injurious behavior with any intent to die as a result of
the behavior. Suicidal behavior exists along a continuum from thinking about ending one's life,
to developing a plan, to nonfatal suicidal behavior, to ending one's life. Suicidal ideation
includes thoughts of harming or killing oneself. The severity of suicidal ideation can be
determined by assessing the frequency, intensity, and duration of these thoughts. A suicide
attempt is a nonfatal, self-directed, potentially injurious behavior with any intent to die as a
result of the behavior. A suicide attempt may or may not result in injury" (Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 2011).

Youth Violence: includes bullying, peer harassment, and gang violence

Youth violence is typically defined as interpersonal violence in persons between the ages of 10
to 24, although patterns of youth violence can begin in early childhood. Interpersonal violence is
defined as "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against another
person or against a group or community that results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in
injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation" (Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, 2011).
Unintentional Injury
Unintentional" is used to refer to injuries that were unplanned. Unintentional injuries can be
defined as events in which:

The injury occurs in a short period of time - seconds or minutes,

The harmful outcome was not sought, or

The outcome was the result of one of the forms of physical energy in the environment or
normal body functions being blocked by external means, e.g., drowning.

The most common unintentional injuries result from motor vehicle crashes, falls, fires and burns,
drowning, poisonings and aspirations.

Home Safety
Safety issues in and around the home include:

Falls

Burns

Electrical shock

suffocation

Drowning

Scald Burns

Playground-related injuries

Unintentional Poisoning

Safety efforts include coordinating with various partners to conduct safety conferences,
developing, maintaining and distributing safety information on a variety of subjects upon
request to individuals and groups, providing technical assistance and guidance to local
coalitions as well as individuals interested in safety.
Safe Communities
Safe Communities Coalitions are groups of individuals and/or organizations working together in
a common effort for a common purpose to make more effective and efficient use of their
resources.
Characteristics of a safe community coalition include:

Collaboration,

Coordination,

Cooperation,

Networking, and

Partnering.

Some key indicators of a working Safe Community coalition are:

Shared Resources,

Joint Planning,

Common Goals,

Shared Sense of Purpose, and

Shared Responsibility of Outcomes.

Traffic safety:

Child Passenger Safety

Young Driver Safety

Why Is Injury and Violence Prevention Important?

Injuries are the leading cause of death for Americans ages 1 to 44,1 and a leading cause of disability for all
ages, regardless of sex, race/ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. More than 180,000 people die from injuries
each year, and approximately 1 in 10 sustains a nonfatal injury serious enough to be treated in a hospital
emergency department.1
Beyond their immediate health consequences, injuries and violence have a significant impact on the wellbeing of Americans by contributing to:
Premature death
Years of potential life lost
Disability and disability-adjusted-life-years lost
Poor mental health
High medical costs
Lost productivity3,4
The effects of injuries and violence extend beyond the injured person or victim of violence to family
members, friends, coworkers, employers, and communities.
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Understanding Injury and Violence Prevention

Numerous determinants (factors) can affect the risk of unintentional injury and violence.
Individual behaviors

The choices people make about individual behaviors, such as alcohol and drug use, or risk-taking, are often
connected with factors in the social and physical environment and can increase injuries.5,6
Physical environment
The physical environment, both in the home and community, can affect the rate of injuries related to falls,
fires and burns, road traffic injuries, drowning, and violence.7,8,9
Access to Services
Access to health services, such as systems created for injury-related care, ranging from prehospital and
acute care to rehabilitation, can reduce the consequences of injuries, including death and long-term
disability.
Related Topic Areas
Adolescent Health
Maternal, Infant, and Child Health
Mental Health and Mental Disorders
Physical Activity
Substance Abuse
Social Environment
The social environment has a notable influence on the risk for injury and violence through:
Individual social experiences (for example, social norms, education, victimization history)
Social relationships (for example, parental monitoring and supervision of youth, peer group
associations, family interactions)
Community environment (for example, cohesion in schools, neighborhoods, and communities)
Societal-level factors (for example, cultural beliefs, attitudes, incentives and disincentives, laws and
regulations)10
Interventions that address these social and physical factors have the potential to prevent unintentional
injuries and violence. Efforts to prevent unintentional injury may focus on:
Modifications of the environment
Improvements in product safety
Legislation and enforcement
Education and behavior change
Technology and engineering11

Efforts to prevent violence may focus on:

Changing social norms about the acceptability of violence and the willingness to intervene
Improving skills and competencies (for example, communication, impulse control, parenting,
conflict resolution, coping)
Fostering safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments for children and families
Changing policies to address the social and economic conditions that often give rise to violence

Emerging Issues in Injury and Violence Prevention

While not included as objectives in Healthy People 2020, there are several emerging issues in injury and
violence prevention that need further research, analysis, and monitoring.
For unintentional injuries, there is a need to better understand the trends, causes, and prevention strategies
for:
Prescription drug overdose deaths
Motor vehicle crashes due to distracted driving
Traumatic Brain Injury
In the area of violence, there is a need to better understand the trends, causes, and prevention strategies
related to:
Bullying, dating violence, and sexual violence among youth
Elder maltreatment, particularly with respect to quantifying and understanding the problem
Overlapping causes of violence and the strategies that can prevent multiple forms of violence