BMJ 1995;311:1384 (25 November)

Editorials

Violence involving children

Needs a population rather than an individual approach

In 1993 in Britain a 3 year old boy, James Bulger, was brutally murdered by two 10 year olds. Widespread debate about violence followed. While some people depicted the perpetrators as evil "freaks of nature," others sought to link the events to broader societal conditions. In response to the tragedy the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation set up a commission on children and violence. The commission's report, published earlier this month, reinforces the view that violence is not simply the domain of deviant individuals but reflects social values and behaviours imbued in children by parents, society, and the media.1 Tackling violence will therefore require a population based public health approach; reducing violence at all levels in society will, the commission concludes, achieve more than reacting only to individual extreme cases.

The report reflects our current understanding of violence perpetrated by and against children and . . . [Full text of this article]


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This article has been cited by other articles:

  • , , , A. (2001). Children who. BMJ 322: 61-62 [Full text]  
  • Middleton, J D, Rao, J N, Reid, J A (1996). Health services must develop services to reduce crime and violence. BMJ 312: 1156c-1157 [Full text]  
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