For example, the rate of homicide among young males in the United States the highest such rate in the world is more than eight times higher than in Italy, which has the next highest rate. Arrest rates for homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault in the United States peak among older adolescents and young adults. Many of these assaults are fatal. Homicide is the leading cause of women s death in the workplace, accounting for 41 percent of all occupational injury deaths among women during the 1980s. The consequences for women include increased risks of attempted suicide, alcohol and substance abuse, and abusing their own children.
Children are frequent targets of abuse.
It is estimated that in 1988 more than 1,000 children died from abuse or neglect in the United States. These patterns often persist through adolescence and into adulthood. Poor people consistently bear a disproportionate share of the public health burden in the United States. Homicide victimization rates are highest in the parts of cities where poverty is highest.