In 1983, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention initiated a program to study the causes of violence and founded the Center for Injury Control and Prevention. In 1984, U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop declared that violence was as much a public health issue for today's physicians as smallpox was for the medical community in previous generations. In 1988, Deborah Prothrow-Stith, now an assistant dean at the Harvard School of Public Health, established in Massachusetts the first office of violence prevention in a state department of public health. Schools of public health at universities across the nation are pursuing epidemiological research into risk factors such as access to firearms and alcohol use. Identifying the risk factors of violence is a complex undertaking.
Risk factors vary with different types of violence and often from community to community.
Each type of violence in a particular community results from a unique combination of social, cultural, biological and economic risk factors and thus requires a unique combination of preventive measures. Traditionally, journalists have reported violent incidents as only a law enforcement and criminal justice issue. Breaking news of violent incidents ordinarily includes information about the victim, the alleged assailant, the weapon and the immediate circumstances of the incident. If community groups are not doing anything, reporters can find a similar community that is incorporating prevention strategies to reduce violent incidents. Thousands of organizations across the United States have taken action to reduce all types of violence in their towns and cities, with varying degrees of success.