Multifaceted approach needed to curb violence

THE EDITOR: TRINIDAD and Tobago is experiencing an upsurge in violence, which contributes to nationwide distress and social instability. Many citizens no longer feel safe anywhere in the country. A lack of citizen security has significant economic and health consequences. Insecurity reduces business growth, enabling migration and social deterioration. Further, the daring acts of violence occurring in private and public spaces heighten citizens' fears, elevating anxieties. The causes of violence are multifactorial. State actors and socio-economic practitioners, law enforcement officers and the media should avoid sensationalising incidents of violence or oversimplifying causes and factors that influence a climate of violence.

Citizens are demanding that public officials take immediate action and improve their responses to addressing violence. Ensure there are adequate services for victims and enhance legal frameworks. Implement programs to improve citizen safety and hold perpetrators to account. Addressing violence requires multidimensional, people-centred, and preventative approaches. In responding to citizens' calls, public officials must examine the social determinants of health to understand their influence on violence while incorporating social-ecological methods to analyse systems and promote a culture of national security and sustainable development.

People do not live isolated lives disconnected from the systems around them. Healthy systems contribute to healthy people. In contrast, fragile systems contribute to fragile and failing communities. Using ecological methodologies will help public officials understand the complexity of violence. Identify how fragile systems contribute to violence and its by-products and understand ways to establish anti-fragility structures to promote healthy people, systems, and societies.

Ecological methodologies help people understand that every system has a role and is interconnected. Systems are not inanimate; they can prevent or foster violence. The latter can occur in subtle ways, leading to unintended consequences. Integrating ecological approaches will provide actors with holistic violence prevention strategies and ways to sustain them. Identify processes to drive national-level social impact, thus looking beyond the surface to see the whole picture, peeling back socio-economic layers to determine the factors that drive violence.

Violence is a multifaceted and complex issue. Thus, it is counterproductive for public officials to use a single lens to address it. Incorporating an integrated, multifaceted approach will benefit the country. Understanding social determinants of health and the factors affecting people's lives, shaping their experiences, and influencing their decision-making will provide deeper insights into addressing violence. Identifying factors that influence violence is crucial, as violence is a social determinant of health, which disproportionately affects the lives of women, children, and low-income populations.

Social determinants of health are those conditions that affect people's health and well-being in the environments where they are born, grow, live, learn, work, play, socialise and worship. Social and economic conditions can affect people's mental and physical health and social mobility—people residing in environments with derelict buildings. Poor environmental hygiene, lack of green spaces, poor air and water quality, and a lack of play areas are at a higher risk of experiencing desperation, hopelessness, and social and economic segregation.

Social conditions such as poverty, economic instability, limited access to employment and health care inequity; underdeveloped neighbourhoods, discrimination, food and housing insecurity, and low education levels can nurture a climate of violence. Although these conditions do not cause violence, they place people at increased risk of exposure to adverse life experiences. Mainstreaming social determinants of health and ecological approaches can improve the human conditions under which people exist. Such approaches can strengthen legislative frameworks and inform the development of social and economic programs to address all dimensions of health, including spiritual dimensions. Promote investment in education and research to establish healthy norms and evidence-based practices.

By incorporating social-ecological and social determinants of health approaches, actors in TT can co-develop tailored interventions, identify the factors contributing to a violent climate, foster equity and justice, and build anti-fragility systems. Actors can understand the interconnectedness of systems, enabling the development of comprehensive frameworks for violence prevention strategies.

Cultures of violence did not emerge overnight; systems in society feed and breed them. Violence moves and grows with people, and systems can give it life directly and indirectly. Despite citizens' calls for public officials to act now! Acting without a sustainable plan can make the situation worse. Reactionary responses will show a sense of action but will not solve the problem in the long run. Public officials who want to foster environments of safety, citizen security, and socio-economic progress must recognise that there's a long road ahead. Addressing violence will take time and requires all societal systems to shape the country's future, where social impact and citizen security are paramount. Such actions will require strategic planning, community engagement, and investment in multidimensional approaches to address the present culture of violence and prevent its future manifestation. Failing to address violence comprehensively will be disastrous for TT.

SHERNA ALEXANDER BENJAMIN

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