Violence and Trauma

Description/Mission Statement

The purpose of the Violence and Trauma Special Interest Group (VT SIG) is to provide opportunities for networking, information sharing, and collaboration for those interested in interpersonal violence etiology and prevention. The SIG will also focus on psychological trauma etiology, treatment and prevention, which may be caused by interpersonal violence or other factors. Violent and aggressive behavior causes thousands of deaths and severe injuries in the U.S. every year, in addition to other mental and physical health sequelae. Finding out what kind of social and behavioral factors cause aggressive behavior, and what kind of prevention and intervention strategies can re-shape individuals’ propensity to behave violently, are priorities of the National Institutes of Health, CDC, National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Education, and other entities.

“Aggression” can encompass several types of behaviors including physical violence, sexual violence, psychological abuse, stalking, workplace sabotage, and self-harm.  Knowledge about what causes individuals to behave aggressively is still nascent.  It has been demonstrated that adverse childhood experiences including parental abuse and neglect, parental substance use and parental suicidal behavior can increase the risk that children will develop aggressive behavioral tendencies and become either victims or perpetrators of bullying, peer aggression, community violence, dating violence, sexual violence, hate crime violence, and adult partner violence. Hospitals, schools, communities, workplaces and individuals can learn to become “trauma-informed,” which means that they respond to those who have experienced violence in a manner that will not re-traumatize the victim, and can improve outcomes of interest. Therefore, the goal of this SIG is to advance the field of violence prevention through high-quality research, communication with members of the public, and mentorship.