MansfieldNewsJournal.com has a March 13,2009 article entitled: Economy, domestic violence linked.
CollegeNews.com has a March 24, 2009 article entitled: Businesses struggling with deteriorating economy, increased violence.
Kdka.com has posted a March 31, 2009 article entitled: Job Losses, Bad Economy Lead Many To Violence.
Recent violence in our own area, and as seen on cable news, certainly seems to support assertions that as the economy goes down, violence goes up. I’m sure that many of you who’ve been around long enough to see dips in the economy before, will remember noting other such patterns through our history.
We’re all under a lot of stress. It doesn’t matter if you own the business or shop there. It doesn’t matter if your young or old, male or female, black, white, brown, yellow, red, etc., the current economic stress holds the potential for creating feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, desperation, or generating loss of self-esteem and/or self-worth.
There is another side to this issue that is seldom addressed: The cost of violence. We can all usually grasp the concept of sympathy for the victim and perhaps even the perpetrator in these situations. However, the short and long term costs in medical care, legal expenses, intervention by law enforcement and social services seldom comes to mind. (Check out an online paper: The Economic Dimensions of Interpersonal Violence for an overview of the financial impact of violence.
Any act of violence is like dropping a pebble in a pond. It will generate waves that stretch far beyond the impact point. It drains financial and human resources thus creating further economic problems.
This may seem to create a vicious circle, and if each of us does nothing, it will.
So the important question becomes what can we do? Other than the relatively obvious things like being patient with law enforcement officers and rescue personnel (after all, they are getting hit with all of EVERYBODY’s extra stress).
Try not to take your frustration out on others. If you are frustrated, take a walk, go work out, dig a hole and fill it back up (just make sure you do it on your own property:) Include other people (family, friends, or neighbors in those activities as they might benefit from a little stress reduction as well).
Few people realize just how much affect they can have on someone else by how they speak to them. Don’t take your frustration out on the clerk in the store, the waitress/waiter in the restaurant, a family member, a friend, or a neighbor.
Sometimes a simple act of kindness can make positive changes you will not even be aware of. An offer to help a neighbor carry trash cans to the curb can be just the thing to help someone remember that they are important, that someone cares. It may take a bit more effort to be nice to people when you’re under stress yourself, but it doesn’t cost anything and you will both gain from the act. Just as it takes only one act to push someone over the edge, it only takes one act to pull someone back from that same edge.
Keep your eyes open for anyone behaving in an unusual manner. If you have serious concerns that someone’s behavior may be a precursor to violence (and suicide is an act of violence), don’t turn a blind-eye. Contact local law enforcement. It is better to be safe than to be sorry.
Lastly, encourage local officials to make sure that law enforcement, rescue services, and support of those support agencies continues to be a top priority. A little bit of intervention in early stages could prevent violence from becoming a reality.
By Carol Lindstrom On April 5 at 10:14 PM
