Time to Treat Epidemic Violence As a Contagious Disease

Violence is the only major health epidemic not currently managed by health and public health methods. As a result, many areas throughout the world continue to experience unmanaged violence epidemics, including local epidemics of community violence, domestic violence, hate crimes, mass shootings, belief-inspired violence, violent recruitment and terrorism, group-on-group violence, violence between states and violence against oneself, or suicide.

Part One: Darkness Visible

Just joining us? This is part one of a five part series. See the whole series. When Suzanne and John Boyer left their upper-middle class home for work on the morning of May 20, 2008, their 15-year-old son, Kyle, had a stomachache and was still in bed. It wasn’t too bad, he told them.