Race, class, and violence: Research and policy implications

A public health approach to preventing interpersonal violence involving perpetrators and victims is laudable, but fraught with social and political pitfalls. The concept of "race" is little understood and is being exploited by both academics and the media, putting racial minorities-particularly blacks, who tend to be overrepresented in data on reported violence-at further risk. Though race is acknowledged as an ambiguous concept, some dangers nonetheless persist in linking racial minorities to dysfunctional and antisocial behavior within both cultural and biological constructs. Recommendations are given to help ameliorate the effects of such contextual linking, particularly given the present mood of U.S. political conservatism.