Neil Wollman; Ph. D.; Senior Fellow, Bentley Alliance for Ethics and Social Responsibility; Bentley College; Waltham, MA, 02452; NWollman@Bentley.edu; 260-568-0116

NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. (December 18, 2007) – A number of measures in the National Index of Violence and Harm (NIVAH) worsened after a long improvement. More specifically, while fifteen of nineteen variables improved from 1995-2005 (thirteen trends were statistically significant), less than half of these nineteen variables improved from 2004 to 2005.*  In 2005, increases in violence and harm were seen in the ten categories of “Homicide,” “Battery,” “Robbery,” “Deaths from Substance Abuse,” “Air Pollution,” “Domestic Violence,” “Child Abuse,” “Life Expectancy,” and “Poverty Disparity.” 

Deteriorating conditions are nothing new for the most vulnerable in our society. The consistent increase in hunger, homelessness, and those without health insurance continued into 2005. Researcher and statistician Dr. James Brumbaugh-Smith asserts that “These statistics present a troubling picture for our society. The poor need more than a free meal and warm setting on Thanksgiving and Christmas.”

Manchester College and Bentley College researchers have been annually gathering NIVAH data since 1995. The Index is divided into two broad categories of violence/harm.  The Personal Index includes interpersonal (for example homicide, battery, and robbery) and intrapersonal (suicide and deaths by substance abuse). The Societal Index includes harm caused by the institutions of government (for example, abuse/misconduct by law enforcement), corporations (for instance air pollution) and families (such as child abuse). It also includes harm resulting from the structuring of society (including poverty and discrimination). 

As research team member Dr. Bradley Yoder notes, “As opposed to the more familiar and dramatic personal harm, such as homicide, societal harm is just as destructive and is far more pervasive in our society.  Many more people are adversely affected by structural and institutional forces.” 

In the Personal Index, street crime, called "interpersonal violence", has increased after a steadily declining trend over past years.  Three of the five variables worsened; “homicide,” “battery,” and “robbery.”  The two "intrapersonal" variables, however, have diverged, with an inconsistent downward trend for "suicide/self-injury," and a steady increase in deaths from substance abuse in all three areas of smoking, alcohol and illicit drugs. Altogether, these changes resulted in an overall drop in the Personal Index of 16% since 1995, although in 2005 personal violence and harm edged upward to 2003 levels.