Wednesday, July 01, 2009

CeaseFire, a violence reduction program in Chicago, achieved significant reduction in neighborhood shootings and killings by treating the problem as an infectious disease.

it relies on simultaneously changing attitudes and behaviour and will work anywhere.

The key is to change social norms so that violence is seen as "uncool" both by potential perpetrators and their communities, instead of being the automatic way to settle a dispute.

It would be great if we, as a society, handled the obesity epidemic and the swine flue pandemic the same way. If it were considered uncool to market junk food to people and not to wear a mask in public when sneezing and coughing.

Maybe I should start a CeaseBurger campaign :)

No comments: