The impact of violence is pervasive, occurring at the individual, family, and community levels. It affects infants to the elderly and through all stages of life in between. Its impact and resulting trauma are often long-lasting and varied in which survivors continue to experience physical, emotional, psychological, and mental health problems through their lifetime and long after the violence ends. According to Helen Clark, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, violence not only impacts people on an individual level but also tends to limit the sustainability and livelihoods of families and communities. It also curtails a country's options for "political, social, and economic development."1 Such consequences of violence demand thoughtful and creative collective reflection and actions.

Collectively, the articles included in this special issue do just that. These 7 articles highlight not just the broad-based impact of violence but also the varied types of violence experienced by people, families, and communities. The articles also explore strategies and solutions that address individual, community, and structural factors and consequences associated with violence.

The first article in the issue by Cohen and Asgary focuses on the human rights abuses and economic exploitation and hardships experienced by Burmese refugees/migrants after they had fled to Thailand. Through the use of focus groups and interviews, the article highlights the experiences of violence, exploitation, and hardships, as well as the coping mechanisms they utilized to survive in their new country, often drawing on their experiences in their native country of Myanmar. This article is timely and particularly relevant in light of the hundreds and thousands of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants who are fleeing the violence of war, other abuses, and economic deprivation in their native countries.

The next 2 articles focus on sexual violence-the first by Cruz and colleagues and the second by Reed, Reno, and Green. Both underscore the significant impact of sexual violence on its victims and survivors and elaborate on its short- and long-term consequences. Cruz and her colleagues describe a macro-level 3-component strategic planning approach in New Mexico to prevent sexual violence by including and amplifying the input of those from high-risk and vulnerable populations, other community members, practitioners, advocates, and experts. Reed, Reno, and Green used the 2013 New Mexico Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey and report findings that support the relationship between history of forced sex and elevated risk of substance use and misuse, risk of suicide, and poor mental health among male and female students. These study findings along with others pertaining to resiliency factors must translate into youth-centered prevention programs in the state where more than 9% of high school students had been forced to have sex and where the prevalence of sexual violence is most significant among the most vulnerable youth.

Next, 2 articles focus on better understanding the determinants of violence among adolescents to develop sustainable strategies to address such violence and injuries. Grinshteyn and her colleagues examined individual and neighborhood-level determinants of fear of violent crime among adolescents in urban communities. This examination is urgently needed to create healthy and safe communities for our children and youth in which they can thrive without concern or fear of crime and victimization. Purtle and his collaborators evaluated hospital-based violence intervention programs (HVIPs) and analyzed gender differences in the prevalence and type of posttraumatic stress symptoms. Such nuanced exploration has the potential to benefit and initiate improvements in HVIP practice to meet the specific needs of violently injured youth-girls and boys.

From adolescents to adults-Choi, Sprang, and Eslinger describe the rise in the number of grandparents raising grandchildren in the Unites States. These custodial arrangements have emerged as a consequence of a number of stressors and circumstances including abandonment, child neglect, incarceration, substance abuse, and violence. The authors argue that intervention services addressing the needs of such families are in their infancy, with much work ahead to meet the diverse and growing needs of such families.

The final article in this issue by St Ivany and Schminkey is focused on the prevalence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) sustained by women in violent intimate partner relationships. Despite the high estimates, there has been little attention to such injuries among women, sustained not through wars and in sports but in abusive relationships. The authors highlight the need for health care providers and community health workers to recognize and understand the link between TBI and intimate partner violence, so women can have access to appropriate treatment to reduce the impact and trauma of such violence and injuries.

I hope the articles are informative and contribute to continued research and practice efforts in violence prevention.

-Satya Rao, PhD, MCHES

Issue Editor

Family & Community Health

Professor

Undergraduate Program Coordinator & Graduate

Public Health Certificate Program

Department of Public Health Sciences

New Mexico State University, Las Cruces

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