Rethinking the Medicalization of Violence: The Risks of a Behavioral Addiction Model. Issue 4 (December 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Feuille, Catherine
• Other Names: Ayres Ian guest-editor.; Gluck Abbe R. guest-editor.; Meares Tracey L. guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Journal of law, medicine & ethics. Volume 48:Issue 4(2020)Supplement
• Page Start: 179
• Page End: 182
• Publication Date: 2020-12
• Subjects: Medical laws and legislation -- United States -- Periodicals; Medical care -- Law and legislation -- United States -- Periodicals; Medical ethics -- Periodicals; Jurisprudence -- Periodicals; Legislation, Medical -- Periodicals; Legislation, Nursing -- Periodicals; Ethics -- Periodicals; Forensic Medicine -- Periodicals; Nursing -- Periodicals; Medicine -- Periodicals; Societies -- Periodicals; Medical care -- Law and legislation; Medical ethics; Medical laws and legislation; United States; Periodicals; 344.73041
• DOI: 10.1177/1073110520979420
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1073-1105

Abstract

This commentary responds to and problematizes Kimmel and Rowe's approach in "A Behavioral Addiction Model of Revenge, Violence, and Gun Abuse." By advancing an addiction model of retaliatory violence, Kimmel and Rowe medicalize behavior that is better understood as a social problem rooted in structural inequality. Reframing violence in terms of individual pathology abstracts it from social context and risks obscuring the need for structural change. For poor urban communities of color, who are disproportionately impacted by gun violence, medicalizing violent behavior may fuel further marginalization and oppression.