Injuries due to deliberate violence in areas of Denmark. I. The extent of violence

Abstract

As part of a transeultural investigation of violent behavior in Denmark and South America an analysis was made during a one year period of the incidents involving deliberate violence as registered at 3 Danish emergency wards, and at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Copenhagen. In the three emergency wards a total of 1316 victims of deliberate violence were observed corresponding to a rate of about 3.3 1000 per year in a provincial/rural district, the catchment region of Holbaek County Hospital, 5.5 1000 per year in a mainly middle income area of the metropolis Copenhagen, the catchment region of Frederiksberg Hospital, and 7.6 1000 per year in a mainly low income area of Copenhagen, the catchment region of the Rigshospital. The highest risk, 28 1000 per year, was found for young men between 15 and 19 years of age living in the low income area of Copenhagen. The risk was low for people ⩾60 years of age in all three areas investigated, ranging from 0 (men) to 1.3 1000 per year (women). Skilled and unskilled workers were greatly over represented as victims of violence, considering their share of the background population. Seventy percent of the victims were men. At least 44% of the men and 32% of the women were alcohol intoxicated when arriving in the emergency ward. The incidents took place in restaurants or in the vicinity of restaurants for 30% of the male and 11% of female victims respectively, while 45% of the women had been subject to deliberate violence at home. The rate of fatal cases of deliberate violence in the Eastern part of Denmark, the catchment area for the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Copenhagen, was found to be 0.02 1000 per year. The risk of becoming a victim of deliberate violence has not increased during the last 4 years comparing with similar investigations from other parts of Denmark. However, the rate of homicide seems to have increased, and so has the severity of the injuries caused by deliberate violence. The pattern of deliberate violence appears to be associated with socio-economic and cultural factors, and to be closely linked with alcohol intoxication.