The Commercial Determinants of Violence: Identifying Opportunities for Violence Prevention through a Public Health-Based Framework Analysis

Mark A. Bellis (), Sally McManus, Karen Hughes, Olumide Adisa and Kat Ford
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Mark A. Bellis: Public Health Institute, World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Violence Prevention, Faculty of Health, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool L2 2QP, UK
Sally McManus: Violence and Society Centre, City, University of London, London EC1V 0HB, UK
Karen Hughes: Policy and International Health, World Health Organization Collaborating Center on Investment for Health and Well-Being, Public Health Wales, Wrexham LL13 7YP, UK
Olumide Adisa: Institute of Social Justice and Crime, University of Suffolk, Ipswich IP4 1QJ, UK
Kat Ford: College of Medicine and Health, Bangor University, Wrexham LL13 7YP, UK

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 21, issue 3, 1-18

Abstract: Violence has immediate and long-term repercussions for the health of individuals and communities. Recent increases in the understanding of public health approaches to violence prevention have focused on the policies and practices of government, health, and other public sector agencies. However, the roles of commercial bodies in fostering and preventing violence remain largely unaddressed. The wealth and influence of some companies now exceeds that of many countries. Consequently, it is timely to explore the roles of commercial processes in violence. Using a conceptual framework for the commercial determinants of health, we examine seven practices: political; scientific; marketing; supply chain and waste; labor and employment; financial; and reputational management. We include areas directly linked with violence (e.g., firearms) and those that indirectly impact violence through the following: design and promotion of products; employment practices; and impacts on environment, poverty, and local resources. A range of avoidable commercial behaviors are found to increase levels of violence including the following: lobbying practices; distortion of scientific processes; polluting manufacture and supply lines; poor employee protections; financial investment in organizations and regimes associated with violence; and misleading communications and marketing. We conclude commercial actors can take action to ensure their workers, clients, suppliers, and distributors help prevent, not promote, violence. New technologies such as artificial intelligence are transforming corporate processes and products and offer opportunities to implement violence prevention through commercial developments (e.g., monitoring online content). International regulation of commercial behaviors is needed to prevent interpersonal and interstate conflict and harms to health and trade.

Keywords: commercial determinants; violence; marketing; employment; firearms; alcohol; pollution; climate (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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