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Let's treat violence like a contagious disease

Gary Slutkin

  • 2 February 2018
  • Posted by: Nicolas Devia
  • Number of views: 944
  • 0 Comments
In our approach to understanding reality, sometimes it is forgotten the fact that human beings act exactly as other types of life do on earth. Like viruses and bacteria, crime and violence follow the same dynamics and recognizable patterns that only experts on the matter could identify. Gary Slutkin brought all of his knowledge on epidemiology from his experiences on battling cholera, tuberculosis and AIDS in Africa to apply them in Chicago during the 90’s. By isolating individuals “infected” by violence (violent offenders) from society and treating them on reconciliation and reinsertion to society, the outbreak of violence in Chicago was able to be stopped. The effectiveness of the medical approach has been demonstrated over and over again when high infectious diseases are contained and eliminated, from SARS in the 2000's to the latest outbreak of Ebola in 2014, experts were able to keep societies safe from the diseases. If we treat violence like the disease that it is, we could be looking at the end of its outbreak.
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