The Social Environment and Health
The social environment is the relationships a person has with other individuals, the community, and the larger society. These include many factors that influence each other. Societal factors influence community factors, which influence interpersonal factors. Together, all these factors influence a person’s experiences.
These influences can go in the other direction as well—especially during times of activism or changing demographics. For example, the anti-war, Black civil rights, women’s rights, and LGBTQIA+ rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s led to changes at all levels of social environment. Likewise, large population shifts can lead to changes as well.
A person’s experience is also shaped by their identities and circumstances (such as race, ethnicity, gender, abilities, age, faith, sexual orientation, economic situation). The United States has a history of bias and discrimination that still affects the social environment. In general, institutions are built by privileged individuals who, knowingly or not, often use the institutions to uphold their power.
All these elements of the social environment can affect a person’s risk of experiencing violence. This section provides data on several societal, community, and interpersonal factors:
- Criminal Legal System
- Access to Firearms
- Media
- Faith Communities
- Access to Primary Needs
- Community Investment
- Online Communities and Social Media
- Hate and Hate Groups
- Interpersonal Factors
[SE1] Panel on Understanding Cross-National Health Differences Among High-Income Countries. Woolf SH, Aron L, eds. (2013). In: Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. U.S. Health in International Perspective: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press; 2013. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24006554/
[SE2] Tracy, M., Hoggatt, K.J., DiMaggio, C., Karpati, A. (2011). Estimated Deaths Attributable to Social Factors in the United States. American Journal of Public Health, 101(8): 1465. http://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2010.300086
[SE3] Emmons, K., Barbeau, E., Gutheil, C., Stryker, J., and Stoddard, A. (2006). Social Influences, Social Context, and Health Behaviors Among Working-Class, Multi-Ethnic Adults. Health Education & Behavior, 34(2): 315-334. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16740510/