Structural Approach to Injury Control

The goal of childhood injury control is to reduce disability and death from injury. The thesis of the structural approach is that losses due to injury can often be reduced most effectively by structural modification. Since injury results when agent and host interact in a permissive environment, preventive strategies can be aimed toward any of the factors that contribute to causation. Many injury control strategies are therefore available. To prevent or reduce injury, a strategy must work when used, and it must be used. Strategies that require frequent individual action may fail to be used when protection is needed. The structural approach, when available, embodies strategies that do not depend on the behavior of the individuals who need protection. 1987 The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues