Impact of Environment from an Epidemiological and Criminological Perspective

As public health researchers and practitioners confront a myriad of environmental health related issues, ranging from the socio-behavior to legalistic and policy, which includes the built environment and its toxicological impact, aberrant behavioral patterns can manifest across a broad spectrum of methods and approaches. From the intentional to accidental, the environment in which we live, work, and play, has implications for affecting our very way of life. Thus, another purpose of this invited session will be to discuss how interdisciplinary students of aberrant behavior advance their understanding about the epidemiology of crime. The various dimensions of the environment and its many attributes, resurface, which include, but are not limited to, poverty, minority status, lack of education, family history, various health outcomes, neighborhood characteristics, geography, and other psycho-social, and socio-deterministic indicators. These factors permeate our environmental landscape through our behavior, diet, and the water we drink. The correlates are often taken-for-granted by most scholars, students and practitioners of public health and the various social, behavioral, environmental, and health sciences, while presuming to understand these relationships. Yet, the scientific lexicon of epidemiology and criminology may not often be thought of in the context of conventional environmental health, unless its brought out in open scientific forum. This year's APHA theme is around water. Water, with all of its majesty, accounts for the largest number of deaths in the world because of contamination. Some of these are through intentional introduction of toxic waste; some are by accident.