What it means
ICM uses firearm-related harm to keep the full impact in view: deaths and injuries, threats, and the effects on families and communities. It is an organizing term, not a single standardized CDC measure. CDC reports firearm injuries and deaths by intent, including homicide, suicide, unintentional injury, legal intervention, and undetermined intent.
The causes and prevention approaches differ across community violence, intimate partner violence, suicide, and shootings in schools or other public places. Specify which harm and measure you mean before using a statistic or selecting a strategy.
ICM field application · illustrative
See how this idea helps with a decision
Here is an example to work through. The linked source explains the idea or guest account. The next move is ICM guidance.
- Where it shows up
- A planning group says it will reduce firearm harm, but one partner means suicides and another means nonfatal street shootings.
- A useful move
- Write separate problem statements with an intent, population, place, time period, and measure for each. Then identify where a shared prevention investment could serve more than one need.
- What this does not prove
- A combined total can describe scale. It cannot tell partners which mechanism or response fits a particular form of harm.
Follow the question
From this idea to a local decision
Use the part you need next. A guest’s account, research finding, local pattern, and implementation plan answer different questions.
Keep following the subject
Gun Violence
A widely used term for violence involving a firearm; data sources may use a broader firearm injury and death category.
Explore the connectionCheck the local evidence
Resource & Evidence
Choose the specific harm and place, then examine what the data and research actually measure.
Examine sources