A social problem index for Canada

Objective: To construct an index that represents the general level of socia l problems among Canadian provinces and territories. Method: Factor weights were used to combine provincial and territorial rate s for homicide, attempted murder, assault, sexual assault, robbery, divorce , suicide, and alcoholism into a single Social Problem Index. Results: The resulting index demonstrated strong positive intercorrelations among its factors across provinces. That is, provinces that showed high ra tes on one factor tended to show high rates on the others as well. The vali dity of the Social Problem Index is demonstrated by its positive correlatio n with an independent measure of the likelihood of having experienced perso nal trauma. Conclusions: The robust nature and apparent validity of the Social Problem Index suggest that it can be well used for needs assessments and theoretica l studies and as a feedback mechanism to national, provincial, and communit y, leaders on the social problem status of their particular jurisdictions.