Victim Research…

  June 19, 2014

 Canadian Families and Corrections Network (CFCN) – Dr. Stacey Hannem and Louise Leonardi
Family – Victim Research: Needs and Characteristics (Ontario Region) 

The 56 page report (downloadable pdf) is specific to the Ontario Region but surely applicable to others as well.  The report looks to the unmet needs of the family when murder, rape, child abuse, domestic violence and elder abuse occur.  While stranger or acquaintance crime gets some attention in the broader research, this specific area of family often does not.   Research findings begin on page 17 and recommendations on Page 40.   http://cfcn-rcafd.org/text/Family-VictimResearchReport.pdf

 CBC News – Canadian Press
Officer to stand trial in Sammy Yatim death 

Const. James Forcillo has been charged with second degree murder in the death last year of Sammy Yatim.  The young man was shot by Forcillo on a street bus.  The reports on the shooting involved nine shots and then Tasering of Yatim who was alone on the bus and armed with a pocket knife.  Forcillo’s  trial is expected to take place next year and the evidence from the preliminary hearing is under publication ban.  Forcillo is free on bail and has returned to administrative duties since February. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/officer-to-stand-trial-in-sammy-yatim-death-1.2678584

 CBC News
Opiate overdose deaths rising across Canada  

Deaths from opiate overdose is not limited to gangs and the shady part of town.  New research places a growing problem with the use of prescription drug pain-killers where Canada is the second highest user of opiates and where the overdose is ranked as the third highest cause of accidental death.  Data is fragmented with inconsistent reporting and identification of the wider problem.  One solution when education in opiate use fails is a second drug called naloxone which is an antidote to an overdose and could be prescribed with the opiate.  http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/opiate-overdose-deaths-rising-across-canada-1.2678820

 CBC News -Susan Ormiston
Special Report  – World Cup: ‘Sexy Brazil’ sees explosion in teen prostitutes

Here’s a timely reminder to us in Canada.  One of the consequences of hosting international sporting events is the influx, even the importation, of young girl prostitutes to serve the tourists as well as the domestic market.  Brazil has had a noticeable addition to the already sizeable practice of sex tourism – prostitution among very young girls whose poverty and lack of education often give them little other choice. Under-aged sex in Brazil can be prosecuted here in Canada on return.  http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/world-cup-sexy-brazil-sees-explosion-in-teen-prostitutes-1.2678812    Related article: Herald (Halifax, NS)  –  Paul McLeod   Tories draw line in sand over prostitution    http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1215926-news-analysis-tories-draw-line-in-sand-over-prostitution

 Association for the Prevention of Torture, the International Detention  Coalition, and the United Nations Refugee Agency
Monitoring Immigration Detention: Practical Manual 

A joint effort, the practical manual is intended to help those who are monitoring treatment in immigration detention as well as those who are running these facilities.  The Manual is 220 pages (downloadable free pdf) with good organization and indexing on topics of concern for both government and NGO’s.  Foreword is by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres.   http://idcoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/monitoring_immigration_detention.pdf

 Denner Law Blog (US)
There is No Link between Imprisonment and Crime Rate 

There is now in the US an on-going effort for the sake of both true justice and financial savings to reduce the number of people incarcerated, a number large enough to be described in most of the literature as ‘mass incarceration.’  The article chronicles the efforts to reduce the prison population while referencing the crime rates from the FBI and the Bureau of Justice.  http://www.dennerlaw.com/blog/link-imprisonment-crime-rate

 The Exponent (Perdue University)  Allie Hastings
Is America becoming more violent? 

The article notes the disconnect between the public perception and the media volume on the one hand and the reality Perdue researchers have found in crime stats for the last 10 years.  Publicly (media coverage for horrendous incidents) and private violence (violence between two people in unreported domestic scenes) accounts for some differences.  Access more immediately and from many additional news sources may account for some differences as well.  Additionally, the omnipresence of violence in all media may contribute to a de-sensitizing.   http://www.purdueexponent.org/city_state/article_83aa0848-9633-53d1-a50c-f761d8a60ff2.html

 The Detroit News – Michelle Weemhoff
Stop criminalizing our kids  

Here’s a silly thought.  Try the 17 year olds automatically as adults.  Then, when they sentenced as adults they can not access to the treatment programs put in place for juvenile offenders.  Since 2003, over 95% of youth treated as adults were 17 year old who also had a high frequency of related problems needing immediate attention.  44% had eleven or more placements outside the family; 78% had lost a friend to murder, 48% had lost a family member to murder.  Weemhoff is probably right: we can do more to criminalize children inside the justice system than outside it.  http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140619/OPINION01/306190002/Stop-criminalizing-our-kids