Aug. 7, 2013
CTV News
Moms living in large cities most at risk for post-partum depression: study
Canada has seen repeated cases of the deaths of children in the context of post partum depression, most recently in the Gibson case in Winnipeg. Dr. Simone Vigod, the lead researcher and a psychiatrist at Women’s College Hospital, says that there’s a strong need for services designed to help isolated women in big cities increase their social connections. There is a 3% increase in large cities over the overall average of 7.5% for reported post-partum depressions.http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/moms-living-in-large-cities-most-at-risk-for-post-partum-depression-study-1.1399865#ixzz2bI9ZVrWn
CBC News – Amber Hildebrandt
State-of-art youth jail under scrutiny again – Ontario youth advocate calls for external probes in face of continued concerns
Irwin Elman, provincial advocate for child and youth for the province of Ontario, thinks that secrecy and the practice of staff investigating themselves for alleged misconduct – excessive force – at the youth facility needs to be replaced with investigators from the outside. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2013/08/06/f-roy-mcmurtry-youth-centre-ontario-report.html Full Report: It Depends on Who’s Working http://provincialadvocate.on.ca/documents/en/RMYC_report_en.pdf Related article: Toronto Star – Patty Winsa Roy McMurtry Youth Centre not living up to its promise, says advocate http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2013/08/07/roy_mcmurtry_youth_centre_not_living_up_to_its_promise_says_advocate.html
CBC News – Kathleen Harris
Isolation of inmates rising in crowded prisons – Ombudsman concerned segregation being used to house ‘marginalized, vulnerable’ inmates
Access to information by the CBC reveals a 15% increase in the use of solitary confinement in Canadian prisons. Howard Sapers, the Correctional investigator, sees a need for some to be segregated but not as many as we are seeing and not for as long as we are seeing. Says Sapers: “Canadian penitentiaries are becoming very crowded, and when they are crowded they are much more difficult to manage,” he said. Sapers also raised concerns that a disproportionate number of aboriginals, offenders with mental health issues and women are held away from the general prison population.” http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2013/08/06/pol-prison-segregation-solitary-confinement.html
Calgary Sun – Ian Robertson
Forget other theories about crime stats in Canada, the end of leaded gas may be the cause of the drop
This article is a somewhat whimsical look at the persistent long term drop in crime rates and cause of the continuing downward spiral. http://www.calgarysun.com/2013/07/26/forget-other-theories-about-crime-stats-in-canada-the-end-of-leaded-gas-may-be-the-cause-of-the-drop
The Independent – Chloe Combi
The real Bad Girls – London’s female gang culture investigated
Combi spent several weeks with an unnamed girls’ gang trying to penetrate the externals of the girls’ gang culture. Gang rapes, honeytraps and the nature of street time, the attraction of the life and the profitability, all come in for discussion. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/the-real-bad-girls–londons-female-gang-culture-investigated-8748938.html
Blogger David Mixner.com (US)
What States Have The Most Prisoners?
In case you thought that sentencing practices singularly account for the mass incarceration, Mixner has another: he is suggesting that the practices around enforcement also speak to the issue. He presents ten states with their incarceration rate against population, the total sentenced rate, the violent crime rate and the poverty rate. And Texas is not the worst! http://www.davidmixner.com/2013/08/what-states-have-the-most-prisoners.html
Times News (Tennessee) – Hank Hayes
‘Recovery Court’: New state facility to provide substance abuse treatment
State officials are aware that narcotics have now supplanted alcohol as the number one substance abuse problem and have responded with the establishment of a court to divert the addicted and the mentally ill from prison into treatment. The nine-month around the clock program will be part of the state’s Correctional Services. http://www.timesnews.net/article/9065873/recovery-court-new-state-facility-to-provide-substance-abuse-treatment
Vera Institute of Justice
Guardian Reporter
The US research body frequently linked in communiqué has begun a newsletter to help popularize some of its findings. You can link to the June version at:http://www.vera.org/sites/default/files/resources/downloads/the-guardian-reporter-june-2013.pdf
Canadian Harm Reduction / CATIE
Best Practice Recommendations for Canadian Harm Reduction Programs
The recommendations for best practices around drug use practices, HIV, HCV and other issues are based on current emerging evidence and reach a number of other issues as well. The link is a pdf file.http://www.catie.ca/en/printpdf/programming/best-practices-harm-reduction