The Scylla State. A gendered understanding of the experiences of marginalised women in the United Kingdom

Since the formation of the 2012 Coalition government, the UK has been subject to 12 years of neoliberal policy enacted with ferocity and vigour. This has comprised austerity measures including the retrenchment of welfare via the reshaping of the welfare state and public services according to business practices, ideals of individual responsibilisation and overwhelmingly, the notion of reducing the state's ideological and fiscal responsibility for equity and social welfare. The neoliberal state has been conceptualised by Loic Wacquant as a Centaur, boasting a liberal head, yet one atop an authoritarian body whose focus is the designated ‘underclasses’, the socially and economically non-compliant. The Centaur takes away with one hand while ruling punitively with the other, specifically via ‘prisonfare’ and ‘workfare’ to compel submission to precarious and sub-par employment. Although compelling, the Centaur State is justifiably critiqued for its blindness to gender and focus upon the manifestation of neoliberalism in the States. By exploring the stories of 23 women in the UK with histories of survival sex working and problematic drug use, a distinct gendered alternative reality emerges of the operation and machinations of the neoliberal state. Rather than a Centaur, marginalised women experience the Scylla State, a covert, hydra-headed beast motivated by neo-Victorian ideals of ‘womanfare’. The operations of the Scylla State are unpredictable, replicate traumatising interpersonal experiences and variously involve surveillance, coercion, conditionality and the responsibilisation of victimhood to justify increasingly punitive responses to women's survival strategies in the face of increasing trauma and deprivation.     

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CSAT Letter on Take‐Homes: Methadone Treatment Providers Cry Foul State Lawmakers, Prosecutors Continue to Target Pregnant Substance Users California Tackles Meth Use by Gay and Bisexual Men Praise for New Mexico's ‘Four‐Pillar’ Approach to Methamphetamine Bush Budget Promises Flexibility on Use of NOMs Performance Awards Briefly Noted State Watch Coming up     

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Bordering States of N.Y., N.J. Miles Apart in Curbing Smoking in Treatment Centers DSM‐V Diagnostic Criteria to Move Away From ‘Abuse’ and ‘Dependence’ Stimulus Funds can be Used Creatively to Fund Addiction Treatment More Than Parity: Insurance Reform Must Include Addiction NIAAA vs. NIDA Screening Tools Briefly Noted Marijuana Found to Improve Compliance With Naltrexone Treatment State News Call for Comment Coming up     

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Omnibus Spending Bill Passed; SAPT Block Grant Increased, ‘Tap’ Eliminated Leaders Urge Diversified Approach to Advocacy at the State Level Pre‐Conviction Diversion is Best for Outcomes: TASC Report Study Finds Lack of Medicaid Providers May Limit Access to SUD Treatment Drug Courts Found Biased against Methadone, Buprenorphine Briefly Noted State News Names in the News Coming up     

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Will SUDs Get ‘Lost’ in New Three‐Part Alliance? Even after Final Rule on Parity, Providers May Have to Be Activists Outsider Comments on Alliance California Suspends 16 Programs from Medicaid Payments SAMHSA Warns of Fentanyl‐Laced Heroin and Cocaine ‘Sex Addiction’ May Not Be a Brain Disease: Research Weiss and Carnes Critique Study Briefly Noted State News Coming up     

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SAMHSA Budget: Good News for BG and Prevention, but New Insurance Tap North Dakota Center Hopes State Will Shore Up Financial Picture SA‐MH Integration in LA: People with COD Come First Cape Cod Times Series Focuses on Opioids, Insurance Problems Glitches and Still No Parity for Health Care Reform Obamacare: ‘Navigators’ are Replacing Insurance Brokers State News Coming up     

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Researchers Call Rapid Opioid Detox Unsafe ‘Charitable Choice’ Still in Flux as Religious Organizations Compete for Treatment Grants Payers and Ultra Rapid Detox Resource One State's Missive on Charitable Choice Charitable Choice and Access to Recovery Tainted Heroin Caused Cardiovascular Effects in First Part of 2005 Coordination Urged Between Corrections and State Substance Abuse Directors State Prison Population Briefly Noted Resources Coming up     

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Federal Sentencing Reform May Not Mean Much to State Inmates Scathing California Audit Faults State Agencies for Allowing SUD Fraud Centers Still Trying to Maximize Impact of Scattered Social Media New Mass. Law Aims to Stop Lab and Sober Home Billing Fraud CDC Gives Five States $1 Million Each for Rx Drug OD Prevention Hypocrisy from the NFL: Passing Out Painkillers SAMHSA Says ‘RT’ in SBIRT Stands for Referral, Not Treatment Briefly Noted Coming up     

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Screening Adolescents for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Issues Will Expand with Federal, State and Local Efforts Ohio, Pennsylvania Screening Efforts Benefit From State Leadership California Screening Efforts Just Getting Started SAMHSA Reauthorization, Medicaid, Medicare Present Challenges, Opportunities for Advocates Advocates See SAMHSA Reauthorization As An Opportunity to Advance Agenda Making a Life in the Community for Everyone a Reality for America: The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Does the Mental Health System Need Its Own ‘Apollo Program’? Necessary Steps for Mental Health Transformation     

News from the Coalface

There is much theoretical and strategic discussion of the State as a player in gender reform, but there is still a need to understand how gender reform processes work within public sector agencies. Evidence on this question is drawn from a field study of NSW (Australia) government agencies. Knowledge of gender equity measures is widespread among public sector workers but it is very uneven in depth. Participation in programmes is also very uneven, though more common among women. Programmes that appear ‘family-friendly’ are more widely accepted than ‘enhancement’ programmes directed to women, which are often thought unfair to men. Men are more likely to be cool towards gender equity measures though significant numbers now support gender equality, and overt ‘backlash’ attitudes are uncommon. Opinions about feminism as a movement are strongly divided. Feminist programmes are becoming routinized, a key process in large-scale change. Consequences of these patterns for gender equity strategy can be identified. Proposals are offered for making routinized programmes more effective, and for ‘re-gendering’ gender equity strategy.     

Contested Concepts in Violence Against Women: ‘Intimate’, ‘Domestic’ or ‘Torture’?

Abstract

Ritualistic, overwhelmingly violent bikie gang or cult-inflicted abuse of women, entrenched by co-opting third party cult or gang members, has been referred to as ‘domestic violence’, ‘intimate violence’ or ‘intimate partner violence’. The present article questions the aptitude of these terms to convey the realities of this violence, in light of the experiences of women attending a South Australian domestic violence service, all of whom were escaping violent partners who were members or associates of bikie gangs and cults. The paper asks, ‘is torture an appropriate term for such violence?’ and discusses the impact of social, legal, organisational and human rights parallel states that collaborate to make it almost impossible for these women to escape this violence and make it difficult for social workers to work effectively with them. The paper concludes that the State needs to adopt a human rights rather than legal focus when addressing the issue of violence against women.     

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Cuts to Addiction Treatment in Utah Averted – for Now Leading Researcher Tells R.I. Audience to Emphasize Clients in System Change How to Lobby for Treatment Funds Washington Cuts Treatment Funding Immediately NAATP and the Economy: ‘Uncharted Territory’ Briefly Noted State News Resources Names in the News Business Coming up     

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E-Therapy Seen as Having Many Applications on Treatment Continuum SAMHSA, Researchers Step Up Efforts to Treat Co-Occurring Disorders Manufacturers Focus on Tamper-Resistant Opioid Formulations SAMHSA Creates Customized e-Mails in New ‘eNetwork’ Program Profile Areas for eNetwork Hazelden Uses Equine Therapy for Some Extended-Stay Patients NREPP Briefly Noted State Watch Names in the News Resources Coming up     

Stepping forward to help communication: The ‘mediatrices interculturelles’ in underprivileged areas in France

The article reports on the findings of a large study carried out in France on the role and activities of women working with migrants in underprivileged areas in (mostly) French suburban cities and how they have come to mediate between migrants, but also, underprivileged individuals in general, and local authorities. The work of these ‘médiatrices interculturelles’ exemplifies in various ways the urban policy of the French State instituted by the former socialist government whilst still maintaining the ‘universalist’ profile that characterizes French multiculturalism.     

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NDIIC to Help States Upgrade Behavioral Health IT With Open‐Source System New Research Illustrates Breakthrough in Primary Care Screening for Drug Use Union Plan in Rhode Island Must ‘Approve’ MH/SA Programs Federal Government Establishes Safe Harbor for Office Visit Cost‐Sharing Briefly Noted State News Names in the News Coming up     

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SBI Plus Referral to Treatment has Potential to Positively Impact Addiction Workforce Peer‐Based Workforce Continues to Grow, Linking to Treatment Federal Employees Now Covered for SBI BLS Data: Counselor Workforce Will Grow 34 Percent by 2016 Training Requirements to Expand Treatment Capacity ‘Welcoming’ May not Create Unsafe Work Environment Briefly Noted State Watch Coming up     

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New Jersey Drug Court Expansion: A Question of Timing and Scale Experience in Justice Leads TC to Work with Other Populations GAO Report Finds Plans Still Exclude Treatments for SUDs New York Moves to Eliminate ‘Stop‐and‐Frisk’ Marijuana Arrests Rx Database Law Signed in Tennessee Briefly Noted State News Names in the News Coming up     

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Private Programs Use More Charity Care and Start Cutting Some Costs OASAS Vows to Serve Current Clients in Parolee Programs Losing N.Y. Funding Report Stresses Need to Add Primary Care Component SAMHSA Recognizes Organizations for Evidence‐Based Interventions NIAAA Grant to Study ‘Smart Phone’ Technology for Aftercare Briefly Noted State Watch Resources Names in the News Coming up