Electronic monitoring,an alternative way of preventing aggression and helping social rehabilitation

Abstract

It has been said that Criminal Law is violence not only because of what it punishes, but also because of the way it does it. Violence is present in all human relationships, and as such, it is consubstantial to every system of social control. Despite this, the failure of imprisonment has not been its severity, but its inefficiency regarding social rehabilitation. This lack of efficiency can be palliated through the use of alternative systems of electronic monitoring in the penitentiary context. These alternative systems will not only enable an effective solution to the problem of overcrowded prisons, but will also mitigate the harmful effects of prison. Moreover, these alternative systems represent a good method to prevent future aggressions as well as to facilitate the offender's social rehabilitation. From this point of view, we will first explain the programs of electronic monitoring in Spain and second we will evaluate them in terms of social rehabilitation, cost-benefit analysis, human rights restrictions, privatization and overcrowding in prisons.     

Engaging Intercollegiate Athletes in Preventing and Intervening in Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

Objective: The object of this exploratory evaluation was to evaluate the “Bringing in the Bystander” sexual and intimate partner violence prevention program with a new sample of intercollegiate athletes. Participants and Methods: Fifty-three male and female athletes participated in the program (experimental group), and 86 were in the control group. All completed pretest, posttest, and 2-month follow-up surveys, including assessment of rape myth acceptance, intent to engage in bystander behaviors, bystander confidence, and bystander behaviors. Results: The program worked overall and for both women and men, improved bystander confidence and intent to engage in bystander behaviors, and did not create significant backlash effects (ie, worsening of attitudes as a result of program). Conclusions: The program fits with the intent of the National Collegiate Athletic Association CHAMPS/Life Skills program regarding its focus on the overall development of student-athletes and demonstrates the promising bystander approach compatible with the 2007 American College Health Association toolkit, Shifting the Paradigm: Primary Prevention of Sexual Violence.     

The contribution of the psychosocial work environment to sickness absence in human service workers: Results of a 3-year follow-up study

We investigated to what extent psychosocial work characteristics predict sickness absence in a cohort of 890 human service professionals (84% women), followed-up for 3 years. We measured 16 different psychosocial work characteristics at baseline and analysed their associations with number of sickness absence days at follow-up using multivariate Poisson regression. In addition, we computed a psychosocial work environment index, summarizing eight psychosocial scales. Participants with exposure to violence and threats, high emotional demands, high demands for hiding emotions, low influence at work, low meaning of work, low quality of management, and role conflicts had an increased number of sickness absence days at follow-up, after adjustment for numerous confounders. Adjusting for sickness absence history caused little change in most effect estimates. Scoring in the most adverse quartile of the psychosocial work environment index was associated with a 71% increase in sickness absence days. Improving the psychosocial work environment index and eliminating exposure to violence and threats would have prevented 32% of all sickness absence days in the study population. In particular we found that exposure to violence was a strong predictor of absence. This study shows that a wide range of psychosocial work characteristics contribute to sickness absence in human service workers. Improving the psychosocial work environment might help to reduce sickness absence in this population.     

Risk Factors for Clinically Significant Intimate Partner Violence Among Active‐Duty Members

Hypothesized risk factors for men's and women's clinically significant intimate partner violence (CS‐IPV) from four ecological levels (i.e., individual, family, workplace, community) were tested in a representative sample of active‐duty U.S. Air Force members (N = 42,744). When considered together, we expected only individual and family factors to account for unique variance in CS‐IPV perpetration. Hypothesized factors from all four ecological levels were related to men's CS‐IPV perpetration bivariately, but, as expected, only individual and family factors accounted for unique variance across ecological levels. For women, only risk factors from the individual and family levels were significantly related to CS‐IPV perpetration even bivariately. Results imply somewhat different risk profiles across gender and identify ecological risk factors of men's CS‐IPV not previously studied.     

Redirecting the Lives of Urban Black Males:

Midnight Basketball is one example of a new generation of social resource programs which are designed to mend the social fabric of inner city communities. In this paper, we present the results of an evaluation of Milwaukee's Midnight Basketball League, In the Paint at One Two, which indicates that the ''returns'' on the money invested in the program are far greater than the returns on the enormously popular punitive and paternalistic policies and programs currently advocated at all levels of government. During the first year, the Midnight Basketball program (1) reduced crime rates by 30% in the target area, (2) created a safe haven in which participants (and the fans) could engage in positive social activities, (3) channeled the energy of gang members in a positive direction, and (4) significantly improved the educational and career aspirations of program participants. Nearly all of the participants indicate that such leagues should be developed throughout the city of Milwaukee.     

Exploring the Moderating Influence of Delinquent Peers on the Link Between Trauma, Anger, and Violence Among Male Youth: Implications for Social Work Practice

This study’s objective was to explore the influence of delinquent peer exposure, on the relationship between male youths’ histories of trauma, anger, and violent behavior. Using a nationally representative sample of male adolescents aged 12–17 and self report interviews, information was gathered on their levels of exposure to violence, stressful life events (SLE), anger, depression, delinquent peer exposure, and violent behavior. Results of a moderation analyses revealed that youth who reported higher levels of exposure to trauma, anger, and delinquent peers were at an increased risk for anger and for violent offending. Delinquent peer exposure exerted a significant interaction effect on the relationship between anger and violent offending. The implications for prevention and intervention efforts are delineated.     

Can social workers and police be partners when dealing with bikie-gang related domestic violence and sexual assault?

Welfare and criminal justice systems manifest different goals, cultures, values and working methods. In Australia, the welfare sector has a culture of empowerment and concern for victims’ rights, within which social workers focus on social justice and social change. In contrast, the criminal justice sector (police) is patriarchal and para-military in structure, focusing on enforcing and maintaining community order and safety. These differences can create tension when social workers and police need to work as partners in response to violence against women, in particular violence against women from bikie gangs. This article addresses the issue of partnerships between social workers and police when working with abused bikie-gang women. It presents the findings of recent research into social work practice with such women in South Australia, in conjunction with a brief exploration of the international literature on social work and police cultures, and partnerships. It concludes that whilst there is a great need for genuine collaboration and partnership between social workers and police in the complex context of domestic violence with links to organised crime, the cultures and mandates of these different professions make this difficult.     

匿名、假名与实名之别（上）——以铜须事件为例解析网络论坛中的网民行为

我国网络论坛存在实名与非实名两种进入方式的区分,非实名网络论坛又有注册登录与双重登录两种管理形式,以IP地址、假名和实名3种身份识别标志对网民进行管理。以铜须事件为例,对3种不同身份识别管理模式下网民的行为进行研究,结果显示实名网民与非实名网民存在巨大差别,实名网民具有理性、客观的特点,而非实名网民表现出非理性、暴力的特点。非实名论坛中两种身份识别的网民在行为上区别不大。     

REGULATION AND CONTROL OF SUBJECTIVITY AND PRIVATE LIFE IN THE CONTEXT OF ARMED CONFLICT IN COLOMBIA1

A qualitative study was carried out in four municipalities in four different conflict zones in Colombia. Intrafamilial violence and gender violence are studied through the testimonies of the people interviewed. The impact was analysed in terms of the exercise of control over the civilian population by paramilitaries in relation to subjectivity, the family, social networks and the prevailing moral order. In effect, the strengthening of barriers between traditional gender identities has enabled a de-structuring of traditional masculinity through moral co-optation, the reinforcement of traditional feminine identity and the objectification of the sexuality of young women, at the same time as they are manipulated sexually and emotionally. In general, strong legitimation of the model of the armed fighter as a paradigm of masculinity is found in children. In addition, the de-structuring of the family and its manipulation as a means of influence over civil society is one of the strategies employed for the installation of a regime of terror that fractures social networks. It does this through the erosion of confidence and the legitimation and mystification of the power of an actor whose mediation in inter-family and micro-social conflicts has been legitimated, instrumentalizing and scaling up traditional violence, taking advantage of the power vacuum and moral weaknesses in local culture.     

Female Adolescents, the Experience of Violence, and the Meaning of the Body

Female adolescents who have experienced violence often struggle to maintain a sense of agency and control over their own bodies—bodies that have been objectified through direct physical assault. In order to understand more fully the impact of direct violence on the meaning of the body for female adolescents, the author discusses normative aspects of the meaning of the body and their relationship to the developmental processes of individuation and connectedness as well as subjectivity and objectivity. Case vignettes are used to explore the intersection of violence and the meaning and use of the body for female adolescents. Implications for intervention are proposed.