scholarly journals “Humane Criminology”: An Inclusive Victimology Protecting Animals and People

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 335
Author(s):  
Phil Arkow

To those who primarily associate the word “humane” with “humane society”, its connection to criminology might appear to be unrelated. The origins of “humane” and “humane society” are complex and primarily reflect an abiding interest in human and societal welfare rather than animal welfare. Consequently, the origins and evolution of the current American association of humane societies with animal protection—as contrasted to its British association with rescuing victims of drowning—remain shrouded in mystery. A new focus that returns to the original roots of “humane” describing the implications of animal cruelty, abuse, and neglect as cause for human and societal concern due to their potential as sentinel indicators and predictors of interpersonal violence, rather than a strict focus on animals’ welfare or their alleged “rights”, holds great promise for advancing legislation and community programming that improves the well-being of human and non-human animal species and the prevention of crime.

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa A. Robinson

Behavioral economics and happiness research have many important implications for the conduct of benefit-cost analysis as well as for policy design and implementation. By identifying ways in which we may act irrationally and providing new perspectives on the relationship between our circumstances and our sense of well-being, this research raises numerous questions regarding the evaluation of individual and societal welfare and the desirability of alternative policies. In this special issue, we present a series of articles that explore these concerns and provide significant new insights.


2021 ◽  
pp. 152483802110360
Author(s):  
Nutmeg Hallett ◽  
Joanna Garstang ◽  
Julie Taylor

Kinship care is a global phenomenon with a long history, which in high-income countries (HICs) at least, is being increasingly formalized through legislation and policy. There are many benefits to kinship care, including improved child mental health and well-being when compared to other types of out-of-home care. Despite this, kinship care is not without its risks with a lack of support and training for kinship carers putting children at an increased risk of abuse and neglect. This scoping review was conducted across 11 databases to explore the breadth and depth of the literature about abuse and neglect within kinship care in HICs and to provide initial indications about the relationship between kinship care and abuse. Of the 2,308 studies initially identified, 26 met the inclusion criteria. A majority of studies were from the United States, and most used case review methods. From the included studies, rates of re-abuse, and particularly rates of physical and sexual abuse, appear to be lower in kinship care settings when compared to other out-of-home care settings, but rates of neglect are often higher. This review has demonstrated that a small but significant number of children living in kinship care experience neglect or abuse.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 484-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Baffour Adjei

One of the functions of psychological science is to develop concepts for thinking about people and their well-being. Since its establishment as a scientific discipline in the late 19th century, psychology has developed concepts that are essentially rooted in the specific spatio-temporal context of Western, Educated, Industrial, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) countries. There is a growing ontological and epistemological awareness that psychological science and practices from WEIRD cultural spaces cannot be exclusively representative of the African experience. I draw from interpersonal violence research to discuss the concepts of personhood, agency, and morality from an African perspective and highlight their theoretical and practical utility for psychological science. Based on African communalism, I argue that an understanding of personhood, agency, and morality as culturally contextualised and socially intentioned phenomena is foundational to the advancement of heterogeneous practices of knowledge production in diverse contexts.


2020 ◽  
pp. 088626052096716
Author(s):  
Rachel J. Voth Schrag ◽  
Leila G. Wood ◽  
Dixie Hairston ◽  
Cynthia Jones

Demonstrated impacts of intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual assault (SA) for college students include negative outcomes related to mental, physical, emotional, and academic well-being. As a result of increasing awareness of the long-standing epidemic of IPV and SA on college campuses, Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) are expanding the services provided to survivors of IPV and SA, including campus-based advocacy services that are adapted from community models. Like community advocacy, campus-based advocacy services focus on empowerment, support, resource provision, and addressing safety needs. However, the unique context of higher education produces specific student-centered needs, including an increased focus on educational goals, academic accommodations, and safety planning. The current study seeks to shed new light on the specific foci and tasks of advocacy in the context of IHEs, related to what we call “academic safety planning,” and to highlight the experience of student service recipients utilizing these forms of advocacy. Thematic analysis of 48 qualitative interviews with advocates ( n = 23) and service users ( n = 25) from five programs at three universities was used to discover practices applied by campus-based advocates and to understand student-survivor needs and preferences within academic safety planning. Findings reveal the core components of academic safety planning, which are: (a) Advocating for emotional and physical safety in the university context, (b) Assessing and identifying needed academic accommodations, and (c) rebuilding connections and institutional trust at school. These interviews reveal that academic safety planning has the potential to enhance the academic outcomes of survivors, which in turn could lead to important improvements in long-term personal safety, well-being, and economic security for student-survivors.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 3708
Author(s):  
Stefanie Jung ◽  
Jonas Kneer ◽  
Tillmann H. C. Krüger

Preliminary data indicates that the Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 disease (COVID-19) pandemic may have a substantial impact on mental health and well-being. We assessed mental health in response to the lockdown in Germany between 1 April 2020 and 15 April 2020 using a cross-sectional online survey (n = 3545) with a mixed-methods approach. We found increased levels of psychosocial distress (Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) stress module), anxiety, depressive symptoms (PHQ-4), irritability, and a decrease in overall well-being (WHO-Five Well-Being Index (WHO-5)), sense of coherence (Short Form of the Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC-L9)), sexual contentment, and sleep quality. The four-week-prevalence of interpersonal violence was yet at 5% and included verbal, physical, and sexual violence. Participants reported finding comfort in family, friends, conversation, exercise, and activity. Findings are also in line with research showing that women seem to have more trouble coping with the pandemic and lockdown measures. Our observations demonstrate that the COVID-19 pandemic and related measures lead to a mental health burden even in a highly developed Western country and should, therefore, be taken seriously. The findings for interpersonal violence are alarming. Thus, we should sharpen our focus on the matter and activate and enhance supporting systems to help protect those affected.


2020 ◽  
pp. 088626052093851
Author(s):  
Mingqi Li ◽  
Edward C. Chang ◽  
Olivia D. Chang

With the growth of positive psychology during the past two decades, increased research has been focused on identifying human virtues that not only foster well-being but also act as positive processes that mitigate the impact of life adversities. Thus, it is useful to examine how positive processes, such as hope, may impact individuals’ psychological adjustment following adversities. This study investigated the relationships among interpersonal violence, hope, as a key human strength, and negative affect conditions in a large sample ( N = 737) of Chinese male and female ( Nfemale = 409) college students. Participants completed measures assessing prior exposure to interpersonal violence, levels of both hope components (i.e., agency and pathways), negative affect, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation. Results from correlational analyses showed that exposure to interpersonal violence was positively and hope was negatively correlated with negative affective conditions. However, hope agency was more strongly correlated with those outcomes than hope pathways. In addition, three separate hierarchical regression analyses indicated that after accounting for demographics (i.e., age and sex) and interpersonal violence, within hope components, only hope agency remained as strong concurrent predictors of negative affective conditions. The present findings in this Chinese sample are consistent with those obtained from Turkey and the United States samples, adding evidence to the more robust role of hope, and hope agency in particular, in predicting negative psychological adjustment associated with interpersonal violence. Efforts made to address the absence of hope agency may be particularly important in future attempts to mitigate negative affective conditions linked to interpersonal violence among Chinese college students.


2005 ◽  
Vol 153 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Rix ◽  
P Laurberg ◽  
A S Hoejberg ◽  
B Brock-Jacobsen

Objective: The use of a growth hormone (GH) receptor antagonist, pegvisomant has shown great promise in adults with acromegaly, but experience in paediatric patients is lacking. We aimed to describe the results of pegvisomant therapy in a 12-year-old girl with an aggressive GH-secreting pituitary tumour. Design: To evaluate the ability of pegvisomant therapy to control the effects of peripheral GH excess in a case of pituitary gigantism. Methods: Pegvisomant was introduced at 10 mg/day, given subcutaneously, and gradually increased to 20 mg/day until serum IGF-I was normal for age. Results: A large pituitary adenoma with suprasellar extension was diagnosed in a 12-year-old girl with progressive tall stature (178 cm), GH hypersecretion without suppression during oral glucose loading (nadir serum GH, 90 mU/l), high serum IGF-I and serum prolactin levels. Surgical extirpation was not possible because tumour tissue was fibrous and adherent to the optical nerves. Histological examination showed a mixed GH- and prolactin-secreting adenoma with lymphocytic infiltration of B and T cells. Treatment with a dopamine agonist, cabergoline, normalized serum prolactin, but GH secretion was resistant to both somatostatin analogue, octreotide and cabergoline. Radiation followed by pegvisomant therapy titrated up in dose to 20 mg/day led to a marked reduction in GH secretion and normalization of IGF-I, and to growth arrest and improvement of well-being. Conclusions: We suggest that treatment in pituitary gigantism with pegvisomant is safe and may normalize IGF-I levels and effectively stop growing.


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