October 2019

A new documentary film has recently been released called Conviction. It is self-described as A COLLABORATIVE DOCUMENTARY FILM THAT ENVISIONS ALTERNATIVES TO PRISON THROUGH THE EYES OF WOMEN BEHIND BARS I've recently seen the film and highly recommend it. The content is Canadian, but no doubt the issues the women deal with are universal.

By Emma Young, Big Think, October 3, 2019 Imagine seeing a photograph of a suffering child in the war-torn region of Darfur, in Sudan. Most of us would feel compassion towards that child. Now imagine seeing a photo of a group of eight children in the same terrible predicament. You'd feel correspondingly more compassion towards this larger group… right? Well, probably not. Plenty of studies have demonstrated what's known as the "numeracy bias" in compassion — that people's feelings of...

By Deborah Becker, WBUR, October 3, 2019 As Massachusetts considers changing the way it handles young criminal offenders, it is looking at what's happening north — specifically, to Vermont. Vermont is the first state to raise the age above 18 for when someone criminally charged goes to juvenile court, expanding what it's doing in hundreds of lower level criminal cases now. For example, this summer, in a small office in a nondescript government building in Burlington, Vermont, a seemingly...

By Kimberly Burrowes, How Housing Matters, October 2, 2019 Farmers’ markets, community gardens, and fruit stands provide local residents access to healthy, affordable food in many neighborhoods. In areas with fewer grocery stores, farmers’ markets can help close the food access gap. But they don’t serve every neighborhood, and today, one in eight Americans experiences food insecurity—and they’re primarily from low-income households and communities of color. Although physical and mental...

By Carolyn Krause, The Oak Ridger, October 2, 2019 A teenaged girl suffers a knee injury while playing varsity basketball and has an operation. About the same time her older brother has his four wisdom teeth extracted. To block their pain, her surgeon and his dentist prescribe hydrocodone, a powerful narcotic pill. Their parents, who never took such potent painkillers when their wisdom teeth were removed, worry that the opioids their kids are taking might lead them down the path to drug...

By Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, August 9, 2019 PURPOSE The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Prize elevates the compelling stories of community members throughout the country who are working together in new ways so that everyone can live their healthiest life possible, regardless of who they are or how much money they make. A Culture of Health recognizes that where we live—such as our access to affordable homes, quality schools, and reliable transportation—affects how long...

Please register TODAY for a free webinar on How to Use Neurofeeback To Help Improve or Resolve Mood Disorders, Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, & Eating Disorders Date of webinar: Saturday Oct 05, 2019 10:00 AM EDT Location: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1834785140957160707 In This 2 Hour Webinar, Discover How to Use Neurofeeback To Improve or Resolve Mood Disorders, Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, & Eating Disorders. This webinar will demonstrate what neurofeedback AKA...

By K. Hecht, P. Berman & A. Hosack Why is my teacher being so mean? She can’t make me do it. Mom, please don’t make me. Davy was dragging his book bag on the sidewalk as he trudged home. He had enjoyed school today until the end. That terrible last few minutes when the teacher said, “Father’s Day is coming up soon. Everyone is to draw a picture of their dad at home and bring it in to class to share tomorrow.” Davy couldn’t help himself, he just bounced out of his chair and yelled, “I...

"[Questioning Psychology] articulates the soul of the helping relationship"

By Joshua Benton, NiemanLab, September 30, 2019 People should consume news, right? I mean, that’s the underlying assumption of everything we do: that the work journalists do is valuable and important, and that the value and importance grows the more people read, watch, or listen to their work. If that’s true, what do we do with the fact that consuming news makes so many people feel so bad? Does that mean we’re doing our job, accurately reflecting a deeply screwy world for our audience? You...

By Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut, Inc., October 1, 2019 Interest in trauma-informed approaches across child-serving systems has surged in the past two decades. This interest has largely been in response to research showing that most children experience at least one potentially traumatic event by the age of 17 years 1 , together with the strong relation between childhood trauma exposure and problems with health, mental health, and other concerns across the life span. 2...

By Theodore M. Brown, American Journal of Public Health, September 4, 2019 This special section marks an important but troubling anniversary in US history, the arrival in October 1619 of 20 unfree African laborers who were brought as indentured servants. By the 1660s indentured servants were displaced and numerically overwhelmed by African slaves, who over the next two centuries helped build the US economy through the institution of chattel slavery. The six contributions to this section take...