Effectiveness of interpersonal psychotherapy for community living depressed women involved with the justice system.

BACKGROUND: Despite the prevalence of depression among women in the justice system, and its potentially significant consequences, there is a dearth of studies investigating psychological treatments for depression in this context, especially outside prison. AIMS: Our aim was to gather preliminary data on whether individual interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) is an acceptable and effective treatment for depression in women at an early stage in the justice system. METHOD: In this pilot study, IPT was offered to 24 depressed women following their first or second contact with the justice system. The women were assessed using a range of scales to quantify depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and social support. Multilevel models were used to explore interactions between change in depression and other features given the multiplicity and complexity of problems. Details on engagement and attrition were also collected. RESULTS: Therapy attrition was low, despite challenging life-circumstances and depression scores followed a linear trajectory with scores significantly decreasing over the time (ß = -0.59, SE = 0.07, p < 0.001). Participants with more adverse life events, attachment related anxiety and lower social support had poorer outcomes. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Results are encouraging. More than half of the hard-to-reach women who were eligible did engage, and retention rates suggest the therapy was acceptable to them. Depression scores improved, and potential factors affecting treatment outcome were identified. A randomised controlled trial is now warranted, ensuring adequate supplementary support for women with dependants living on their own and without employment.

Communities Matter.

Given the enduring inequities in US health and health care, it is no surprise that particular communities are bearing the disproportionate brunt of the Covid-19 pandemic and our responses to it. Many ethical aspects of the pandemic involve diverse communities bound by race, ethnicity, disability, income, residence, age, and more. How does bioethics engage these communities in theory and in practice? Only faintly, despite Covid-19's relentless reminder that communities matter morally. This article sketches initial directions for developing a community-inclusive bioethics, one that understands communities as critical moral participants in the work of bioethics as well as in health and health care.

Evaluating Restorative Justice Circles of Support and Accountability: Can Social Support Overcome Structural Barriers?

In a climate in which stigmatic shaming is increasing for sex offenders as they leave prison, restorative justice practices have emerged as a promising approach to sex offender reentry success and have been shown to reduce recidivism. Criminologists and restorative justice advocates believe that providing ex-offenders with social support that they may not otherwise have is crucial to reducing recidivism. This case study describes the expressive and instrumental social support required and received, and its relationship to key outcomes, by sex offenders who participated in Circles of Support and Accountability (COSAs), a restorative justice, reentry program in Minnesota. In-depth interviews with re-entering sex offenders and program volunteers revealed that 75% of offenders reported weak to moderate levels of social support leaving prison, 70% reported receiving instrumental support in COSAs, and 100% reported receiving expressive support. Findings inform work on social support, structural barriers, and restorative justice programming during sex offender reentry.

Del control (los castigos insurgentes) a la autonomía (las sanciones comunitarias): elementos para la transición de la Justicia local en la Sierra de La Macarena / From control (insurgent punishments) to autonomy (community sanctions): elements for the transition of the local justice in la Sierra de la Macarena

El Sistema Jurídico Local de la Sierra de la Macarena se enfrenta al reto de la transición política en la postguerra colombiana. Puesto que este Sistema Jurídico integra prácticas de justicia insurgente, comunitaria y estatal, tras la dejación de armas que haga la insurgencia la capacidad de coerciónque integra la justicia local cesará. Esto implica que las sanciones dispuestas por los Manuales de Convivencia de las comunidades (multas, confiscaciones y trabajos comunitarios) deberán reforzarsu legitimidad; así mismo, las sanciones impuestas por la guerrilla para castigar la violación de sus regulaciones y/o mantener el orden (trabajos forzados, destierros, ejecuciones) han de ser superadas. Puesto que tal superación implica una transformación territorial, para hacerla es necesario reconocerlas condiciones sociales actuales. En este orden de ideas, se ofrece una caracterización del carácter penal del Sistema Jurídico Local y expone los principales elementos de sus sanciones. El texto se apoya en una etnografía socio jurídica de larga duración realizada en la zona.

The Local Legal System in La Sierra de la Macarena is facing the challenge of the political transition in the Colombian post war. Since this Legal System integrates insurgent, community, and state practices, after the abandonment of weapons that the insurgency makes, the ability of coercion that integratesthe local justice shall cease. This implies that sanctions provided by the Manuals of Coexistence of the communities (fines, confiscations, and community work) should strengthen their legitimacy. Likewise, the sanctions imposed by the guerrillas to punish the violation of its regulations and/orto maintain order (forced labor, exile, executions) have to be overcome. Since such an improvement implies a territorial transformation, in order to make it, it is necessary to recognize the current social conditions. In this order of ideas, a characterization of the criminal nature of the Local Legal System is provided and the main elements of its sanctions are set out. The text is supported by a long-standingsocial and legal ethnography, in the zone.

Las prácticas comunitarias de justicia local en la sierra de la Macarena: el pluralismo jurídico de cara a la reconstrucción del país en el post conflicto colombiano / Community practices of the local justice in “la sierra de la macarena: ”the juridical pluralism with an eye to the country reconstruction in the colombian post conflict

Este artículo presenta una caracterización de las instancias comunitarias de resolución deconflictos que desde hace más de una década son las encargadas de tramitar conflictos en la región de la Sierra de La Macarena, Colombia. El texto propone que la Justicia Local de esta región integra una serie de condiciones sociales que no solo podrán apoyar la transición sociopolítica de la región, en caso de llegarse a un acuerdo entre el estado colombiano y la insurgencia, sino que además vale la pena su sostenimiento en el tiempo por la apuesta de paz que representan. Para tal efecto, el artículo presenta un balance analítico del trabajoadelantado por Comités de Conciliación a partir de su caracterización y ofrece elementos claves para comprender la lógica y naturaleza de la justicia comunitaria de La Macarena.

This article presents a characterization of the community agencies in the resolution of conflicts, which over one decade are in charge of dealing with conflicts in the region of theSierra de La Macarena, Colombia. The text proposes that the local Justice in this region integrates a series of social conditions that not only be able to support the socio-political transition of the region, in case of reaching an agreement between the Colombian State and the insurgency, but it is also worth supporting it in time for the bet of peace that they represent. For this purpose, the article introduces an analytical balance of the work carriedout by the Conciliation Committees from its characterization and it provides key elements to understand the logic and nature of the community justice in La Macarena.