Pains of imprisonment in a “lock em’ up” video game: implications for a peacemaking discourse through new media experiences

A limited body of literature has explored popular media portrayals of the prison experience. Much of this literature has focussed on film and television. Scant literature has considered new forms of media such as video games’ portrayals of the prison experience. In the current inquiry we examine the computer simulation game, Prison Architect, with respect to how its interactive experience has the potential simultaneously portray and problematize pains of imprisonment, and how these portrayals and problematizations may prompt a public discourse surrounding prison, particularly from a peacemaking perspective, even if the game itself does not incorporate concepts such as restorative justice. To conduct this analysis, we examine game-developer video blogs that relayed information about the game as it was developed (e.g., game content, rationale for creation, and embedded political, social and philosophical orientations toward prisons, prisoners, and the prison-industrial complex). Ultimately we link pains of imprisonment in Prison Architect to the broader societal discourse surrounding rationales for incarceration (i.e., retribution, incapacitation, and rehabilitation) and consider implications for prison themed games, particularly those such as simulation games that afford players a broad degree of freedom, as vehicles through which to engage the public in discourse about prison that can adopt a more human-centered, peace-oriented approach.     

Blurring European and Islamic values or brightening the good – bad Muslim dichotomy? A critical analysis of French Muslim victims of Jihadi terror online on twitter and in Le Monde newspaper

Victimhood remains under analysed in the Critical Terrorism Studies literature, including the abilities of Muslim victims of terror attacks to blurring social boundaries and possibly de-securitise Muslims in Europe. This is of specific importance in France, which has not only suffered the most terror incidents in Europe in the past five years but also is a country where Muslims have been securitised for decades. This paper uses a mixed methods approach to analyse twitter data for the #jesuisahmed hashtag used to commemorate the Muslim police officer killed in the Charlie Hebdo attacks, and the le monde online memorials created in the wake of the Paris and Nice terror attacks. This analysis demonstrates French Muslim victimhood attacks blur Muslim social boundaries, influences the way that terror events are constructed and also present opportunities for the de-securitisation of Muslims in France. Muslim victimhood does this through three key themes – Muslims being situated as defenders of European values on twitter, Muslim biographies demonstrating “banality” in the le monde online memories and visual nuances of group identity through victim photos included in the le monde memorial. However, these narratives also can re-enforce a problematic good/bad Muslim dichotomy.     

Faith and palliative care: a partnership of care in low- and middle-income countries

ABSTRACT

The provision of holistic palliative care has been identified by WHO as a human right, important for all people, at all ages, with all life-limiting illnesses. When faced with death and dying, issues of meaning and relationships with others, the world, and with the sacred are intensified even more in communities where faith and spiritual beliefs have a significant place. Being able to understand the significance of dying and interpreting the experience and period of living with life-limiting illness, presents an important challenge for palliative care. This article sets out the contribution that faith communities have made in understanding the significance of spiritual issues in health and in delivering palliative care in lower to middle-income contexts where palliative care has been prioritised.     

Detection of Inflicted Bruises by Alternate Light: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial

Bruises are often difficult to detect on victims of violence, potentially impacting investigation and prosecution. The purpose of our randomized controlled trial was to measure the effectiveness of an alternate light source (ALS) within visible and long ultraviolet spectrums at improving bruise detection compared to white light over time. We also examined the effects of skin color, age, gender, localized fat, and injury mechanism on bruise detection. Participants included 157 healthy adults with balanced sampling across six skin color categories. Bruises were created under the controlled application of a paintball pellet and dropped weight to one upper and lower arm, respectively. Using a crossover design, both bruises were examined 21 times over 4 weeks. Ten different wavelength (350–535 nm) and filter (yellow, orange, red) combinations were used. Multilevel models were used to analyze 2903 examinations on both upper and lower arms. Results in multivariable models showed after controlling for other covariates 415 and 450 nm using a yellow filter had greater odds of detecting evidence of bruising than white light (Upper Arm: 415 nm: OR = 5.34, 95% CI: 4.35–6.56; 450 nm: OR = 4.08, 95% CI: 3.36–4.96). Under either light source, being female and having more localized fat had increased odds of detecting bruises created by the dropped weight (female: OR = 2.96, 95% CI: 2.37–3.70; fat: OR = 1.21, 95% CI: 1.09–1.34). Our results support ALS as an appropriate tool to enhance concurrent physical assessment of bruises in the presence of known history of injury. Future development and evaluation of clinical practice guidelines for ALS application are needed.     

Street justice: a theoretical paradigm

Three theoretical perspectives examine the role of justice as a means of informal social control and as a reactionary process to dynamics of social strain and subcultural demands. This theoretical analysis is then applied to concepts of justice, including retributive, distributive, restorative, and procedural. The derived street justice paradigm incorporates these various forms of justice as they are linked with cultural imperatives associated with street culture and street crime. The linking of these concepts provides a clearer understanding of the motives and means of exacting justice in a state of heightened relative strain that is pronounced by a preference for revenge and violence. Implications for policy, future study, and theoretical expansion are discussed with particular emphasis on the application of the paradigm to non‐street crime and to policies directed toward involving community members in the justice process.