Most in Need But Least Served: Legal and Practical Barriers to Special Immigrant Juvenile Status for Federally Detained Minors

Abused, neglected, and abandoned immigrant youth face numerous obstacles to physical safety, including potential repatriation (deportation) to abusive caretakers from whom they fled. In recognition of the special needs of abused children, Congress enacted Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) to provide a previously unavailable child welfare defense to deportation. The remedy is contingent upon a State court declaration that the youth is, in fact, in need of protection. However, unlike their counterparts in foster care or guardianships, youth detained by the federal government face numerous practical and legal roadblocks to accessing the necessary State court declarations. This article identifies several gaps in State laws which impede detained youths' access to State court declarations, and proposes several remedies which would enable the States to carry out Congress' intent that detained youth have access to SIJS, regardless of detention status.     

Treating offenders with mental illness: a research synthesis

The purpose of this research synthesis was to examine treatment effects across studies of the service providers to offenders with mental illness. Meta-analytic techniques were applied to 26 empirical studies obtained from a review of 12,154 research documents. Outcomes of interest in this review included measures of both psychiatric and criminal functioning. Although meta-analytic results are based on a small sample of available studies, results suggest interventions with offenders with mental illness effectively reduced symptoms of distress, improving offender's ability to cope with their problems, and resulted in improved behavioral markers including institutional adjustment and behavioral functioning. Furthermore, interventions specifically designed to meet the psychiatric and criminal justice needs of offenders with mental illness have shown to produce significant reductions in psychiatric and criminal recidivism. Finally, this review highlighted admission policies and treatment strategies (e.g., use of homework), which produced the most positive benefits. Results of this research synthesis are directly relevant for service providers in both criminal justice and mental health systems (e.g., psychiatric hospitals) as well as community settings by informing treatment strategies for the first time, which are based on empirical evidence. In addition, the implications of these results to policy makers tasked with the responsibility of designating services for this special needs population are highlighted.     

‘Monsters don’t bother me anymore’ forensic mental health service users’ experiences of acceptance and commitment therapy for psychosis

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for psychosis (ACTp) is an approach that aims to change the relationship an individual with psychosis has with difficult thoughts, emotions and experiences. It promotes the use of acceptance, defusion, mindfulness and focussing on valued outcomes as opposed to struggling with psychotic experiences. This service evaluation project explored service users’ experiences and meanings of ACTp within a medium secure mental health service. Thematic analysis was used to analyse interviews with 10 male service users. Four main themes emerged from the data: ‘Recovery’, ‘Insight’, ‘Developing Skills’ and ‘Accessibility’. Overall, service users viewed their experience of ACTp positively and identified encouraging therapeutic outcomes. These findings suggest that ACTp is an approach that should be considered a therapeutic option within forensic mental health contexts. These outcomes were compared with previous research findings. Limitations of the study, clinical implications and ideas for future research have been discussed.     

The Alexander memorandum

ABSTRACT

British officials knew a good deal about the upsurge in malignity following the terrible euphoria of the Anschluss in March 1938. Word even reached a British consul working under Sir Frederick Leith-Ross in China. Alexander made his way from the Far East to Germany, the place where he had spent contented days as a student, in order to negotiate the release of a Jewish friend from Dachau. Negotiations were progressing nicely until they were interrupted by the outburst of destructive fury against Germany’s Jews in November 1938. As talks faltered in a febrile atmosphere of Jew-hatred, Alexander used his connections to gain access to a member of the Nazi aristocracy. The British diplomat got more than he bargained for. The senior Nazi made a shocking proposal. He outlined an incredible scheme that, he claimed, would lead to permanent peace between Germany and Britain. His plan uncannily presaged details of the Final Solution three years before its implementation. This information quickly made its way back to London and indeed to the British Foreign Secretary himself, Lord Halifax. So, how would the Foreign Office react? Wallis’s article tells the story of a forgotten memorandum, one that challenges whether theories concerning the limits of the British imagination are sufficient to explain British inaction in the face of massive anti-Jewish persecution and violence.     

Fatal intoxication involving 2-methyl AP-237

Novel synthetic opioids contribute considerably to the opioid epidemic, especially with the frequent emergence of structurally similar compounds. This case report describes a fatal intoxication involving 2-methyl AP-237. A 54-year-old Caucasian male was found deceased from an apparent drug overdose. A plastic container labeled “2MAP” and a cut straw were found in the decedent's backpack at the scene. A white substance found in the container tested positive for fentanyl by field testing. According to his medical history, the decedent was treated for a drug overdose 3 years prior to his death. With no diagnostic findings at autopsy, the case was submitted for toxicological analysis. An unknown substance was detected in peripheral blood and urine using gas chromatography with nitrogen phosphorous detection (GC-NPD). Further testing was conducted using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-QTOF-MS) which confirmed the presence of 2-methyl AP-237 and potential metabolites in blood and urine. Quantitation by GC-NPD revealed concentrations of 2-methyl AP-237 in blood and urine at 480 ng/mL and 4200 ng/mL, respectively. The toxicological analysis also identified and quantitated alprazolam in the blood at 55 ng/mL. Additionally, the metabolism of 2-methyl AP-237 was investigated and three hydroxylated metabolites were identified in peripheral blood and urine. Limited literature is available for the detection and quantitation of 2-methyl AP-237 in postmortem specimens. Given the toxicological findings with unremarkable autopsy findings, this case is an example of a fatal intoxication involving 2-methyl AP-237.     

What Determines Ethical Behavior in Public Organizations: Is It Rules or Leadership?

Leadership is widely seen as having an important role in fostering ethical conduct in organizations, but the ways in which the actions of leaders intersect with formal ethics regulation in shaping conduct have been little researched. This article examines this issue through a qualitative study of the operation of the “ethical framework” for English local government, which entailed all councils adopting a code of conduct to regulate the behavior of local politicians. Studying local government provides an opportunity to examine how personal and managerial factors combine to influence ethical conduct and to analyze the ways in which ethical leadership is exercised through multiple people in leadership roles (politicians and managers). The article finds that organizations that exhibit consistently good conduct have multiple leaders who demonstrate good conduct but also act to preempt the escalation of problems and thereby minimize the explicit use of ethics regulation.     

Just Relations: The Story of Mary Bennett's Crusade for Aboriginal Rights

Just Relations: The Story of Mary Bennett's Crusade for Aboriginal Rights. By Alison Holland (Perth: UWA Publishing, 2015), pp. xv + 453. AU$45.00 (pb).     

Procedural Justice,Outcome Favorability and Emotion

This study investigated the effects of procedural justice on discrete emotional responses. Based upon the cognitive appraisal model of emotion, it was argued that the experience of procedural justice (or injustice) allows individuals to derive meaning from favorable and unfavorable allocation decisions. Thus, procedural justice works with outcome favorability to produce a variety of emotional states. These ideas were tested in a laboratory experiment. As predicted, two happiness-related emotions (happiness and joy) and a sadness-related emotion (disappointment) showed only a main effect for outcome favorability. Two anger-related emotions (anger and frustration) were highest when an unfavorable outcome occurred because of an unfair procedure. Higher levels of guilt and anxiety were reported when an unfair procedure resulted in a favorable outcome. Contrary to predictions, a third happiness-related emotion (pride) showed only a main effect for outcome favorability.