The mediating role of self-regulation between intrafamilial violence and mental health adjustment in incarcerated male adolescents

This article investigates the relation between history of intrafamilial violence and self-regulatory capacity, cognitive processing, and mental health adjustment in incarcerated adolescents. Adolescents were incarcerated at the time of the study for various violent offenses, ranging from persistent delinquency to sexual assault (n = 115). A model is proposed that posits that self-regulation, cognitive ability, and cognitive processing are integral to the relation between intrafamilial violence and mental health function. The primary hypothesis of the study tests this mediation model. The relations between mental health, cognitive processing, self-regulation, and intrafamilial violence are also examined. The study was conducted during two sessions at a juvenile facility in the Midwest using survey measures, academic and intelligence testing, and cognitive tasks. Youth were between the ages of 13 and 20. Approximately 70% were previously diagnosed with a disability. Significant Pearson's correlations were found between seven out of eight mental health subscales of the Youth Self-Report (YSR) and intrafamilial violence history. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the role of cognitive processing in the association between intrafamilial violence and mental health function. Nonverbal or performance deficits, a significant difference between verbal skills and nonverbal skills, were related to intrafamilial violence. Self-regulation partially mediated the relation between intrafamilial violence and mental health function. Self-regulation ability may be compromised by intrafamilial violence and be a precursor to both internalizing and externalizing mental health problem in incarcerated youth. Educational, clinical, and research implications are discussed.     

Doing time: A qualitative study of long-term incarceration and the impact of mental illness

Once convicted, the perpetrator of serious crime embarks upon a new journey: the challenge of adjusting to long-term imprisonment. Prisoners' views of incarceration and the meaning of this experience may affect their later adjustment to life in the community. On the basis of brief narrative responses collected during an epidemiological survey of the psychological health of prisoners in France, this study examined the impact of incarceration on psychological state in a group of 59 inmates serving long sentences. Qualitative content analysis and computer-assisted linguistic analysis (using ALCESTE software) were performed on the textual data of open responses to three standard questions. Using a combination of these two approaches, seven categories of the subjective experience of prisoners in the sample were identified: the Outside World, Others, Punishment, Time, Affects and Impulses, Self-Concept, and Speech. Further qualitative analyses were then performed to compare the responses of Severely Mentally Ill (SMI) subjects and subjects with no psychiatric disorder. These analyses revealed contrasting attitudes towards incarceration. SMI subjects spoke in more hostile and persecutory terms about their experience in prison, attributing suffering to external circumstances, while subjects with no psychiatric disorder evoked similar themes, but with an introspective attitude. The themes evoked by mentally ill individuals in our sample suggest that their reactions to the prison environment arise in part from aspects of their psychiatric symptoms, and this may have relevance to future mental health policy and practices in criminal corrections.     

The Face-to-Face Mediation Program: A Massachusetts success story

Summary An effort that began as an experimental alternative to small claims court for consumer cases has fostered the application of alternative dispute resolution to many other conflicts in Massachusetts. The Attorney General's Face-to-Face Mediation Program, unique in the country, has proven to be an effective local resource to citizens of the state for resolving consumer disputes. The influence of the program has been felt outside the Attorney General's office as well as within.In the two years since this report was written, the Attorney General's Face-to-Face Mediation Program has shown a steady increase both in referrals and in quality of service. Today, all but one of the seven remaining mediation programs is running at or near capacity. In 1988, 84 percent of the approximately 700 cases that were mediated reached agreement, and 96 percent of those agreements were upheld. Suzanne Goulet Orenstein, who is Senior Associate, Program on Environmental Dispute Resolution with The Conservation Foundation, Washington, D.C., formerly was Chief, Local Consumer Groups and Dispute Resolution Activities with the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General.Kathleen Grant is Coordinator of the Face-to-Face Mediation Program, Public Protection Bureau, The Massachusetts Attorney General's Office, 131 Tremont St., Boston, Mass. 02111.     

Wetlands on trial: Ontario Municipal Board decisions affecting wetlands, 1980–1993

Abstract: There has been a continued loss of wetlands in Ontario as pressurcs from conflicting land uses escalate. This paper examines the manner in which the Ontario Municipal Board has treated the issue of wetlands protcction in hearings on land-use disputes in the provinw. Bastul on a review of nine wetlands caws dating from 1980 to 1993, the decision-making process of the Ontario Municipal Board was examined with regard to wetlands prokxtion. Analysis of the cases revealed a number of issues: the lack of relevant information at hearings; the role of policy and legislation in thc decision-making process; the use of negotiation and mediation in the hearing process; and the significance of private property rights versus the public interest in wetlands protection. This paper dismsses these issues in the context of the role of the Ontario Municipal Board in the planning and management of wetlands in Ontario. Sommaire: AG mesure qu'augmentent les pressions résultant des utilisations contra-dictoires des terres, la pcrte de terres humides continue en Ontario. Cct article examine la manière dont la Commission des affaires municipales de l'Ontario a traité cette question au cours des audiences sur les disputes concernant l'utilisation des terres dans la province. En analysant neuf cas relatifs aux teres humides datant de 1980 à 1993, on a examiné le processus décisionnel de la Commission en ce qui concerne leur protection. L'analyse des cas a révélé plusieurs questions telles que le marque d'informations disponibles pendant les audiences, le rôle des plitiques et des lois dans le processus décisionnel, l'emploi de la négcriation et de la médiation dans le processus d'audience et enfin, la prise en compte des droits fonciers privés par rapport à l'intérêt public dans la protection des terres humides. L'articlc examine ces questions dans le contexte du rôle que joue la Commission des affaires municipales de l'Ontario dans la planification et la gestion des terres humides dam cette province.