Blood types and national suicide rates

In a sample of 51 nations, the suicide rates were negatively associated with the proportion of people with Type O blood, while homicide rates were positively associated with this proportion.     

Social integration and suicide in South Korea

The increasing suicide rate in South Korea in recent decades was found to be associated with measures of social integration/regulation (birth and divorce rates).     

Work, the Right to Work, and Durable Solutions: A Study on Sierra Leonean Refugees in The Gambia

It is rare indeed that the forced movement of people will nothave an economic dimension. Economic issues related to the movementof people have generally been viewed as beyond the scope ofthe debate on the international status and protection of refugees.Instead, ‘economics’ and ‘refugees’when heard together, or even in loose association, have evokedthe pejorative images of those who move to seek a ‘betterlife’. While recognising on the one hand the inevitabilityof economic dimensions to refugee movements, many advocatesfor refugees have traditionally taken great care in their policyand advocacy work to downplay the economic element of the complexmatrix of motivations that lead refugees and other forced migrantsto move. This paper takes a different approach. It promotesthe right to work, a social and economic right, as integralto protection and to all durable solutions. It explores itsrelevance, and indeed its significance, as a matter of law,policy and practice to the lives of refugees and those responsiblefor their protection, including their hosts. After all, ‘[d]espitethe statistical existence of unemployment in every country inthe world, work continues to be "an essential part of the humancondition"’. In addition, the paper examines the importanceof a rights-based analysis of work in understanding its relevancein the field both of international and national protection.In doing so, it explores the connections between work and theright to work and the three durable solutions. It acknowledgesthat social and economic conditions and inequities are oftenamongst the root causes of conflict which then lead to the failureof national protection and precipitate flight.     

Suicidology: a victimology perspective

In this brief essay, I have tried to show that the discipline of victimology, when applied to suicidal behavior, suggests new questions for researchers to address, including survivor surveys to identify who the survivors really are and what is the role of the survivor in the suicide-survivor interpersonal dynamic.     

Mental illness in the eyes of the law: examining perceptions of stigma among judges and attorneys

In response to the increasing numbers of mentally ill persons placed under the care of correctional institutions, community-based diversion programs have been established to address the unique needs and challenges of this vulnerable population. Given that legal personnel may serve as gatekeepers in placement decisions, and the lack of existing research examining their attitudes toward offenders with mental illness, the present study aimed to evaluate perceptions of dangerousness and treatment need among a sample of judges, prosecutors, and public defenders across the state of Mississippi. While controlling for age, results of a factorial MANCOVA revealed that public defenders, relative to both judges and prosecutors, endorsed more compassionate attitudes about defendants with mental illnesses. Furthermore, political ideology did not significantly influence attitudes toward mentally ill offenders. While judges and prosecutors endorsed more negative stereotypes about mental illness and perceived mentally ill defendants as a greater risk to the community, mean scores across groups suggested moderately positive attitudes overall. Study limitations, implications for correctional mental health providers, and directions for future research are discussed.