Exploring application of the Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicidal Behaviour to self-injurious behaviour among women prisoners: Proposing a new model of understanding

The current study examines the application of capacity, psychological distress, coping and personality to an understanding of self-injurious behaviour, with a specific focus on testing the Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicidal Behaviour (IPTSB). One hundred and ninety women prisoners took part, completing a history questionnaire and measures of personality, coping styles and psychological distress. It was expected that self-injurious behaviour would be predicted by higher levels of emotional functioning difficulties, by an increased capacity to engage in such behaviours, by previous self-injurious behaviour, decreased levels of emotional stability and increased levels of emotional coping behaviour. Results supported the capacity component of the IPTSB, indicating that an increased history of self-injurious behaviour and of engagement in reckless behaviour were particular predictors. Increased psychological distress in some domains was also a predictor although the exact domain varied across the type of self-injurious engagement Increased levels of extraversion and decreased emotional coping predicted increased self-injurious engagement, although emotional coping only related to threats and cognition. The results point to the applicability of Interpersonal-Psychological Theory to understanding self-injurious behaviour and the importance of developing a revised model. The paper presents this in the form of the Integrated Model of Self-Injurious Activity.     

Enhancing Information Sharing in Family Drug Courts: A Lean Six Sigma Case Study

Given the variety of stakeholders involved in cases within family drug courts, efficient communication and information sharing, which are needed to support decision‐making, can be quite challenging. Through a case study in one family drug court system, this research employed an action research approach to improve the information sharing process following the Lean Six Sigma methodology. The solutions implemented through this study contributed to improving the quality of the services provided by this court system and its overall productivity. In addition, this research extends our knowledge about methods for improving court systems from which others can learn to guide future improvement efforts.     

Collaboration in the shadow of the wall: shifting power in the borderlands

Border security places a heavy burden on public and private land managers affecting rural livelihoods and limiting managers’ ability to collectively act to deal with environmental issues. In the southern Arizona borderlands, natural resource managers come together to solve complex environmental issues creating a diverse set of formal and informal institutional arrangements between state and nonstate actors. We explore the effects of the border on these collaborative institutions, as well as the managers’ views of the border, invoking theoretical work on power, institutions, literature from the burgeoning field of borderland studies, and recent work on collaboration and the common interest in civil society. In doing so, we seek to understand how a rural community that has taken center stage in national discourse copes with the border on a daily basis and how changing power differentials in the borderlands affect a governance network. This study informs our understanding of when and where collaboration occurs, as well as our conceptualization of the border and the effects of border policy and immigration on natural resource management.     

Dire and Sequestered Meetings: The Work of Game Wardens

Game wardens are law enforcement agents responsible for enforcing fish and wildlife laws. Based on data from extensive interviews with game wardens the authors describe dangerous situations faced by wardens in their work. Comparisons with the dangers experienced by other types of police officers are made. Temporal, spatial, and situational factors shape the uniqueness of the law enforcement experiences of the game warden. Specific factors found which increase dangerousness were: isolation of area, being outnumbered, being alone, mistakes like not wearing hunter’s orange, and not being aware an offender is under the influence. In addition, most if not all individuals encountered are armed and skilled in the use of deadly weapons.     

The drug abstainer

This paper uses data on tenth graders from the 2016 Caring Communities Youth Survey (CCYS) to examine the lifetime abstainer from drugs. The abstainer has been a part of Life Course Development literature; within each of the several ages of onset models. Using a model which examines the abstainer from each drug and all drugs, the effect of Prosocial Factors (peer and school) are examined. Findings indicate a very low relationship between high protective/prosocial factors and abstaining. The research of Moffitt that there may be several subtypes of abstainers is supported.