Trauma, violence & abuse
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Trauma, violence & abuse · Jan 2010
Historical ArticleParental child murder and child abuse in Anglo-American legal system.
In this article, the sociological and historical approaches and literatures are synthesized to present the historical background of the treatment that child-abusing and child-killing parents are receiving in the legal system today. The roots of the formation of contemporary institutional responses to severe child abuse and child homicide are traced and latest developments are examined critically. ⋯ Integral to the new developments in child protection are ''multidisciplinary,'' comprehensive approaches to the processing of criminal cases, involving teams consisting of representatives from the police, the prosecution, public and private social work and child protection agencies, and psychiatric, pediatric, and other medical practitioners and community partners. These developments exemplify heightened focus on criminal prosecution of parental crimes against children, inevitably leading to questions and policy concerns regarding resources geared toward punishment rather than prevention.
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Trauma, violence & abuse · Jul 2009
Pathways linking intimate partner violence and posttraumatic disorder.
Intimate partner violence (IPV), which includes physical violence, sexual violence, and psychological or emotional abuse, is a significant public health threat. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that each year 1.5 million women are physically assaulted and/or raped by an intimate partner. ⋯ The article discusses a survey involving 3,429 English-speaking women enrolled in a health maintenance organization (HMO) for 3 or more years. The findings are 46% of participants who were screened reported a lifetime history of any IPV and 14.7% reported a history within the past 5 years, including physical, sexual, and nonphysical types.
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The topic of modern-day slavery or human trafficking has received increased media and national attention. However, to date there has been limited research on the nature and scope of human trafficking in the United States. ⋯ S. service organizations' legal representative knowledge of, and experience with, human trafficking cases, as well as information from actual cases and media reports. This article has five main goals: (a) to define what human trafficking is, and is not; (b) to describe factors identified as contributing to vulnerability to being trafficked and keeping a person entrapped in the situation; (c) to examine how the crime of human trafficking differs from other kinds of crimes in the United States; (d) to explore how human trafficking victims are identified; and, (e) to provide recommendations to better address human trafficking in the United States.
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This article reviews the literature documenting the nature and prevalence of traumatic experiences, trauma-related mental and physical health problems, and service use among female veterans. Existing research indicates that female veterans experience higher rates of trauma exposure in comparison to the general population. Emerging data also suggest that female veterans may be as likely to be exposed to combat as male veterans, although not as directly or as frequently. ⋯ Although sexual assault history has been related to increased medical service use, further research is needed to understand relationships between trauma history and patterns of medical and mental health service use. Researchers also are encouraged to employ standardized definitions of trauma and to investigate new areas, such as treatment outcomes and mediators of trauma and health. Policy and practice implications are discussed.
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Suicide is a major public health problem for American Indians in the United States. Published studies indicate that American Indians experience the highest rate of suicide of all ethnic groups in the United States. This article synthesizes the epidemiology and risk factors associated with suicide among American Indians, barriers to research, prevention, mental-health services, and recommendations for research and practice. ⋯ The authors present significant substantive and methodological issues that inform research on suicide in American Indian communities, as well as existing contemporary interventions. Overall, socioeconomic characteristics, substance abuse, barriers to mental health services and acculturation play a role in the occurrence of suicide in American Indian communities. These findings suggest suicide is an important public health problem that needs to be addressed for American Indians.