News (1,327 posts)

Since the beginning of the pandemic I have experienced an overwhelming shift in the world.

The increase in notifications is partly due to thresholds for reporting possible child endangerment having been lowered, and more authorities are now obliged to make such notifications, according to Anna Tiili, special advisor at the Central Union for Child Welfare.

The scene is all too frequent — a Black person is slain or wantonly brutalized on camera by police officers, most often white, and in response, a white police union leader steps to the microphone and unequivocally defends the actions, no matter how indefensible they are. A police chief or mayor, under pressure from the community, attempts to invoke modest reforms in response, and the union wields the power of its contract to defeat the measures. Progressive-leaning prosecutors are mercilessly attacked and judges plied with union contributions to support “law and order.” Killer cops are supplied with lawyers, at union expense, when they are administratively charged or criminally prosecuted. When a department, pursuant to a consent decree or community pressure, implements de-escalation and peer intervention training, the union provides alternative “warrior mentality” training free of charge. The union leaps to the defense of a cop who sends a defenseless 75-year-old peace activist to the hospital in critical condition. Several police union leaders are notorious “repeater beaters” with long records of shootings, beatings and other misconduct. Cops in their union garb pack courtrooms to intimidate cops who break the code of silence and bravely testify about police torture and murder. Union leaders rally for Trump, while he encourages their violence. And the list goes on.

Dr. Gerald Jaynes is a professor of economics and African American studies at Yale.

New research looks at the psychological underpinnings of making yourself seem more desirable by withholding obvious signs of romantic interest.

More than a half-century ago, exactly one year before he was assassinated, Martin Luther King Jr. brilliantly identified the keys to the American political, economic, and social crisis that has worsened over the years. At the Riverside Church in New York City, King linked the militarism of the Vietnam War; the racism of American society; and the inequality and materialism of the American economy to demand a movement toward social justice that we seek today.

The Israel Union of Social Workers’ chairperson Inbal Hermoni said in a statement that the country needs another 1,000 social workers and accused the Finance Ministry of refusing to even consider any proposals put forward for improving the situation. Above: Social workers block the Azrieli Junction in Tel Aviv in protest of their work conditions

Figures published by the Social Welfare Appeals Office show the number of people appealing against decisions made by social welfare officials rose by 19% last year

Manukau barrister Kingi Snelgar said “the social work practice and the day-to-day interactions that I have had with social workers and the plans that they develop for our tamariki have not changed one bit” | Above: A Māori woman protests the uplift of her children outside the Oranga Tamariki offices in Palmerston North.

APA partnered with the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) to comment on two important cannabis research issues:
– Developing a standard unit dose of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
– Expanding the range of cannabis products available for research.

Western Michigan University graduate student Khadejah Al Muhaisin

Police unions have come under greater scrutiny for their role in upholding white supremacy and fostering conditions under which killer cops are shielded from consequence. Labor leadership is feeling the pressure to respond, and many rank-and-file union members are calling for radical change. Above: Police attack striking steelworkers in 1937.

Americans may be equal, but some are more equal than others.

While research practices marked by inequalities and exploitation have a long history, going back to colonialism, there has been a surge in articles and blog posts on the theme in recent years.

The social services minister, Anne Ruston, has named six organisations that failed to join the national child abuse redress scheme.

The poorest people in Germany, including the long-term unemployed and recipients of Hartz IV social welfare, have an 84 percent higher risk of becoming seriously ill with COVID-19 and requiring hospitalization. Above: A food bank in Munich

Raymond Sanchez, an M.T.A. driver, disinfecting buses during the changing of shifts in East Harlem in New York

People with lower household wealth (or socioeconomic status) have a higher risk of many diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, and depression. They also have shorter lifespans.

We must reject the current legal regime under which resisting arrest is so widely accepted as a justification for police brutality and officer shootings.

Discount chains are thriving. But what do they do to poor communities?

Last year, as we started to look towards the end of the current Affordable Housing Supply Programme, the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) decided it was time to change this, especially if we were to make the case for sustained investment in social housing beyond 2021

I think the post suggests that the ways in which we’ve been thinking about the implications of this pandemic for education are a bit reductive and that, in fact, young people are thinking about this in much more complex and sophisticated ways than adults are.

Those elites project onto the masses their own ruthlessness and savagery; they fear others on the basis that they may be like themselves.

Twenty-five years ago, marijuana dispensaries did not exist. In 2020, many states deemed them to be “essential businesses” allowed to remain open during Covid-19 stay-at-home orders.

As a precaution before a camping trip, Jimmy Harvey and Pam LeBlanc were tested for coronavirus at the same place in Austin. Their financial experiences, though, were very different.

There are some things public health already knows about the ways police misconduct and brutality generate health inequities. It is well-established that they negatively and disproportionately impact and shorten the lives of Black people, non-Black people of color, and many other marginalized populations. While public awareness and scholarship often center on physical injury and death as a direct result of police interactions, constant surveillance, harassment, and threat of violence by police officers also have a pervasive impact on psychological well-being.

Hospitals in Dallas and Houston are nearing ICU capacity as the number of COVID-19 cases spikes across the state. The death toll from the virus is up 50% from a month ago. Above: A Hoston bar in late May

Mary Boyd is with the MacKillop Centre for Social Justice.

An additional 13 million girls could be married off and two million more could undergo FGM in the next decade, beyond what would have been expected, as COVID-19 disrupts global efforts to end both practices, UNFPA said.

The new research builds on a 2017 study that showed that long-term exposure to PM2.5 pollution and ozone, even at levels below current U.S. air quality standards, increases the risk of premature death among the elderly in the U.S.

Researchers found the drugs were prescribed disproportionately to older adults, often concurrently with opioids, despite warnings against this dangerous combination.

Victor, who is currently homeless, in his room

Rep. Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles), right, is chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and was the first Black woman to lead a U.S. state legislative house when she was named California Assembly speaker in 2008. Rep. Bass has a masters degree in social work.

The federal government has warned 25 institutions they face losing funding and tax concessions if they refuse to join the national child abuse redress scheme. Above: Prime Minister Scott Morrison

Data from Australia’s criminal justice system shows clearly that we’re failing to rehabilitate children, while making them more likely to reoffend. And yet kids as young as 10 are still being charged with criminal offences.

Current and historical evidence shows that viruses such as COVID-19 can induce numerous biological changes that can adversely impact brain functioning.

To learn from our past, we must break the cycle of state-sanctioned violence.

Rachael’s story has many layers to it, including a White female social worker who falls into the category of the Amy Coopers of the world. You see, Rachael didn’t fall in line enough to satiate this White social worker, who inevitably called the cops to report her.

Guardian analysis shows how organizations and officers in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago work against reform

For decades victims were targeted by paedophiles working at the council-run campus in Croydon. Above: The former Shirley Oaks site

There’s no good time to disparage psychiatric hospitals as a class, but the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic is a particularly bad time to do so.

Over 90 percent of London’s Metropolitan Police, whose creation in 1829 is regarded as the model for America’s professional forces, remains unarmed. While police brutality can kill even without a gun, the extreme rarity of police shootings in Britain should give Americans pause.

Smoking, divorce and alcohol abuse have the closest connection to death out of 57 social and behavioural factors analyzed in this study. The researchers analyzed data collected from 13,611 adults in the U.S. between 1992 and 2008, and identified which factors applied to those who died between 2008 and 2014.

Number of malnourished children could reach 2.4 million by end of year, a 20 per cent increase

The full picture of police violence in America shows the cops are out of control. There is no “war on cops.” Instead, the levels of violence police deploy against civilians seems grossly disproportionate to the level of danger they actually face from the public.

In 2008, the first year of the Great Recession, the economy slowed sharply as 2.6 million workers lost their jobs. During that time, people who suffered from mental illness left the labor force at a much faster pace than everyone else, according to a new study from the Retirement and Disability Research Consortium.

A University of Texas at Dallas study of 100 mobile apps for kids found that 72 violated a federal law aimed at protecting children’s online privacy.