scholarly journals Release Within Confinement: An Alternative Proposal for Managing the Masturbation of Incarcerated Men in U.S. Prisons

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-23
Author(s):  
Sam Hughes
Keyword(s):  
Sex Offender ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
The United States ◽  
Work Environments ◽  
Minimal Basis ◽  
The Public ◽  
Incarcerated Men ◽  
Potential Problems ◽  
Alternative Proposal ◽  
Sex Offender Recidivism

Policies regarding masturbation among incarcerated men vary throughout the United States. To describe the state of these policies, a systematic review of prison masturbation policies was conducted. The review revealed that masturbation among incarcerated men is banned in most U.S. prisons (sometimes in all cases, and other times only when it is intended to disturb others, and/or is public). Furthermore, many states’ Departments of Corrections have made these policies difficult for the public to identify. Prison masturbation bans have been defended on the grounds that they reduce STI transmission, help maintain order, prevent hostile work environments for female prison staff, assist in prison rape prosecutions, and assist in rehabilitating incarcerated people. By reviewing the available social science and endocrinological research on masturbation, those justifications are found to have minimal basis in scientific evidence. Conversely, the evidence does suggest the masturbation bans could potentially be linked with higher rates of violence, rape, exploitation, sex offender recidivism, insomnia, stress, depression, and suicide. Instead of being rooted in evidence, bans on prison masturbation seem to be primarily motivated by sex-negativity and the desire to retributively punish incarcerated people. To alleviate these harms, this article suggests allowing incarcerated men to masturbate within specifically identified circumstances, and/or to lessen existing punishments for masturbation. Potential problems with the implementation of the suggested policy are discussed, and a call is made to make inmate handbooks, which contain most of these policies, available to the public. Unique opportunities for penological and sexological research are identified.

scholarly journals The War on Sex Offenders: Community Notification in Perspective

2001 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 256-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyn Hinds ◽  
Kathleen Daly
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
The United States ◽  
Community Notification ◽  
Megan's Law ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Campaign ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Naming And Shaming

This article explores the contemporary phenomenon of “naming and shaming” sex offenders. Community notification laws, popularly known as Megan's Law, which authorise the public disclosure of the identity of convicted sex offenders to the community in which they live, were enacted throughout the United States in the 1990s. A public campaign to introduce “Sarah's Law” has recently been launched in Britain, following the death of eight-year old Sarah Payne. Why are sex offenders, and certain categories of sex offenders, singled out as targets of community notification laws? What explains historical variability in the form that sex offender laws take? We address these questions by reviewing the sexual psychopath laws enacted in the United States in the 1930s and 40s and the sexual predator and community notification laws of the 1990s, comparing recent developments in the United States with those in Britain, Canada, and Australia. We consider arguments by Garland, O'Malley, Pratt, and others on how community notification, and the control of sex offenders more generally, can be explained; and we speculate on the likelihood that Australia will adopt community notification laws.

Consumer Advertising of Psychiatric Medications Biases the Public Against Nonpharmacological Treatment

2005 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 175-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey R. Lacasse
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
The United States ◽  
Pharmaceutical Companies ◽  
Nonpharmacological Treatment ◽  
The Public ◽  
Direct To Consumer ◽  
Treatment Of Depression ◽  
Direct To Consumer Advertising

In the United States, aWntidepressant medications are heavily promoted through direct-to-consumer advertising, which is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Advertisements for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors frequently contain information inconsistent with the scientific evidence on the treatment of depression with antidepressants. The information presented serves to promote the use of antidepressants by biasing the public against nonpharmacological treatment of depression. While the FDA enforces regulations requiring fair and balanced presentation when comparing one medication to another, there appears to be no action taken against pharmaceutical companies that distort scientific evidence in order to disparage nonmedical approaches to depression.

Sociodemographic Predictors of Sex Offender Stigma: How Politics Impact Attitudes, Social Distance, and Perceptions of Sex Offender Recidivism

2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (10) ◽  
pp. 2879-2896 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph S. DeLuca ◽  
John Vaccaro ◽  
Amalia Rudnik ◽  
Nicole Graham ◽  
Anna Giannicchi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
The United States ◽  
Specific Aspect ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Criminal Jurisprudence ◽  
Sex Offender Recidivism

Stigma toward general criminal offenders has been found to be particularly salient among community members who identify as politically conservative; however, less is known about how political identification relates to stigma toward sex offenders. This is a particularly important area of inquiry, given that criminal jurisprudence and politics legitimatize stigmatizing labels attributed to sex offenders through laws and policies that apply specifically to this group. A nonrandom sample ( N = 518) of participants living in the United States was recruited for this survey study. Findings indicated that a specific aspect of conservative political ideology—right-wing authoritarianism (RWA)—significantly predicts negative attitudes and intended social distancing behavior toward sex offenders, even when controlling for other important predictors, such as education and prior contact. RWA was found to be the strongest predictor of negative attitudes and estimations of sex offender recidivism, and also significantly predicted intended social distancing behavior. Implications for addressing stigma toward sex offenders are discussed.

scholarly journals Participación de enfermería en Políticas Públicas, ¿Por qué es importante?: Revisión integrativa de la literatura

2022 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 590-624
Author(s):  
Ma. Angélica Saldías Fernández ◽  
Denisse Parra Giordano ◽  
Trinidad Martí Gutiérrez
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Web Of Science ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Public ◽  
Isi Web Of Science ◽  
Public Policy Process ◽  
Strategic Position ◽  
Nursing Professionals

Objective: To analyze the scientific evidence available in the literature regarding the role of the political participation of the nursing profession.Method: Integrative literary review in six stages, in MEDLINE / PUBMED, ISI WEB OF SCIENCE, EBSCOHOST WEB, LILACS, and SCIELO databases 2010 - 2020 in English, Portuguese and Spanish languages, adjusted to PRISMA requirements. The data were summarized by thematic analysis.Results: From 75 texts, 23 were analyzed. 35% of the publications were made between 2010 to 2012, 48% are from the United States, 65% were obtained from PUBMED, and 26% are case studies. Two categories of work are obtained: Political participation of the nursing profession and Virtue and competences; Strategies and challenges to participate in PPs. Similarities are shown between both categories.Conclusion: Nursing has socio-political activism promoted by nurses in different contexts. To the extent that nursing professionals become aware of political involvement as an expression of socio-political knowledge, their participation favors the public policy process. It is an opportunity for change given their strategic position as referents of care of people in health systems. Objetivo: Analizar la evidencia científica disponible en la literatura en torno al rol de participación política del profesional enfermero.Método: Revisión integrativa literaria en seis etapas, en bases de datos MEDLINE/PUBMED, ISI WEB OF SCIENCE, EBSCOHOST WEB, LILACS y SCIELO publicados entre 2010 - 2020 en idiomas inglés, portugués y español, ajustada a los requerimientos PRISMA. Los datos fueron resumidos mediante análisis temático. Resultados: A partir de 75 textos, 23 fueron analizados. Un 35% de las publicaciones se realizó entre 2010 al 2012, el 48% son de Estados Unidos, un 65% se obtuvieron de PUBMED y el 26% son estudios de caso. Se obtienen dos categorías de trabajo: Participación política del profesional enfermero y Virtudes y competencias. Estrategias y desafíos para participar en PPs. Se muestran similitudes entre ambas categorías.Conclusión: Enfermería posee activismo sociopolítico impulsado por enfermeras en diferentes contextos. En la medida en que los profesionales de enfermería se hacen conscientes del rol de participación política como una expresión del patrón de conocimiento sociopolítico, su participación favorece el proceso de políticas públicas, y es una oportunidad para el cambio dada su posición estratégica como referentes del cuidado de las personas en los sistemas de salud.

Female Youth Convicted of Sex Offenses: Public Opinion on Public Notification

2021 ◽  
pp. 088740342199190
Author(s):  
Kristen M. Budd ◽  
Shannon Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
Sexual Offending ◽  
Plea Bargaining ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Public ◽  
Amazon's Mechanical Turk ◽  
Public Notification

Throughout the United States, sex offender registration laws in many states and the federal government have expanded to include juveniles. Once juveniles are registrants, they can potentially be subjected to required or discretionary public notification (PN). Given the documented detrimental effects of PN on juveniles and the prevalence of sexual offending by juvenile females, this study investigated public opinion on applying PN to juvenile females who were convicted of a sexual offense. Participants were 947 individuals recruited using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk who completed an online survey. Multivariate logistic regression found support for PN increased when the public felt law enforcement was effective in investigating these crimes and there were increased public safety concerns. Support for PN decreased when the public supported plea bargaining and supported the law distinguishing between adults and juveniles who commit sex crimes. Implications of these results are discussed.

scholarly journals Public Discourse Against Masks in the COVID-19 Era: Infodemiology Study of Twitter Data

10.2196/26780 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. e26780
Author(s):  
Mohammad Al-Ramahi ◽  
Ahmed Elnoshokaty ◽  
Omar El-Gayar ◽  
Tareq Nasralah ◽  
Abdullah Wahbeh
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Public Perception ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Population Control ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Pearson Correlation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Machine Learning Techniques ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Relationship

Background Despite scientific evidence supporting the importance of wearing masks to curtail the spread of COVID-19, wearing masks has stirred up a significant debate particularly on social media. Objective This study aimed to investigate the topics associated with the public discourse against wearing masks in the United States. We also studied the relationship between the anti-mask discourse on social media and the number of new COVID-19 cases. Methods We collected a total of 51,170 English tweets between January 1, 2020, and October 27, 2020, by searching for hashtags against wearing masks. We used machine learning techniques to analyze the data collected. We investigated the relationship between the volume of tweets against mask-wearing and the daily volume of new COVID-19 cases using a Pearson correlation analysis between the two-time series. Results The results and analysis showed that social media could help identify important insights related to wearing masks. The results of topic mining identified 10 categories or themes of user concerns dominated by (1) constitutional rights and freedom of choice; (2) conspiracy theory, population control, and big pharma; and (3) fake news, fake numbers, and fake pandemic. Altogether, these three categories represent almost 65% of the volume of tweets against wearing masks. The relationship between the volume of tweets against wearing masks and newly reported COVID-19 cases depicted a strong correlation wherein the rise in the volume of negative tweets led the rise in the number of new cases by 9 days. Conclusions These findings demonstrated the potential of mining social media for understanding the public discourse about public health issues such as wearing masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results emphasized the relationship between the discourse on social media and the potential impact on real events such as changing the course of the pandemic. Policy makers are advised to proactively address public perception and work on shaping this perception through raising awareness, debunking negative sentiments, and prioritizing early policy intervention toward the most prevalent topics.

Climate Change Conspiracy Theories

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph E. Uscinski ◽  
Karen Douglas ◽  
Stephan Lewandowsky
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Emission ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
The United States ◽  
Anthropogenic Climate Change ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
The Public ◽  
Climate Skepticism

An overwhelming percentage of climate scientists agree that human activity is causing the global climate to change in ways that will have deleterious consequences both for the environment and for humankind. While scientists have alerted both the public and policy makers to the dangers of continuing or increasing the current rate of carbon emission, policy proposals intended to curb carbon emission and thereby mitigate climate change have been resisted by a notable segment of the public. Some of this resistance comes from those not wanting to incur costs or change energy sources (i.e., the carbon-based energy industry). Others oppose policies intended to address climate change for ideological reasons (i.e., they are opposed to the collectivist nature of the solutions usually proposed). But perhaps the most alarming and visible are those who oppose solutions to climate change because they believe, or at least claim to believe, that anthropogenic climate change is not really happening and that climate scientists are lying and their data is fake. Resistance, in this latter case, sometimes referred to as climate “skepticism” or “denialism,” varies from region to region in strength but worldwide has been a prominent part of a political force strong enough to preclude both domestic and global policy makers from making binding efforts to avert the further effects of anthropogenic climate change. For example, a 2013 poll in the United States showed that almost 40% believed that climate change was a hoax. Climate skeptics suggest the well-publicized consensus is either manufactured or illusory and that some nefarious force—be it the United Nations, liberals, communists, or authoritarians—want to use climate change as a cover for exerting massive new controls over the populace. This conspiracy-laden rhetoric—if followed to its logical conclusion—expresses a rejection of scientific methods, scientists, and the role that science plays in society. Skeptic rhetoric, on one hand, may suggest that climate skepticism is psychological and the product of underlying conspiratorial thinking, rather than cognitive and the product of a careful weighing of scientific evidence. On the other hand, it may be that skeptics do not harbor underlying conspiratorial thinking, but rather express their opposition to policy solutions in conspiratorial terms because that is the only available strategy when arguing against an accepted scientific consensus. This tactic of calling into question the integrity of science has been used in other scientific debates (e.g., the link between cigarette smoking and cancer). Opinion surveys, however, support the view that climate change denialism is driven at least partially by underlying conspiratorial thinking. Belief in climate change conspiracy theories also appears to drive behaviors in ways consistent with the behaviors of people who think in conspiratorial terms: Climate change conspiracy theorists are less likely to participate politically or take actions that could alleviate their carbon footprint. Furthermore, some climate skeptics reject studies showing that their skepticism is partially a product of conspiratorial thinking: They believe such studies are themselves part of the conspiracy.

The Relationship of Judicial and Prosecutorial Elections to the Availability of Sentencing Data in the United States

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 240-243
Author(s):  
Niki Hotchkiss
Keyword(s):  
Justice System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
The Public ◽  
Potential Problems ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

The availability of statewide sentencing information can increase the transparency of the criminal justice system by allowing courts, practitioners, and the public to see trends and anomalies in sentencing. The existence of such information may create expectations and political pressure that affect the elections of judges and prosecutors. However, research has found that lower independence and higher accountability through elections does not necessarily come to bear as expected due to unique characteristics of judicial and prosecutorial elections. Given the potential impact of widely available sentencing data on the election of prosecutors and judges, this article examines if there is any association between the type of selection for judges and prosecutors and the availability of sentencing data. Further, it explores if there are examples of available sentencing data being used negatively during campaigns in a small sample of states. The evidence presented here suggests that concerns about decreased independence of the judiciary and malicious political use of information are not strong enough to outweigh the benefits of data availability nor have these potential problems come to bear in selected states with available sentencing data.

scholarly journals Pollutant release registers are key tools to help curb air pollution

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony R Walker
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Environmental Protection Agency ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Fine Particulate Matter ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
Toxic Release Inventory ◽  
Atmospheric Pollutant ◽  
Industrial Facilities ◽  
The Public

Recent articles highlighting potential weakening of air pollution regulations in the United States should be a cause for concern for public health worldwide. Environmental regulations to curb air pollution, particularly fine-particle pollution, should be based on sound scientific evidence, not politics. Unfortunately, members of the public seldom read scientific articles published in reputable journals, but they do listen to politicians. However, members of the public can learn more about atmospheric pollutant releases, including fine-particulate matter from industrial facilities under ‘right-to-know’ legislation and public disclosure principles, using Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTRs). PRTRs are a key policy tools designed to curb air pollution and are used widely in many countries and help support enforcement of environmental pollution control regulations. The US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) launched the first PRTR, the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) in 1987 and Canada followed suit with the National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) in 1993. Whilst PRTRs have been criticised for data accuracy and under reporting, they are still effective tools to curb air pollution through increased public understanding and engagement in decision-making.

scholarly journals Pollutant release registers are key tools to help curb air pollution

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony R Walker
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Environmental Protection Agency ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Fine Particulate Matter ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
Toxic Release Inventory ◽  
Atmospheric Pollutant ◽  
Industrial Facilities ◽  
The Public

Recent articles highlighting potential weakening of air pollution regulations in the United States should be a cause for concern for public health worldwide. Environmental regulations to curb air pollution, particularly fine-particle pollution, should be based on sound scientific evidence, not politics. Unfortunately, members of the public seldom read scientific articles published in reputable journals, but they do listen to politicians. However, members of the public can learn more about atmospheric pollutant releases, including fine-particulate matter from industrial facilities under ‘right-to-know’ legislation and public disclosure principles, using Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTRs). PRTRs are a key policy tools designed to curb air pollution and are used widely in many countries and help support enforcement of environmental pollution control regulations. The US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) launched the first PRTR, the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) in 1987 and Canada followed suit with the National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) in 1993. Whilst PRTRs have been criticised for data accuracy and under reporting, they are still effective tools to curb air pollution through increased public understanding and engagement in decision-making.

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