Intensive Vipassana Meditation Practice: An Intervention with Promise for Traumatized Prisoners

The United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2,266,800 adults were incarcerated in U.S. federal and state prisons and county jails at year-end 2010 – about 0.7% of the resident adult population. Childhood trauma increases the likelihood of criminal justice involvement in adulthood (Wolf & Shi, 2010). A high percentage of prisoners are survivors of childhood abuse and other traumas before they are imprisoned (Wallace, Connor, & Dass-Brailsford, 2011), and prisons are notoriously violent and traumatic places for inmates. In a survey of inmates in Midwestern prisons, 54% of men and 28% of women reported having been raped in their current facility (Struckman-Johnson & Struckman-Johnson, 2000). In short, prisons are veritable warehouses of traumatized adults.

Read full document at (PDF): http://ht.ly/S1btX HT https://twitter.com/TheJusticeDept

Patterns of Inhalant Use among Incarcerated Youth

Below: Plot of Polyinhalant Use Classes.

Note. (1) Airplane or model glue; (2) Anesthetic gases; (3) Freon; (4) Gas from whipping cream cans; (5) Butane; (6) "White-out" or another correction fluid; (7) Air Freshener; (8) Nail polish; (9) Nail polish remover; (10) Whippets; (11) Spray paint; (12) Gases from computer "duster" sprays; (13) Permanent markers; (14) Gasoline.

Inhalant use is especially prevalent among antisocial youth and can have serious health consequences. However, the extant literature has not investigated how use of various inhalants may co-occur among incarcerated youth. This study begins to address this gap in the literature by using latent class analyses to form distinct typologies of inhalant use. Study participants were residents (N = 723) of 27 Missouri Division of Youth Services facilities. Interviews assessed psychiatric symptoms, antisocial traits, delinquency, trauma, suicidality, and substance use behaviors. The mean age of the mostly male, ethnically diverse sample was 15.5 (S.D. = 1.2) years old. The study revealed the following classes of inhalant use: (1) severe polyinhalant use; (2) moderate polyinhalant use; (3) gas and permanent marker use; and (4) low-use. Compared to the low-use class, members of the severe polyinhalant use class had experienced more than double the rate of head injuries, the highest rates of traumatic experiences, and the highest rates of mental illness diagnoses. The gas and markers class had the highest rate of reporting hearing voices, followed by the severe polyinhalant use class, and the moderate polyinhalant use class. Results of this study underscore the need to address the high rate of head injuries and mental health diagnoses that contribute to severe polyinhalant use.

Read more at: http://goo.gl/k7i7W9 HT https://twitter.com/georgiastateu

Gendered Pathways: Violent Childhood Maltreatment, Sex Exchange, and Drug Use

Below:  Parameter Estimates for Direct-Indirect Effects Model in Women and Men

Note: Unstandardized regression weights (and standard errors) for women are left of the diagonal and in bold; estimates for men are right of the diagonal and in regular font. Correlations between the independent variables are not shown, but are similar to those reported in Table 1.

First, structural equation modeling revealed that childhood sexual and physical abuse were related to increased drug engagement in women and men, respectively, above the influence of early childhood contextual variables (e.g., neighborhood, family) and age. Second, sexual abuse was related to sex exchange, which in turn was related to drug use symptoms in women but not men.

These data provide empirical support for distinct trauma-related pathways to drug use problems in men and women, which has implications for gendered explanations and prevention approaches.

Via:   http://ht.ly/QngMt  HT @USouthFlorida