Categories
Cardiovascular
Diagnostics
Endocrinology
Health Insurance
Medical Devices
Mental Health
Nutrition
Oncology
Public Health
Sexual Health
Popular Articles
Stretch Mark

Advocates Call Attention To Rising Teen Pregnancies In Foster Care Programs
Advocates are stepping up efforts to address the high pregnancy rate among teens in foster care programs, Time reports. Although teen pregnancy rates are rising nationwide after years of declines, the numbers in the foster care system are "truly epidemic," according to Time. A University of Chicago study showed that almost half of girls who have spent time in the foster system had been pregnant at least once before age 19, and almost one-fourth had multiple pregnancies in their teens. However, the problem has traditionally received scant attention from children"s health advocates. Last week, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the National Campaign To Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy announced a new campaign to address pregnancy prevention for foster care teens. The groups plan to push the Obama administration to consider the issue as it develops strategies to prevent unintended pregnancies. Planned Parenthood is recruiting and training thousands of peer educators -- including many who are in foster care themselves -- to engage teens in medically accurate discussions about sex. A report released this week by the National Campaign shows that nearly half of the 500,000 children in foster care had sex for the first time before age 16, compared with 30% of all teens. Teens in foster care also were more likely to have had forced sex and less likely to have used contraception.National Campaign Senior Policy Director Andrea Kane said, "Foster parents already go through trainings -- the delivery system exists." She added, "[W]e have people who can teach them how to do this. We just need to put the two together." According to Time, foster parents might assume that children were taught about reproductive health while living with another family. Social workers might also be reluctant to discuss sex with foster children. Advocates say that intended pregnancy also should be addressed as part of prevention efforts. University of Chicago researcher Amy Dworsky said, "For some foster youth, having a child is a way to create a family that they don"t have, or to fill an emotional void" (Sullivan, Time, 7/22).
generic viagra online
New Flow Cytometry-based Methods For Stem Cell Research Presented At Annual International Society For Stem Cell Research Meeting
New data presented by BD Biosciences, a segment of BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), at the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) 7th Annual Meeting in Barcelona, Spain, highlights two novel flow cytometry-based sorting and analysis methods for neural and embryonic stem cell research. The two data presentations further validate the viability of tools used for separating near-pure populations of stem cell-derived neurons from undifferentiated stem cells (Abstract ID 2276, Poster ID 1177) and shows improved cell recovery and survival of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) after cell sorting (Abstract 2268, Poster ID 1170).
News of the day
Meet The Complete Mouse - Whole Mouse Genome Sequence Published
Are you a man or a mouse? A new paper, published in this week"s issue of
Mental Health

New Book: 'Punishment And Prisons' -- Leading Criminologist Argues For A New Way Of Thinking

Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DC (19th June 2009) - Prison should be abolished in its current form, according to Joe Sim, Professor of Criminology at Liverpool John Moores University. Writing in his new book, Punishment and Prisons, published last month by SAGE, he argues the current prison system is built on an endless series of reforms which have done little to alleviate crime or protect society. Sim argues that "the modern prison has not only been tirelessly critiqued but also has been subjected to endless reforms which have attempted to alleviate the failure of the institution to achieve its stated, overt goals of crime prevention, individual and collective deterrence and the reform or rehabilitation of the offender. Despite these critiques, the institution has always been offered as the solution to its own problemṣ€¦̣€¦" The endless expansion in penal institutions has led to mass overcrowding in some prisons, yet incarceration is widely seen as the only solution. Tracing the development of penal strategy since 1974, the book highlights the continuities in penal policy, and the role and place of the prison as an arena of often unrelenting punishment and pain. Sim claims that the system produces social harm, which is very rarely addressed by liberal prison reformers or those responsible for managing the system. He describes what he identifies as the prison"s "extraordinary capacity for mystifying its punitive capabilities for inflicting pain and inculcating fear, and if need be terror, into the lives of the confined." "The debate about prison, both in politics and the media, is based on focussing on the institution"s overt goals: rehabilitation, individual deterrence, general prevention, and incapacitation," says Sim. "Indeed, in discussions about the impact of the prison"s culture it is state servants - prison (and police) officers - who are conceptualised as victims of that culture, usually with respect to the violence that they face in their everyday lives." The book also highlights the inequality in the criminal justice system, with the "targeting of the powerless": Given the most recent media and political debates about the non policing of the powerful whether inside or outside Parliament, this is a particularly important issue as it raise serious questions about social harm and who and what behaviour is punished by the state. As he argues, "both Conservative and New Labour governments have had everything to say about the crimes of the powerless and the punishment that powerless individuals should receive. In contrast, they have had very little to say about crimes of the powerful and what should be done about them, despite the huge social costs that their depredations inflict." Sim sets out a series of policy proposals for alleviating the current crisis in prisons. He outlines a policy agenda for transforming the role and place of the prison in the criminal justice system. The book lays out the need for change - namely the abolition of the current system. "The unrelenting support for the prison from politicians, and the mass media, has only added to the seeming impregnability of the institution to any ideological or material challenge," says Sim. "Other solutions to the problem of crime are marginalized and neglected in favour of a punitive, self defeating response to offending behaviour." Articulate, provocative and theoretically informed, Punishment and Prisons offers a critical overview of contemporary penal politics that will prove a compelling addition to the criminological literature concerning penal institutions. The book is written not only for students and academics but also for those involved in the debates on penal policy - including prison reform groups, politicians and the media. Notes: Punishment and Prisons by Joe Sim is published by SAGE. Available in paperback and hard cover: Paperback ISBN: 9780761960041 Hardcover ISBN: 9780761960034 Mithu Mukherjee SAGE Publications UK


Add your comment:
Name:
Site address: http://
Your message:
Enter today\\\\'s date, 2 digits
(spam protection):

© Copyright 2009