Initiating Change of People With Criminal Justice Involvement Through Participation in a Drama Project: An Exploratory Study

Introduction: Innovative and interdisciplinary approaches are needed to improve mental health and psychosocial outcomes of people with criminal justice involvement and their families. Aim of the study was to assess effects of the participation in a theatre project on the mental health problems of people with criminal justice involvement and relatives. Methods: We conducted structured diagnostic interviews and in-depth qualitative interviews with five participants performing Shakespeare's Richard III in Chile. Three participants had been imprisoned prior to the project, and two were the parents of a person who died in a prison fire. Qualitative interviews followed a topic guide. Data were transcribed, and a six-phase approach for thematic analysis of the data was used. Results: Substance use disorder or major depression was identified in all the participants. Participation in the theatre project was experienced by the respondents as having a positive effect on the mental health conditions. The research registered the positive experiences of role identification, emotional expression, commitment with group processes, improved skills to socially interact, to be heard by the general public and society, and positive perceptions of the audience (including relatives). Discussion: The study raises the possibility that there may be improvements of depression and substance use problems through the participation of people with criminal justice involvement in a drama project. Wider scale research is recommended on the possible effects. The approach may be an alternative to psychotherapy and medication for some individuals

Scaffold searching: automated identification of similar ring systems for the design of combinatorial libraries

Rigid ring systems can be used to position receptor-binding functional groups in 3D space and they thus play an increasingly important role in the design of combinatorial libraries. This paper discusses the use of shape-similarity methods to identify ring systems that are structurally similar to, and aligned with, a user-defined target ring system. These systems can be used as alternative scaffolds for the construction of a combinatorial library

Corrigendum: Initiating Change of People With Criminal Justice Involvement Through Participation in a Drama Project: An Exploratory Study

Author proofs are not yet ready for revisio

Culture or communicative conflict? : The analysis of equivocation in broadcast Japanese political interviews

The focus of this article is on equivocation in Japanese televised interviews, broadcast over a 14-month period in 2012-2013 (before and after the general election of December 16, 2012). An analysis was conducted of responses to questions by three different groups (national politicians, local politicians, and nonpoliticians). Results showed a striking level of equivocation by both national and local politicians, who together equivocated significantly more than nonpoliticians. Furthermore, national level Diet members equivocated significantly more than local politicians, and both coalition groupings when in power were significantly more likely to equivocate than when in opposition. The results were interpreted in terms of the situational theory of communicative conflict and also in terms of cultural norms characteristic of Japanese politics and society. The failure to consider the role of such norms, it is proposed, represents an important omission in the original theory of equivocation

Corrigin area land resources survey

This land resource survey of the Corrigin area covers some 1.8 million hectares of the central wheatbelt over the shires of Beverley, Brookton, Bruce Rock, Corrigin, Cuballing, Cunderdin, Dumbleyung, Kellerberrin, Kondinin, Kulin, Lake Grace, Merredin, Narembeen, Narrogin, Pingelly, Quairading, Tammin, Wandering and Wickepin. The survey is part of a regional scale soil-landscape mapping program designed to deliver seamless soil information for the agricultural area of south western Australia. The information provided will assist planners, researchers and land managers make decisions affecting sustainable land use and is designed for use at regional and catchment scales. This report and accompanying CD-ROM summarizes primary and interpreted information on the soil-landscapes of the Corrigin area. The report outlines the main degradation issues and supplies background information on climate, native vegetation and geology. An important additional outcome of the survey is a new theory on soil formation that has wide-ranging ramifications for agriculture, soil science, botany and geomorphology. Thirty-six soil-landscape systems, together with their component sub-systems and phases were recognised, mapped and described during the survey. This information, together with unmapped soil types and land qualities, is provided in the CD-ROM. The CD also showcases the main soils, provides geo-referenced soil pit and auger descriptions, maps of soil-landscapes and maps of selected degradation hazards