Justice and Public Health

This chapter discusses how justice applies to public health. It begins by outlining three different metrics employed in discussions of justice: resources, capabilities, and welfare. It then discusses different accounts of justice in distribution, reviewing utilitarianism, egalitarianism, prioritarianism, and sufficientarianism, as well as desert-based theories, and applies these distributive approaches to public health examples. Next, it examines the interplay between distributive justice and individual rights, such as religious rights, property rights, and rights against discrimination, by discussing examples such as mandatory treatment and screening. The chapter also examines the nexus between public health and debates concerning whose interests matter to justice (the “scope of justice”), including global justice, intergenerational justice, and environmental justice, as well as debates concerning whether justice applies to individual choices or only to institutional structures (the “site of justice”). The chapter closes with a discussion of strategies, including deliberative and aggregative democracy, for adjudicating disagreements about justice

Book Review: Social Justice: The Moral Foundations of Public Health and Health Policy

This essay is a review of Social Justice: The Moral Foundations of Public Health and Health Policy by Madison Powers & Ruth Faden (2006). In this pathbreaking book, senior bioethicists Powers and Faden confront foundational issues about health and justice. How much inequality in health can a just society tolerate? In a world filled with inequalities in health and well-being, which inequalities matter most and are the most morally urgent to address? In order to answer these questions, Powers and Faden develop a unique theory of social justice that, while developed for the specific contexts of public health and health policy, applies equally well to other realms of social policy, including education and economic development. The book includes a careful comparison of Powers and Faden\u27s approach to social justice with those of other theorists, including notably Rawls, Sen, and Nussbaum. With their eyes firmly fixed on the injustices of this world and what is known about their causal determinants, Powers and Faden place a six dimensional theory of well-being at the heart of their theory of justice. They then explore the implications of this theory for public health, the medical market place, and the setting of priorities in health policy. In the process, they arrive at arresting conclusions about the moral foundations of public health, childhood, the relevance of social groups to questions of justice, and the proper role for economic analysis in social policy. The audience for the book is scholars and students of bioethics and moral and political philosophy, as well as anyone interested in public health and health policy

Health Care for Our Troubled Youth: Provision of Services in the Foster Care and Juvenile Justice Systems of California

Lack of access to high quality health care is a problem for most low-income people, but especially for young people in foster care and the juvenile justice system. Furthermore, adolescence is a particularly difficult developmental stage for youth, one requiring special emphasis on health care provision. The lack of adequate early intervention into the wide ranging health needs of many youths contributes to longer stays in foster care and deeper involvement in the juvenile justice system. The purpose of this report is to outline the health care needs and obstacles to health care access for foster care and juvenile justice youths, particularly adolescents, and to make recommendations for improvement

Climate of Opportunity: Gender and Movement Building at the Intersection of Reproductive Justice and Environmental Justice

Women's reproductive health and rights are inextricably linked to environmental health and justice issues. Women's bodies and reproductive health are often the markers of environmental contamination through diminished fertility, fetal developmental disabilities and increased rates of cancers. Beginning in 2008, the Foundation brought together grant partners working in these two movements to form the Environmental Justice/Reproductive Justice (EJ/RJ) Collaborative. The Foundation has seen firsthand how joint advocacy generates more inclusive movements and stronger outcomes for communities. This report summarizes the EJ/RJ Collaborative as a reference for funders, policymakers, organizations and others interested in joint advocacy work

Organisational justice and health of employees: prospective cohort study

Aims: To examine the association between components of organisational justice (that is, justice of decision making procedures and interpersonal treatment) and health of employees.Methods: The Poisson regression analyses of recorded all-cause sickness absences with medical certificate and the logistic regression analyses of minor psychiatric morbidity, as assessed by the General Health Questionnaire, and poor self rated health status were based on a cohort of 416 male and 3357 female employees working during 1998-2000 in 10 hospitals in Finland.Results: Low versus high justice of decision making procedures was associated with a 41% higher risk of sickness absence in men (rate ratio (RR) 1.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.1 to 1.8), and a 12% higher risk in women (RR 1.1, 95% CI 1.0 to 1.2) after adjustment for baseline characteristics., The corresponding odds ratios (OR) for minor psychiatric morbidity were 1.6 (95% CI 1.0 to 2.6) in men and 1.4 (95% CI 1.2 to 1.7) in women, and for self rated health 1.4 in both sexes. In interpersonal treatment, low justice increased the risk of sickness absence (RR 1.3 (95% CI 1.0 to 1.6) and RR 1.2 (95% CI 1.2 to 1.3) in men and women respectively), and minor psychiatric morbidity (OR 1.2 in both sexes). These figures largely Persisted after control for other risk factors (for example, job control, workload, social support, and hostility) and they were replicated in initially healthy subcohorts. No evidence was found to support the hypothesis that organisational justice would represent a consequence of health (reversed causality).Conclusions: This is the first longitudinal study to show that the extent to which people are treated with justice in workplaces independently predicts their health

The \u3cem\u3eLancet\u3c/em\u3e Commission on Global Health Law: The Transformative Power of Law to Advance the Right to Health

A new report by The Lancet-O’Neill-Georgetown University Commission on Global Health and the Law shows how law can fulfill the global pledge of the human right to health, while “leaving no one behind.” I call this “global health with justice.” We need both health and justice. By global health, I mean ever increasing indicators of good health and increased longevity in all countries around the world. By justice I mean that the global “good” of health must be fairly distributed both within and among countries. The Lancet Commission report offers a comprehensive roadmap towards realizing the law’s power to make us healthier and safer, describing how principles – like fairness, participation, and wielding evidence – can shape policies throughout government. It also vividly illustrates how good governance and the rule of law can advance both health and justice. We tend to think of science and medicine as the major drivers of good health. And, of course, these disciplines are vital to develop, implement, and improve healthcare, including pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and medical supplies. Yet, professional medical and nursing services make only a relatively small contribution to population health. More important are population-based interventions that modify core risks to health, such as diet, smoking, alcohol, and physical activity. These interventions are not the product of medicine or healthcare systems. Rather they are driven by law. In other words, what is the wonder drug that could save millions of lives? It is the law, enacted on the floors of national legislatures

Trauma histories among justice-involved youth: findings from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.

BackgroundUp to 90% of justice-involved youth report exposure to some type of traumatic event. On average, 70% of youth meet criteria for a mental health disorder with approximately 30% of youth meeting criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Justice-involved youth are also at risk for substance use and academic problems, and child welfare involvement. Yet, less is known about the details of their trauma histories, and associations among trauma details, mental health problems, and associated risk factors.ObjectiveThis study describes detailed trauma histories, mental health problems, and associated risk factors (i.e., academic problems, substance/alcohol use, and concurrent child welfare involvement) among adolescents with recent involvement in the juvenile justice system.MethodThe National Child Traumatic Stress Network Core Data Set (NCTSN-CDS) is used to address these aims, among which 658 adolescents report recent involvement in the juvenile justice system as indexed by being detained or under community supervision by the juvenile court.ResultsAge of onset of trauma exposure was within the first 5 years of life for 62% of youth and approximately one-third of youth report exposure to multiple or co-occurring trauma types each year into adolescence. Mental health problems are prevalent with 23.6% of youth meeting criteria for PTSD, 66.1% in the clinical range for externalizing problems, and 45.5% in the clinical range for internalizing problems. Early age of onset of trauma exposure was differentially associated with mental health problems and related risk factors among males and females.ConclusionsThe results indicate that justice-involved youth report high rates of trauma exposure and that this trauma typically begins early in life, is often in multiple contexts, and persists over time. Findings provide support for establishing trauma-informed juvenile justice systems that can respond to the needs of traumatized youth

A Blueprint for Juvenile Justice Reform

Youth in the justice system are not so different from other youth that many foundations already serve. If your foundation supports youth development, education and after school programs, foster care, workforce development, or public health -- sectors where foundations are promoting significant change -- then you will recognize many of the same youth entangled in the juvenile justice system. Juvenile justice systems, too, are changing. The most advanced jurisdictions are reducing institutionalization for the vast majority of youth. And for those youth who must be conf ined, they are preparing them to pursue meaningful educational and vocational opportunities when they return home. The Juvenile Justice Work Group of the Youth Transition Funders Group is composed of regional and national grantmakers working across fields of justice, education, foster care, and mental health. Supporting policies and programs that treat youth like youth, we aim to help governments and nonprof its preserve public safety and improve young people's chances to become successful and productive adults

Rehabilitating prisoners: The place of basic life skills programmes

Purpose: Tackling high reoffending rates in England and Wales is of significant political interest, with education and training being viewed as an important mechanism to achieve change. The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a small empirical study examining a life skills programme delivered in a Category C prison in the West Midlands. Design/methodology/approach: The study used a multi-method approach incorporating observations of two modules, four focus groups with prisoners enrolled on the programme, questionnaires with programme completers, and semi-structured interviews with staff. Findings: The findings indicate that life skills are an important component in rehabilitation. More specifically, developing the necessary tools to assist prisoners in everyday life, such as recognition, interpretation, reflection, response, and planning is fundamental to rehabilitation. Research limitations/implications: A limitation of this study was that only prisoners currently at this Category C prison were included. This could be complemented by the inclusion of more participants who had completed the programme; however, access and data protection considerations limited the study to one location. Practical implications: The key message of this study is that without addressing basic life skills, education and vocational rehabilitation is severely limited. Social implications: To reduce reoffending rates, it is important to conceive rehabilitation in broader terms, not simply in relation to education and vocational training. Originality/value: This paper offers insight into an unreported area of good practice in prison rehabilitation provision. © Emerald Publishing Limited

Justice Reinvestment in Oklahoma: Analysis and Policy Framework

Summarizes findings from analyses of criminal justice, mental health, and substance abuse data and policy options for justice reinvestment, a data-driven strategy to contain corrections spending and reinvest part of the savings in improving public safety