A public health approach to understanding and preventing violent radicalization

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Very recent acts of terrorism in the UK were perpetrated by 'homegrown', well educated young people, rather than by foreign Islamist groups; consequently, a process of violent radicalization was proposed to explain how ordinary people were recruited and persuaded to sacrifice their lives.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Counterterrorism approaches grounded in the criminal justice system have not prevented violent radicalization. Indeed there is some evidence that these approaches may have encouraged membership of radical groups by not recognizing Muslim communities as allies, citizens, victims of terrorism, and victims of discrimination, but only as suspect communities who were then further alienated. Informed by public health research and practice, a new approach is proposed to target populations vulnerable to recruitment, rather than rely only on research of well known terrorist groups and individual perpetrators of terrorist acts.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This paper proposes public health research and practice to guard against violent radicalization.</p

Global Position Statement: Religion and Spirituality in Mental Health Care

Careif is an international mental health charity that works towards protecting and promoting mental health and resilience, to eliminate inequalities and strengthen social justice. Our principles include working creatively with humility and dignity, and with balanced partnerships in order to ensure all cultures and societies play their part in our mission of protecting and promoting mental health and wellbeing. We do this by respecting the traditions of all world societies, whilst believing traditions can evolve, for even greater benefit to individuals and society. Careif believes that knowledge should not only be available to those with wealth or those who live in urban and industrialised parts of the world. It considers knowledge sharing to be a basic human right, particularly where this knowledge can change lives and help realise true human potential. Furthermore, there is substantial knowledge to be found in low and middle income countries and within rural and poorer areas of the world and this knowledge is just as valuable to the wellbeing of people in areas which are wealthier. This Position Statement aims to highlight the current position and need for understanding the role of culture, spirituality and religion in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. Globalisation has created culturally rich and diverse societies. During the past several decades, there has been a steadily increasing recognition of the importance of cultural influences on life and health. Societies are becoming multi-ethnic and poly-cultural in nature worldwide, where different groups enrich each other's lives with their unique culture/s. Cultural transition and acculturation is often discussed as relevant to migrants and the need to integrate, when in fact it is of relevance to all cultures in an ever-interconnected world. It is indeed necessary to be equipped with knowledge about cultures and their influence on mental health and illness. Until the early 19th century, psychiatry and religion were closely connected. Religious institutions were responsible for the care of the mentally ill. A major change occurred when Charcot and his pupil Freud associated religion with hysteria and neurosis. This created a divide between religion and mental health care, which has continued until recently. Psychiatry has a long tradition of dismissing and attacking religious experience. Religion has often been seen by mental health professionals in Western societies as irrational, outdated, and dependency forming and has sometimes been viewed as resulting in emotional instability

Global Position Statement: Stigma, Mental Illness and Diversity

Careif is an international mental health charity that works towards protecting and promoting mental health, wellbeing, resilience and resourcefulness with a special focus towards eliminating inequalities and strengthening social justice. Our principles include working creatively with humility, dignity and balanced partnerships in order to ensure that all cultures and societies play their part in our mission of protecting and promoting mental health and wellbeing. We do this by respecting the traditions of all world societies, whilst believing that culture and traditions can evolve for even greater benefit to individuals and society. Globalisation has created culturally rich and diverse societies. During the past several decades, there has been a steadily increasing recognition of the importance of societal and cultural influences on life and health. Societies are becoming multi-ethnic and poly-cultural in nature worldwide, where different groups enrich each other's lives with their unique culture/s. Cultural transition and acculturation is often discussed as relevant to migrants and mentions the need to integrate, when in fact it is of relevance to all cultures in an ever interconnecting world. It is indeed necessary to be equipped with knowledge about cultures and their influence on mental health and illness. Culturally informed mental health care is rapidly moving from an attitudinal orientation to an evidence-based approach, therefore understanding culture and mental health care becomes greater than a health care issue

The importance of hair in the identity of Black people

Hairstyles have always been important to Black Africans and their descendants and are important in expressing identity. The transatlantic slave trade made it difficult to maintain these hairstyles, mostly due to separation from familial and other ties. Since Black phenotypes were viewed as inferior, Black hair and styles were seen as ugly and unacceptable. The American Civil Rights Movement (ACRM) ushered in a resurgence in ‘natural’ hairstyles, supporting a collective identity and a counterhegemonic movement. However, the success of this movement did not propel Black hairstyles on to the same plane as those that maintained the imperial aesthetic of the white ideal. The constant diminution of the Black identity through the disparagement of Black hairstyles has been used as a synonym for racism and can lead to psychological distress and mental instability. Although Black people have resided in Canada and Quebec since the 17th century, there is very little in Canadian academic literature addressing these issues. This theoretical paper presents a discourse on the importance of hair to the identity of Black people and will add to the limited literature by providing Canadian and Québécois institutions with a greater appreciation of the prominence of Black hair and hairstyles to the identity and well-being of Black people.Les coiffures ont toujours été importantes pour les Africains noirs et leurs descendants et sont des facteurs importants d’expression de l’identité. La traite transatlantique des esclaves a rendu difficile le maintien de ces coiffures, principalement en raison de la séparation des liens familiaux et autres. Étant donné que les phénotypes noirs étaient considérés comme inférieurs, les cheveux et les styles noirs étaient jugés laids et inacceptables. L’American Civil Rights Movement (ACRM) a inauguré une résurgence de coiffures « naturelles » soutenant une identité collective et un mouvement contre-hégémonique. Cependant, le succès de ce mouvement n’a pas propulsé les coiffures noires sur le même plan que celles qui maintenaient l’esthétique impériale de l’idéal blanc. La diminution constante de l’identité noire par le dénigrement des coiffures noires a été utilisée comme synonyme de racisme et peut entraîner une détresse psychologique et une instabilité mentale. Bien que les Noirs résident au Canada et au Québec depuis le XVIIe siècle, ces questions sont très peu traitées dans la littérature universitaire canadienne. Cet article théorique présente un discours sur l’importance des cheveux pour l’identité des Noirs et offre aux institutions canadiennes et québécoises une meilleure appréciation de l’importance des cheveux noirs et des coiffures pour l’identité et le bien-être des Noirs

Informed proxy consent : communication between surgeons and surrogates about surgery

Professionals whose job it is to counsel patients must be cognizant of the role played by communication in the establishment of a trusting working relationship. This is no less true for those within the medical community who must obtain informed consent for surgical interventions than it is for those working within the area of mental health. In order to determine what role communication plays in the obtaining of informed consent within a pediatrics setting, a qualitative study was conducted of 20 surrogates (those individuals giving consent on behalf of legally incompetent children) and of 5 surgeons performing surgical interventions on those children. Two sets of questionnaires were administered in order to elicit information pertaining to how surgeons communicate information to surrogates and to investigate how that information is received and processed by the surrogate. Results showed that while the obtaining of signed informed consent itself may not be a major problem, there are some difficulties in the communication between surgeons and surrogates in this domain. Based on the findings, recommendations for improved communication between surgeons and surrogates are proposed

A call to action on racism and social justice in mental health: Un appel à l'action en matière de racisme et de justice sociale en santé mentale

We write as academics who study the impact of culture on mental health, clinicians who strive to provide equitable mental health care and representatives of organizations devoted to advancing the field of cultural psychiatry. We join our voices to those in the USA and around the world calling for social change to address the longstanding violence and inequities of systemic racism and discrimination

Strategies used by Black Caribbean youth to achieve success

Titre de l'écran-titre (visionné le 16 sept. 2009)

A Virtual Reality–Assisted Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for and With Inuit in Québec: Protocol for a Proof-of-Concept Randomized Controlled Trial

BackgroundEmotion regulation is an ability related to psychological well-being; when dysregulated, individuals may have psychiatric symptoms and maladapted physiological responses. Virtual reality–assisted cognitive behavioral therapy (VR-CBT) is an effective psychotherapy to target and strengthen emotion regulation; however, it currently lacks cultural sensitivity and can be improved by adapting it to the cultural context of service users. During previous participatory research, we co-designed a culturally adapted cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) manual and 2 virtual reality (VR) environments to function as a complement to therapy (VR-CBT) for Inuit who would like to access psychotherapy. Emotion regulation skill building will occur in virtual environments that have interactive components such as heart rate biofeedback. ObjectiveWe describe a protocol for a proof-of-concept 2-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT) with Inuit (n=40) in Québec. The primary aims of this research are to investigate the feasibility, benefits, and challenges of the culturally adapted VR-CBT intervention versus an established VR self-management that is available commercially. We will also investigate self-rated mental well-being and objective psychophysiological measures. Finally, we will use proof-of-concept data to identify suitable primary outcome measures, conduct power calculations in a larger trial for efficacy, and collect information about preferences for on-site or at-home treatment. MethodsTrial participants will be randomly assigned to an active condition or active control condition in a 1:1 ratio. Inuit aged 14 to 60 years will receive a culturally adapted and therapist-guided VR-CBT with biofeedback or a VR relaxation program with nonpersonalized guided components over a 10-week period. We will collect pre- and posttreatment measures of emotion regulation and biweekly assessments over the treatment and at 3-month follow-up. The primary outcome will be measured by the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS-16) and a novel psychophysiological reactivity paradigm. Secondary measures include psychological symptoms and well-being via rating scales (eg, anxiety or depressive symptoms). ResultsAs this is the prospective registration of an RCT protocol, we do not yet report any results from the trial. Funding was confirmed in January 2020, and recruitment is expected to start in March 2023 and is set to finish in August 2025. The expected results are to be published in spring 2026. ConclusionsThe proposed study responds to the community’s desire for accessible and appropriate resources for psychological well-being, as it was developed in active collaboration with the Inuit community in Québec. We will test feasibility and acceptance by comparing a culturally adapted, on-site psychotherapy with a commercial self-management program while incorporating novel technology and measurement in the area of Indigenous health. We also aim to fulfill the needs for RCT evidence of culturally adapted psychotherapies that are lacking in Canada. Trial RegistrationInternational Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN) 21831510; https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN21831510 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)PRR1-10.2196/4023