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Life After Sex Trafficking: Survival and Reintegration

February 27, 202000Anger, Depression, Featured news, Law and Crime, Post-Traumatic Growth, Sex, Sexual Abuse February, 20

Source: Richard George Davis, Used with Permission

In her Ted Talk, Barbara Amaya, a sex trafficking survivor, recounted a nightmare in which she ran away from her abusive home in Fairfax, Regina, to the streets of Washington, DC at age 12. She was recruited into sex trafficking by a young woman who had approached her, claiming to understand Barbara’s situation and saying she could help. The woman, who was a victim of sex trafficking herself, had been recruiting other runaways. They sold Barbara to a trafficker in New York who, as Barbara described, “Programmed my young mind and knew exactly how to create a commodity out of a human being.”

Domestic sex trafficking involves the use of coercive tactics to force an individual to perform commercial sex within the borders of one country. Victims of domestic sex trafficking are at risk for countless health problems, such as sexually transmitted infections, cancer, infertility, heart disease, and urinary tract infections. Victims also experience severe psychological distress, such as complex PTSD; mood, eating and personality disturbances; and addiction. The damage done by this trauma can last a lifetime.

The struggles that survivors face when reintegrating after having lived as a trafficked person are often overlooked. Megan Lundstrom, a survivor of sex trafficking, explains:

“I think a lot of people lose sight of the fact that just because you’ve received medical care and you’re no longer in jail, you can’t just pat a survivor on the head and say, ‘You’re fixed, go on with your life.’ That’s where the really hard work starts.”

Megan explains that returning after being trafficked, can lead to feelings of social alienation:

“You literally go through a period of culture shock of trying to understand, ‘How do I communicate with people? How do I work in a legitimate, legal job setting? What rights do I have and how do I put forth boundaries?’ All of those things are so new.”

This description resonates with Barbara. After escaping her trafficker at age 24, Barbara found herself lost and uncertain:

“By the time I left, one of the many rules of my trafficker was no reading, no writing to anyone. That amount of isolation made me feel like I was returning from Mars after a decade because I was trafficked from ages 12 to 24. I missed so many things that had happened in the real world. I also missed all the milestones of growing up in a loving environment… Nobody knew what to do with me and I didn’t know what to do with me. What was I supposed to do? I guess I’m supposed to get an education. Maybe I’m supposed to find a job? Maybe I’m supposed to get married and have a baby?”

The reintegration process is complex and multi-faceted, and it occurs one step at a time. For both Barbara and Megan, the road to reintegration required making meaning of their experience by helping others transform from victims to survivors. This involved ensuring people are prevented from being trafficked, that law enforcement agencies intervene and extract those who are already victims of trafficking from that life, and that survivors are supported while transitioning after having been trafficked.

Barbara was in a very dark depression:

“A newscast came on. I wasn’t really watching it; I was just lying here. They were talking about human trafficking… in northern Virginia and it was a very large case. I don’t remember ever having heard that term: Human trafficking. I had heard the term ‘drug trafficking,’ but not human trafficking. And then they started talking about the recruitment techniques that traffickers use and then I stood up and I had a true epiphany, a true “ah-ha” moment. I sat up and for the first time I self-identified as a victim and I thought, ‘What?’ They were describing what had happened to me, how traffickers were treating young women; that had happened to me, and it’s still happening to others. This caused a lot of emotions. One of them was anger, I just wanted to do something. I had a vague idea of helping women run away. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. But within two weeks, I was sharing my experiences on that safety channel and videos on my website, and I was just propelled forward.”

Likewise, Megan started speaking out about what was happening in her community in northern Colorado after feeling compelled to raise awareness about the hidden signs of domestic sex trafficking:

“Part of my exploitation happened up at the oil fields in North Dakota… When I moved back to Colorado in 2012, it was kind of the height of the oil boom in northern Colorado, and state-wide. I started doing my research because there was a hotel being built across the street from my home to house all of these oil field workers who were coming in temporarily. Because of my experience in North Dakota, I knew what that meant. It really started to bother me as I moved forward in my healing… And I was getting to a place where I felt I really needed to speak out in my community about what this hotel symbolizes to me, and maybe I was seeing what other people weren’t necessarily seeing because they didn’t have those experiences.”

Barbara’s epiphany led her to share her story on various news outlets, college campuses, and women’s organizations, and this exposure resulted in her being called upon by law enforcement to assist in training police officers. Barbara also wrote a book, Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Lost Innocence, Modern Day Slavery & Transformation, which contains a guide for teachers, health and medical personnel, law enforcement, and young men and women about this topic. She also created a graphic novel, The Destiny of Zoe Carpenter, which is a human trafficking educational resource for middle and high school students.

Like Barbara, Megan began speaking at different groups and realized that others had also had experiences like hers. She found that few agencies were aware that sex trafficking was happening in their communities. Megan also discovered that there were no services or trained individuals specifically serving this unique population. Recognizing this limitation, in 2014, she founded Free Our Girls, an American non-profit organization that has worked to create various resources, including awareness, prevention, and response training curriculums for survivors, professionals, and middle and high school level students, as well as outreach, intervention and restoration services for victims and survivors.

Of course, survivors from domestic sex trafficking need much help to reintegrate. Finding a sense of purpose after such tragic experiences can be a pivotal moment for those who want to recover from trauma.

-Riana Fisher, Contributing Writer, The Trauma and Mental Health Report

-Chief Editor: Robert T. Muller, The Trauma and Mental Health Report.

-Copyright Robert T. Muller

This article was originally published on Psychology Today

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Opioid Addiction a Battle Between Parents and the Law

January 16, 202000Addiction, Education, Featured news, Law and Crime, Mental Health, Parenting, Trauma Psychotherapy January, 20

Source: rafabordes at Pixabay, Creative Commons

In 2017, a father from Victoria, British Columbia, pleaded for his 15-year-old daughter to seek rehabilitation for an opioid addiction. He was terrified that by the time she realized she required treatment, it would be too late—a reality for many parents with children battling addictions.

Opioid addiction has reached epidemic levels among youth and adults in North America. In 2016, roughly 64,000 Americans died from this class of substances, which includes illegal drugs like heroin, and prescription drugs such as fentanyl, which constitute the majority of opioid-related deaths. In 2015, approximately 10% of youth ages 15 to 24 were using prescription opiates in Canada.

In Canada, health care is managed provincially. According to lawyer Lisa Feldstein, an expert in the field of children’s mental

Current Canadian laws are deemed highly problematic by parents of drug-addicted children who believe the laws impact their ability to protect their children from danger, leaving many feeling hopeless and afraid. The Trauma and Mental Health Report (TMHR) interviewed numerous parents with drug-addicted children and many believe the very nature of drug addiction impairs an individual’s ability to think rationally and recognize they have a severe problem warranting immediate treatment. This concern was reiterated by the father of the opioid-addicted child from Victoria, British Columbia:

“She’s a child. Her brain is not completely developed. She’s already suffering emotional issues and now the drugs are doing the talking for her. She’s not thinking rationally.”

Parents’ concerns are partially supported by research. According to one study, the reason many individuals with opioid addictions do not seek treatment may be due to dysfunctional neurocircuitry resulting in an impaired ability to recognize their drug addiction.

If it is believed their child lacks mental capacity, parents can obtain an official form, authorized by a physician, allowing their child to be involuntarily admitted to treatment. However, the period of time in which treatment facilities can involuntarily confine children is often short. For example, in British Columbia, Form 4 allows an individual to be involuntarily admitted for 48 hours. To be held longer, a second form must be completed within that 48-hour period, upon which an individual can be held up to 30 days.

In an interview, Brenda Doherty, a parent of a 14-year old opioid-addicted child, expresses the frustration and heartbreak caused by the current mental health system. Doherty was successful in obtaining Form 4, however, her daughter was released from the hospital she was admitted to within one hour of arriving:

“I didn’t even have time to get down there and they discharged her… They let her go and she died a day and a half later.”

While the National Institute on Drug Abuse states that involuntary treatment can be effective, Micheal Vonn, policy director for the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, argues that involuntary treatment may place children at greater risk once discharged:

“The question then becomes, once they are released, are they actually more inclined or set up for an overdose because they don’t have a structured program to go into to support them in recovery?”

However, according to Families for Addiction Recovery, while voluntary treatment is always preferred, if obtaining consent is not possible, the risks of untreated addiction must be considered, which can include homelessness, juvenile detention and severe medical problems.

In an interview with the TMHR, Kaelan Lanie, a 20-year old from Minnesota who battled an opioid addiction throughout her youth appreciates both sides of the debate:

“Although I think in many cases forced intervention is necessary, I believe the addict has to want the help in order for treatment to actually work, and unfortunately you can’t force someone into wanting to get better.”

When asked what the primary motivating factor was that allowed Lanie to recover from addiction, she said:

“I just had enough. I became willing to do whatever it took to recover and God lined up the right people to believe in me until I could believe in myself.”

Lanie offers advice to parents of drug-addicted children:

“I believe the best thing a parent can do for their child with a drug addiction is to seek help themselves. Talk about things—whether by joining support groups or confiding in friends and family. Addiction is a family disease and everyone must recover from it.”

The balance between respecting children’s autonomy and the duty of a parent to protect their child is complex. However, a case can be made that allowing parents to consent to treatment on behalf of their child, although inadequate to solve the current opioid crisis, can potentially save the lives of opioid-addicted children. For now, all parents can do is support their child as affirmed by the father of the 15-year old from British Columbia:

“I tell her that I love her and to be careful and to take care. And when I get a response, I just know that she’s alive. And that’s all I can ask right now.”

—Julia Martini, Contributing Writer, The Trauma and Mental Health Report

– Chief Editor: Robert T. Muller, The Trauma and Mental Health Report.

-Copyright Robert T. Muller

health law, there is no minimum age for medical consent in most Canadian provinces, including British Columbia. If an opioid-addicted child is deemed to have mental capacity by a physician, they are capable of deciding whether or not they will receive treatment. Exceptions are only granted during medical emergencies in which case a physician decides on the most appropriate action. In contrast, parents in the majority of US states can make medical decisions on behalf of children under the age of 18, with a few US states even allowing parents to send adult children into involuntary treatment.

This article was originally published on Psychology Today

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Convicted Men and the Women Who Love Them

January 2, 202000Empathy, Featured news, Forensic Psychology, Law and Crime, Mating, Relationships, Trust January, 20

Source: angus mcdiarmid at Flicker, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

With the recent Zac Efron movie, depicting serial killer Ted Bundy, the media have been shocked by the admiration many have expressed toward him. Netflix expressed their disapproval on Twitter:

Netflix US ✔ @netflix

I’ve seen a lot of talk about Ted Bundy’s alleged hotness and would like to gently remind everyone that there are literally THOUSANDS of hot men on the service — almost all of whom are not convicted serial murderers.

One research study examined women of varying ages, ethnicities, education and employment who were in relationships with incarcerated men. While they weren’t diagnosed with major mental illnesses or personality disorders, many came from difficult upbringings with a history of abuse. And, notably, 90% had experienced dominant, verbally abusive, prior marriages.

Some may become sexually aroused by being with a partner convicted of a severe crime such as rape, murder, or armed robbery. This is a paraphilia known as hybristophilia. American psychiatry’s diagnostic system, DSM-5, notes this condition may interfere with the establishment of normal sexual relationships.

Many meet their partner via online pen pal sites such as Canadian Inmates Connect. Melissa Fazzina, the site’s creator and founder, spoke with the Trauma and Mental Health Report (TMHR) to provide insight as to why woman choose such relationships:

“These women just want to offer support to people that do not have a connection to the outside world. Inmates have nothing but time. You really get to know that person because you talk about everything and anything. This is what makes these relationships strong. You can still have a relationship but you don’t have to be as committed in terms of cooking dinner every night and going to obligatory family functions etc. Pain heals pain. They feel special because they are the one.”

Julia (name changed) met her partner Bill (name changed) through Canadian Inmates Connect. Bill is convicted of murder and is serving a 25-year sentence. Julia had been through the prison system herself and knew the loneliness it brings. She made her selection based on two criteria: Bill was in for a long time, so he would not come out; and the jail was far, so she could not visit.

Julia describes her childhood in a small town:

“There has been no violence, no alcohol abuse, and no drug abuse in my family. I am educated, currently completing a university degree, and I own my own business and solely take care of my children…I don’t think my partner’s sentence is who he is; he just got caught up in something. He is loyal and hard working. He has dreams and aspirations and he is strong enough to want to change his future and get out and do something with his life.”

Psychologist Ami Rokach has worked in the prison system for 28 years. In an interview with the TMHR, he explains why some women choose incarcerated men.

“There are different types of women that could be interested in this type of relationship. There is the very high nurturing type, who feels they can “save” someone. Then, there is the type who wants someone who is considered tough, rough and “manly”, because this gives the illusion that they can protect them. Third, there is the rebellious type who are unhappy and angry and who live a vicarious rebelliousness through this experience.”

For Julia, being in a relationship with Bill allows her to experience emotional availability and connection on her own terms:

“I want people to understand that the stigma about women that are in relationships with inmates – that they are unstable or crazy – is not true. People ask me, “how can you fall in love with someone you have never seen in person?” To that I say, what is the biggest success indicator of a relationship? Communication. I talk to him for many hours on the phone. I know how he feels. I can hear it in his voice, when he is happy, sad or whatever-feeling. I compare this to a long distance relationship, it’s no different.”

When Luca Magnotta, a known killer, joined Canadian Inmates Connect, he received numerous letters of support and admiration, putting the ethics of the site into question. Melissa explained that she faced backlash for her actions:

“It was a dark time in my life, I was very upset that just because of one person who is in the public eye I get the media reprimanding me for it.”

What can be incomprehensible to many can be alluring to others.

-Eleni Neofytou, Contributing Writer, The Trauma and Mental Health Report

– Chief Editor: Robert T. Muller, The Trauma and Mental Health Report.

-Copyright Robert T. Muller

This article was originally published on Psychology Today

What Happens After Children Are Freed From Captivity?

July 18, 201900Caregiving, Cognition, Depression, Embarrassment, Featured news, Law and Crime, Shyness, Trauma July, 19

Source: James Sutton, creative commons

On occasion, we hear of extreme cases of child abuse, making family names like the Turpins infamous.

The 13 Turpin children were held captive in their house, where they were limited to only one meal a day and one shower a year. Twelve of the children were subject to extreme physical abuse, and one suffered from sexual abuse. The eldest child, who was 29 years old, weighed only 82 pounds.

Cases like these often publicize legal proceedings and atrocities committed by the parents, but disregard what happens to these children—the victims— in the aftermath.

Research on children held captive is sparse, however, there are some studies of other high-profile cases where children suffered extreme deprivation. A well-known one is Genie, a child who was isolated in a small bedroom where she was strapped to a toilet seat during the day, or trapped in a crib with wire covering. She received absolutely no stimulation and was only fed infant food.

When Genie was found at age 13, she was unable to perform basic functions, such as chewing, biting, standing or walking. She spent years trying to learn to speak but was unable to acquire language fully or normally. After years of testing by psychologists and physicians, her mother forbade further assessment of Genie, and she is now living in the care of the state of California.

Maude Julien, a psychotherapist from France who herself was subjected to captivity by her parents, now treats patients who are victims of trauma. In an interview with The Trauma and Mental Health Report, Maude describes her experiences growing up.

“For about 15 years, I practically never went out. I never went to school; my mother was my home-school teacher. My father wanted to create a superhuman, uncorrupted by this world,” Maude said. “I had to undergo a ‘training of the mind’ in order to become this ‘superhuman.’ He wanted me to believe that the world outside was terrible.”

Maude described the effects of severe trauma caused and explained her recovery process.

“I had to learn the simplest, most basic social conventions like speaking to strangers or finding my way around. Above all, I had to learn how to talk, because my long periods of forced silence had made me almost mute,” Maude said.

“Even though I was learning all this, I was still imprisoned behind the ‘gates’ of conditioning. I could still hear in my head, day and night, the tick-tock of my father timing everything,” she said.

Maude described her recovery as the need to “free herself from the mental and emotional hold” she was under. It took her more than ten years to overcome the consequences of her imprisonment.

Maude explains how reading, and connecting with animals and other people helped her cope with trauma. She attributes her ability to get out of the house to her music teacher and describes her second husband’s parents as an instrumental part in helping her mature.

“I was 24 when I met them and they helped the child inside me grow up. I felt unconditional parental love for the first time; it’s one of the greatest gifts in the world,” Maude said.

Children who have been held captive by a relative often think they deserve it and live with a heavy feeling of shame and guilt.

“It’s usually shame that prevents victims from seeking help,” Maude said. “They have also a feeling of isolation, because a predator like my father, makes the victim believe that he alone can love and protect them.”

Children reported in these high-profile cases may feel guilty for having “betrayed” their parents, yet may also feel relief for having escaped. She describes living with this duality as being very “painful.”

“They will have to free themselves from the ‘psychological leash’ imposed by their predator,” Maude said. “They will have to learn how to trust certain people, and they will have to learn how to recognize other predators and stay away from them. Most of all, they have to learn how to trust themselves.”

—Amanda Piccirilli, Contributing Writer, The Trauma and Mental Health Report

– Chief Editor: Robert T. Muller, The Trauma and Mental Health Report.

-Copyright Robert T. Muller

This article was originally published on Psychology Today

Jurors Are Left Traumatized by Some Court Cases

April 19, 201900Decision-Making, Dopamine, Empathy, Featured news, Law and Crime, Mental Health, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Stress, Trauma April, 19

Source: Marica Villeneuve, Trauma and Mental Health Report artist, used with permission

On November 7, 2016, the Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario reached a settlement with a juror diagnosed with vicarious post-traumatic stress disorder. The juror served on the trial of eight-year-old Tori Stafford’s killer.

The woman, who cannot be named due to a publication ban protecting the identity of jurors in this case, received the diagnosis months after performing her civic duty. Four years ago, she was one of 12 jurors in the trial of Michael Rafferty, the man charged and convicted of kidnapping, sexually assaulting, and murdering Stafford.

While sitting on the jury during the two-month trial, the woman visited scenes of rape, saw photographic evidence of the crime, and heard eyewitness testimony from Rafferty’s girlfriend and accomplice, Terri-Lynne McClintic.

In a submission to the Ontario Court of Appeal, the juror said that, almost immediately after the trial, she lashed out at her children, suffered from depression, had flashbacks to disturbing pieces of evidence, and experienced short-term memory loss and difficulties with concentration.

Over the course of a criminal trial, jurors are often exposed to disturbing graphic evidence. And while jury members are instructed to remain unbiased and evenhanded, the process can take a toll on their mental health.

Beyond the traumatizing effects of graphic evidence, the weight of the task itself can be harmful to jurors’ wellbeing. The high-stakes decision that members have been tasked with, which includes determining the fate of someone’s life, can be psychologically taxing. This pattern of stress and anxiety is frequently observed in other high-pressure jobs that involve exposure to traumatic information and heavy responsibilities, such as social work.

Patrick Baillie, a psychologist with Alberta Health Services, and former Chair of the Mental Health Commission of Canada, says that jury members are often not mentally prepared to sit through a criminal trial:

“These are twelve citizens who don’t typically have any involvement with the system, which is why we want them to serve as jurors, being given this extraordinary task with not a whole lot of mental support.”

In addition to the responsibility of remaining impartial, jurors are not allowed to share any details related to their deliberations. To protect the integrity of the trial, members are prohibited from discussing their personal views on the evidence, witnesses, or trial process, to ensure confidential information cannot be related back to discussions that took place in the jury room. Baillie explains:

“It is illegal to disclose the deliberation of a jury to anybody. So, [you] can’t tell a spouse and family and friends… people in [your] usual support system and the mental health professionals that [you] may want to come in contact with down the road. We need to make sure that jurors are not identified and to make sure the process is pure as it can be.”

Under these circumstances, jury members are left to process the psychological and emotional effects of the trial on their own.

Barbara Legate, the lawyer representing the juror from Stafford’s case, argues:

“We ask jurors to sit through days, weeks, and sometimes months of testimony and sometimes that testimony is very, very difficult, and we ask them to keep it to themselves, not discuss it with people outside.”

Until recently, Ontario judges were responsible for deciding whether jurors should be offered counseling at the end of a trial. Jurors would then either be connected with counselors provided by the Ministry of the Attorney General or would pursue counseling on their own.

Starting in January 2017, however, Ontario initiates a new program to provide free and accessible counseling services to anyone serving on a jury. The Ontario Attorney General Yasir Naqvi says the Juror Support Program will be available for anyone serving in a criminal or civil trial, or an inquest.

Jurors will be provided with information on the program at the beginning of a trial, and then again as it finishes. They will call a designated phone number, speak to a specialist who does an assessment, and have counseling made available to them. A third party will provide and cover the costs of the counseling services, but the government still determines who that third party will be. Naqui says:

“Jurors in difficult trials do face evidence that could be quite horrific, and we’ve heard those stories. It’s only appropriate that we provide appropriate services.”

-Veerpal Bambrah, Contributing Writer, The Trauma and Mental Health Report

– Chief Editor: Robert T. Muller, The Trauma and Mental Health Report.

-Copyright Robert T. Muller

This article was originally published on Psychology Today

When Male Rape Victims Are Accountable for Child Support

February 21, 201900Adolescence, Caregiving, Featured news, Law and Crime, Sex, Trauma February, 19

Source: Steve Halama at Unsplash, Creative Commons

When Shane Seyer was 12, he was sexually exploited by his 16-year-old babysitter Colleen Hermesmann. She became pregnant with Seyer’s child in 1989 and was charged with statutory rape shortly afterward. Instead of being convicted of rape, Hermesmann was declared a juvenile offender under the non-sexual offense of “contributing to child misconduct.” Seyer was subsequently court-ordered to pay child support.

In 1993, at the age of 15, Seyer appealed this decision to the Kansas Supreme Court, arguing he should not be liable for these payments. He maintained that his babysitter (Hermesmann) took advantage of him sexually when he was too young to give consent.

The Kansas Supreme Court ruled against him. The judgment stated that, because Seyer initially consented to the sexual encounters and never told his parents what was happening, he was responsible for supporting the child.

This court case set a precedent for male rape victims to make child-support payments. The financial needs of the children outweigh the court’s interest in deterring sexual crimes against male minors, even if statutory rape is the cause of conception.

More recently, in 2014, Nick Olivas of Arizona was forced to pay over $15,000 in back-payments to a woman who had sex with him when he was 14. She was 20 years old at the time. Commenting on the Olivas case and others like it, Mel Feit, director of the New York-based advocacy group the National Center for Men, told the Arizona Republic newspaper:

“To hold him unresponsible for the sex act, and to then turn around and say we’re going to hold him responsible for the child that resulted from that act is off-the-charts ridiculous… it makes no sense.”

Peter Pollard, co-founder of 1in6, an organization designed to help male assault survivors, explained in an interview with the Good Men Project why we downplay the severity of male sexual assault:

“We’re all raised in a culture that says boys are always supposed to initiate and enjoy a sexual experience and males are never supposed to see themselves or be seen as victims. The easiest default is to blame the victim, to say ‘he wanted it,’ ‘he must have chosen that.’”

These attitudes toward male sexual assault are apparent even in the way these men are treated during their court cases.

In 1996, the court heard the case of County of San Luis Obispo v. Nathaniel J in which a 34-year-old woman became pregnant after sexually exploiting a 15-year-old boy. He was also forced to pay child support, and then Deputy Attorney General Mary Roth alleged:

“I guess he thought he was a man then. Now, he prefers to be considered a child.”

Some professionals, such as Mary Koss from the University of Arizona who published the first national rape study in 1987, even argued that men and boys cannot be raped by women. In a radio interview, Koss stated:

“How would [a man being raped by a woman] happen… how would that happen by force or threat of force or when the victim is unable to consent? How does that happen? I would call it ‘unwanted contact.’”

Research indicates, however, that men can be stimulated and achieve an erection in times of fear and terror, despite not being aroused. Studies range from cases where men report arousal during assault, to scientific experiments that find men have erections under many non-sexual circumstances, including when they are unconscious.

In her research, Myriam Denov, a professor at McGill University who holds the Canada Research Chair in Youth, Gender and Armed Conflict, asserted:

“The professional assumption that sexual abuse by women is less harmful than similar abuse by men has potentially dangerous implications for [male] victims of sexual abuse. If professionals fail to recognize sexual abuse by women as potentially serious and harmful, child protection plans will not be made.”

She goes on to say that, as a result, the experiences of male victims who come forward to disclose sexual abuse by women may be trivialized. These misconceptions can lead to delayed referral to social services, or failure to provide victims with the care and support they require.

Until the idea that women cannot rape men and other rape myths are dispelled, cases where victims are misunderstood and mistreated, and even made to pay child support to their former abusers, are likely to continue.

– Ty LeBlanc, Contributing Writer

–The Trauma and Mental Health Report

– Chief Editor: Robert T. Muller, The Trauma and Mental Health Report.

-Copyright Robert T. Muller

This article was originally published on Psychology Today

Prison Executioners Face Job-Related Trauma

October 12, 201800Decision-Making, Empathy, Featured news, Guilt, Law and Crime, Trauma October, 18

When an order of execution is issued by the courts in the United States, the prison warden or superintendent is responsible for the sentence being carried out—often by Corrections Officers (CO) who are unaware they will be tasked with killing a prisoner.

Complicating matters, human connections are frequently formed between guards and prisoners. According to Jerry Givens, who administered the death penalty in Virginia to 62 inmates over 25 years, COs may spend more time with death-row prisoners than with friends or family, and can develop empathy towards these inmates.

With potential bonds between death-row guards and prisoners in mind, a separate team of officers frequently conducts the actual execution. COs directly involved with the prisoners are often given smaller roles, such as walking the prisoners to the execution spot, or putting a hood over their head. This approach aims to reduce the emotionally damaging effects of executions on those in close contact with the inmates.

Authorities also try to disperse feelings of responsibility for the killing by having multiple guards involved in the execution process. With lethal injection, the method of execution used in most States, three COs are assigned to turn a key switch that releases the lethal drug into the prisoner. Only one “live” switch dispenses the fatal chemical. The CO initiating the procedure that ultimately kills the prisoner is not known.

Despite such measures, guards can feel mentally tortured by their participation in executions, both before and after.

As illustrated in Into the Abyss, a documentary detailing the death sentence of convicted killer Michael Perry, many execution guards experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). One guard explained his acute symptoms at the outset of his descent into PTSD. He began crying and shaking uncontrollably when “the eyes of all the inmates he had executed began flashing before him.” Another developed nightmares, cold sweats, and sleeplessness.

Other guards, like Givens, have reported depression, inability to sustain relationships, and changes in personality. According to Rachel MacNair, author of Perpetration-Induced Traumatic Stress: The Psychological Consequences of Killing:

“The inner lives of guards who execute become like those of battlefield veterans who suppress memories from themselves and others.”

In 2007, two South Carolina COs who developed obsessive compulsive behaviour, nightmares, and other emotional disturbances filed civil lawsuits, claiming that their conditions resulted from performing executions. The COs alleged that they were coerced into carrying out executions and were not given any debriefing or counseling to help them deal with the emotional effects.

For some guards who need psychological treatment, it is simply not available. Other times, guards do not use available psychological help for fear of bei

Source: Feature: Fumigraphik at flickr, Creative Commons

ng labelled ‘weak’ by their colleagues. Additionally, guards may not have the opportunity to talk about their involvement in executions with members of their families. Givens explained:

“When I accepted the job, I never told my wife or kids or anybody. I didn’t want them to go through anything I had to go through. If I told someone, they would tell someone. It would have been like a snowball and gotten bigger and bigger and everyone would know exactly what I was doing.”

This secrecy protects guards from having to explain or defend their actions. But it also prevents them from obtaining help to lessen the ill-effects of the associated trauma. Lack of disclosure precludes obtaining support.

The unacknowledged stress experienced by guards on execution teams risks dangerous mental-health consequences. As Givens, who now campaigns to end the death penalty, put it:

“It’s not an easy task to do. If I had known what I had to go through as an executioner, I wouldn’t have done it. You can’t tell me I can take the life of people and go home and be normal.”

– Veerpal Bambrah, Contributing Writer. The Trauma and Mental Health Report.

-Chief Editor: Robert T. Muller, The Trauma and Mental Health Report.

This article was originally published on Psychology Today

The Making of a Murderer

July 6, 201800Child Development, Featured news, Genetics, Law and Crime, Parenting, Psychopathy July, 18

Source: sarahjgibson at DeviantArt, Creative Commons

In 1993, when Robert Thompson and Jon Venables from Liverpool, England were both 10 years of age, they killed a two-year-old boy. Thompson and Venables kidnapped the victim from a shopping centre, tortured him, and left him to die.

Stories like these raise many questions. Chief among them, how does something like this happen at all? Was it the result of bad parenting? The community certainly thought so, viewing the boys’ upbringing as the cause.

The trial had exposed evidence of domestic problems in both families. The judge stated that Thompson’s and Venable’s parents must take moral responsibility for their children’s actions. So members of the Thompson family had to assume new identities and go into hiding. They moved nine times to escape verbal and physical attacks. The Venables experienced similar threats.

In a recent interview with CNN, family therapist Tricia Ferrara put the onus on parents to understand when their child is in trouble. She said:

“All parents need a better understanding of child development so we can detect when the signals show a child may be moving in an anti-social direction.”

And a study conducted on the Columbine shootings, where two teenagers killed 12 students and a teacher at Columbine High School in Denver, suggested that the community saw parents as partly accountable for the murders.

There’s no doubt that parenting plays an enormous role in child development. Researchhas found that abuse, negative parenting, and prolonged malnutrition are linked to a proclivity toward physical violence.

But, there is also important research pointing to the role biology plays in predisposing some individuals to psychopathy, including violence. The BBC reported that neuroscientist Adrian Raine discovered a decrease in activity of the pre-frontal cortex in the brains of murderers, suggesting a genetic predisposition.

And, research by Elizabeth Cauffman and colleagues from the University of California found that good parenting doesn’t always lead to the outcomes we imagine. In fact, anti-social encouragement by a romantic partner was correlated with the highest level of offending in youth, even when warm relationships endured with parents.

In a TVO documentary Genetic Me, professor Daniel Nettle claimed that personality is stable throughout a person’s life. Individuals have tendencies for some things and not others. Nettle suggests that people are born with predispositions for certain personality traits. He adds, though, that the environment has some effect on bringing out theses inclinations, and that people can fight against them.

NPR reported that there are additional factors that play into a person’s development, perhaps explaining why not all children raised by the same parents are violent. Children in the same families have distinct personalities and varied interests that elicit different parenting. Plus, children experience independent social environments outside the home.

Perhaps the complexity of the matter is described best by neurobiologist James Fallon, who studies the brains of psychopathic killers. He explained in a TED Talk that an interaction occurs between environment and genetics. When presented with a particular brain image, he noted it was clearly a psychopath’s brain. What was most shocking—it was his own brain. Fallon, though, is not a killer, and had a happy upbringing. But, he has a family history of homicide. The first documented murder of a mother by a son was committed by a member of his family, several generations back.

Fallon said that, although some individuals, mostly male, have genes or brain damage that make them more susceptible to becoming murderers, their childhood experiences can make all the difference. For instance, the MAOA gene in particular can give rise to a violent individual if the gene is combined with experiences of brutality.

Where do murderers come from? Like all the big questions in mental health, an either-or perspective leaves little room for complexity. In the great genetics versus environment debate, the making of murderers—indeed, the making of us—requires that we look somewhere in-between.

–Anika Rak, Contributing Writer, The Trauma and Mental Health Report.

–Chief Editor: Robert T. Muller, The Trauma and Mental Health Report.

This article was originally published on Psychology Today

Fascination With Murder—Should You Be Concerned About It?

May 24, 201800Anxiety, Ethics and Morality, Featured news, Law and Crime, Psychoanalysis, Psychopathy May, 18

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Fascinated with murder, friends and comedians Georgia Hardstark and Karen Kilgariff wanted the opportunity to openly talk about death. They started weekly podcast “My Favorite Murder” to discuss the grizzly details of crimes that interested them. Although these conversations might seem callous and unseemly to victims’ loved ones and some members of the public, the podcasts serve as a safe space for the women to confront the dark side of human nature.

In the first episode, Hardstark and Kilgariff confess their fear of being murdered, and how discussing that fear and the atrocities of true crimes eases any associated anxiety. They disclose that the process of “talking about the thing you’re afraid of” is immensely helpful. That process, they reveal, is one of the primary motivators behind the show.

Presented as a comedy, the podcast is broadcast from Feral Audio, and can also be found under the comedy category in the iTunes podcast charts. This combination of murder and humor has proven quite popular, as the podcast is regularly featured in the iTunes top comedy chart. And the show’s private Facebook group boasts over 130,000 members, or “murderinos,” as they call themselves.

So, what’s the appeal of a true crime comedy podcast? In an interview with the Huffington Post, one listener says:

“They’re honest about their fears surrounding rape, murder, kidnapping, etc. They’re terrified of those things just like the rest of us! Somehow diving into the subject helps diffuse the pain of it. It might be a weird way to desensitize ourselves from a nasty world, but, it helps!”

If that’s the case, do all consumers of true crime media have crippling fears of murder and kidnapping? Skeptics see this explanation of using the podcast as ‘exposure therapy’—wherein through systematic exposure to one’s fears, anxiety is reduced—as a justification to discuss a taboo subject matter.

Perhaps, this is not an issue of anxiety, but of the dark, unspoken desires people dare not speak.

Hardstark and Kilgariff argue that, though taboo, an interest in murder and true crime is widespread. In an interview with SBS Australia’s The Feed, the two report:

“It’s very common, but for some reason saying I have an interest in this is supposed to be a shameful thing, but it’s not. It’s very normal.”

Many listeners of the podcast report having found their “home” of sorts, a tribe where it’s okay to talk about the horrific murders that have always captivated them. Listeners appreciate Hardstark’s and Kilgariff’s candor. Another listener asserts:

“It’s a dark subject matter, but it’s treated very respectfully, and somehow Georgia and Karen manage to feed that morbid curiosity that we all share, but in a way that never forgets the consequences of violence.”

Forensic psychologist Paul G. Mattiuzzi contends that a fascination with murder is nothing out of the ordinary, and in fact, is practically built-in to people. Said plainly:

“The crime of murder is a most fundamental taboo and, also, perhaps, a most fundamental human impulse.”

Mattiuzzi maintains that the allure comes from the many questions we ask ourselves—Why did they do it? Could I do that? Was there nothing that could have stopped this?He says:

“When it’s art, all of those questions make it what we call a ‘thriller’ or a ‘mystery’. When the body is real, the ‘thrill’ may be gone, but the questions and the fascination remain.”

Psychology professor at Santa Clara and Stanford Universities, Thomas Plante, suggests:

“To deny our dark side might ultimately harm us more than accepting it and coping proactively with our inner most dark thoughts and impulses.”

Further still, the coupling of delicate subject matter with comedy or light-heartedness seems to have positive effects. Plante explains:

“Taking a light touch with dark thoughts may actually help us not act on them. Just because you have an itch doesn’t mean you need to scratch it!”

This is not to say that anyone with a passing interest in true crime secretly longs to kill, but exploring that curiosity with a “light touch” could help ease any discomfort that comes along with that interest.

Given the enduring popularity of true crime in entertainment—as seen from documentaries such as “Making a Murderer” and “The Jinx”—society’s collective fascination with murder is not going away any time soon. So, in the meantime, why not laugh about it?

—Fernanda de la Mora, Contributing Writer, The Trauma and Mental Health Report.

—Chief Editor: Robert T. Muller, The Trauma and Mental Health Report.

This article was originally published on Psychology Today

For Mentally Ill, Jail Diversion Program Gives Second Chance

March 8, 201830Featured news, Law and Crime, Loneliness, Mental Health, Politics, Psychiatry, Psychopathy March, 18

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On February 8, 2015, Natasha McKenna—a 37-year-old who suffered from mental illness—died following an incident in which she was tasered four times by law enforcement.

After a week-long delay in transporting her to a county jail in Virginia, where she would be provided with mental-health resources, she became agitated. In an effort to regain control, officers used a stun gun on her multiple times. Despite CPR to revive her, McKenna passed away shortly after.

McKenna had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, and depression when she was just fourteen. Her case highlights a growing issue in county jails and prisons across America: resources are scarce for offenders with mental illness.

In 1992, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) and Public Citizen’s Health Research Group released a report revealing alarmingly high numbers of people with serious mental illness incarcerated in the United States. The subsequent 2002 report showed that little had changed in the preceding ten years.

But shortly after McKenna’s death in 2015, Fairfax County Jail—where she had been held—created a Jail Diversion Program (JDP). The objective of this program is to divert low-risk offenders in mental-health crises to treatment rather than send them to a prison setting that exacerbates their symptoms.

JDPs are designed so that authorities, alongside certified crisis clinicians, have the capacity to decide whether a non-violent offender who suffers from a mental disorder is directed to a JDP where they can receive treatment, or is arrested. JDPs give offenders the opportunity to work with a trained mental-health clinician, ultimately transforming how resources are provided.

Sarah Abbot, the program director of Advocates—a JDP in Massachusetts that works with the Framingham Police Department—believes that JDPs are crucial in early intervention for mentally ill offenders.

During an interview with the Trauma and Mental Health Report, Abbot explained:

“JDP’s effectively divert people with mental illness from the criminal justice system, and have been shown to be successful in the prevention of unnecessary arrests for those who suffer with a mental illness. Police choose to transfer offenders to JDPs 75% of the time.”

Abbot believes that early intervention via JDPs is key to preventing those with a mental illness from reoffending. In 12 years of operation, Advocates has successfully diverted 15,000 individuals from the criminal justice system into treatment.

During calls related to misdemeanors, police respond to the scene with a JDP clinician. After consulting the clinician, the officers use their discretion, along with information from victims and bystanders, to decide whether or not to press charges. Alternatively, the officer can choose to secure treatment for the offending individual at a JDP.

In the latter case, the clinician performs an assessment to determine if the offender meets the criteria for inpatient care. If so, they are diverted from arrest and placed in a local mental-health facility where they receive intensive treatment through the support of counsellors, social workers, psychologists, and psychiatrists.

The purpose of JDPs is to de-escalate encounters with mentally ill offenders and create a cooperative environment for assessing the situation. Abbot views their contribution as a form of compassionate justice:

“If we can keep mentally ill individuals out of the criminal justice system, their lives will ultimately be better by default. How much better depends on the quality of the treatment they receive and the individual’s commitment to success.”

The literature on JDPs suggests that placing these individuals in treatment programs within their community, where they have the support of family and friends, inevitably results in lower rates of relapse in comparison to incarceration.

Abbot believes that JDPs are vital in keeping individuals away from the isolation of a jail cell:

“My hope is that we divert people like Natasha McKenna into proper treatment, because once they are in a cell, things can escalate quite quickly.”

If somebody with a mental illness has an arrest on their record, JDPs keep doors open to them for education, employment, and housing. JDPs have the potential to protect individuals like McKenna, and provide offenders suffering from mental illness with a second chance at living stable lives post-arrest.

–Nonna Khakpour, Contributing Writer, The Trauma and Mental Health Report.

–Chief Editor: Robert T. Muller, The Trauma and Mental Health Report.

This article was originally published on Psychology Today

Category: Law and Crime