Human Rights Watch alleges in an explosive report that members of the R.C.M.P. in northern British Columbia failed to protect indigenous women and girls from violence–and physically and sexually abused some of them
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in northern British Columbia has failed to protect indigenous women and girls from violence, adding to longstanding tensions between the RCMP and indigenous communities in the region, according to a report by Human Rights Watch. (more…)
Online grieving, whether on Facebook or other social media, is becoming the new normal…but does it actually help?
After the campus shootings in the U.S. at Virginia Tech in 2007 and Northern Illinois University in 2008, hundreds of affected students turned to social media websites to share their grief and search for solace. A study of these students found that their online activities neither helped nor harmed their long-term psychological health.
The study gave a first-of-its-kind portrait of student reactions to shootings on their campuses. It also documented both the online and off-line activities they engaged in to memorialize and recover from these events. (more…)
The City of Nanaimo has had emails and Facebook posts with concerns about supportive housing projects studied and summarized
The planning for social housing in Nanaimo—as in cities and towns in many parts of Canada—has been accompanied by concerns from neighbours in areas where the facilities will be built. NIMBYism is common, but so are fears (whether real or not) about what impacts social housing projects might have on neighbourhoods. (more…)
What happens if we shift our energies from managing the problem to actually trying to end homelessness?
It may seem counterintuitive to suggest that it is cheaper and more cost effective to provide people who experience homelessness with the housing and supports they need, rather than simply provide them with emergency supports through shelters and soup kitchens. But research reviewed by Stephen Gaetz of the Canadian Homelessness Research Network indicates that this is actually the case. (more…)
Shyness, anxiety, and worry in Kindergarten-aged children can be indicators for potential anxiety disorders
A University of British Columbia research team has developed a simple two-question test to screen Kindergarten-aged children for future anxiety disorders—the most commonly reported mental health concern among children. The screening questions, which asked parents about shyness, fear, and anxiety in their children, had an overall accuracy of over 80% in diagnosing anxiety disorders in young children. (more…)
A study shows that nonabstinence-based housing does not enable alcohol use, but actually decreases it
A controversial project using a housing-first approach with chronically alcoholic homeless people in Seattle has been shown to decrease overall alcohol consumption levels. The program, which is funded by the City of Seattle, allows homeless shelter residents to continue to use alcohol, with an overall goal to reduce both alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. Now a study has found that the approach results in “across-the-board decreases in alcohol consumption and problems”, according to lead researcher Susan Collins. (more…)
