October 2017

Most people would agree that the criminal justice system needs to change in some way. The restorative justice (RJ) movement offers an approach to justice reform for both youth and adults that values repair and relationship over punishment and isolation when dealing with the aftermath of crime. Research is showing its positive effects, and support for this approach is growing. Of course, the modern expression of restorative justice owes more than a debt of gratitude to indigenous justice...

New research explores our tendency to label mass shooters as either mentally ill or as terrorists, based on whether they are Muslim or not. [To listen to a story from NPR's Hidden Brain Podcast, go to http://www.npr.org/2017/10/05/555796306/classifying-attacks-mental-illness-or-terrorism ]

Parents play the most active and significant role in their baby’s healthy development. Young children learn and grow in strong families where parents are able to successfully face the challenge of nurturing their children. During the first three years of life, experiences are shaping a child’s brain and providing the foundation for later development. Parenting support services, which range from informational resources to more intensive interventions, can help improve parenting skills,...

Voice-only communication more accurate than visual cues for identifying others' feelings, study says If you want to know how someone is feeling, it might be better to close your eyes and use your ears: People tend to read others' emotions more accurately when they listen and don't look, according to research. [For more on this study, go to https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171010105639.htm ]

October 11 is the "International Day of the Girl" – proclaimed by the U.N. as a time to look at the challenges girls face and to promote their "empowerment" and human rights. What kind of year has it been for girls? We looked at the stories we've done over the past year, and the headlines alone captured both the tragedies and the triumphs. In many ways a horrible year for girls. But even at the bleakest moments, there are stories of hope and triumph. Here is a sampling of our stories about...

As a youth in foster care, I am used to major decisions about me being made in my absence. Countless times, I was not made aware of my court dates, where my future would be decided. But not being able to participate in court can have a far-reaching impact on foster youth like me. Last year, I tried reaching out to my attorney to find out my court date and to discuss some challenges I had with my case workers. However, he never answered, and attended my hearing without me. I later found out...

Living in a more densely built area significantly lowers your risk of obesity. Such is the unavoidable conclusion of a new survey of British cities that compares obesity rates with housing density. The study, carried out by specialists at the universities of Oxford and Hong Kong, found that obesity rates were markedly lower in areas where homes were more tightly clustered. This might not come as a shock, given the long touted health benefits of walkable neighborhoods . What makes the study,...

A couple of summers ago, I traveled to the steamy cauldron of central Florida to speak at the WorkHuman conference. Nearly 1,500 human resource professionals were in attendance, eager to hear from luminaries like Arianna Huffington and Rob Lowe (probably more than they wanted to hear an academic recite his research findings). Beaten down by dispiriting, depleting, and demoralizing workplaces, they were hungry for ways to create more energizing and elevating environments. WorkHuman is the...

Toni Morrison is no stranger to tough subject matter—once called the "voice of America's conscience," the Nobel Laureate has, across 11 novels, scrutinized the black identity in the United States. Still, Morrison's latest work, The Origin of Others, may be her most comprehensive examination of race in America to date. While Morrison has typically steered clear of autobiography, The Origin of Others, based on her 2016 Norton Lectures at Harvard University, interweaves Morrison's memories with...

WASHINGTON — The number of young people locked into adult jails and prisons has plummeted nearly two-thirds since 2009 and the number automatically sent to adult courts for criminal trials has fallen by nearly half from 2007 to 2014, a new report says. The numbers of youth tried as adults will likely fall even further by 2020, when four states — Louisiana, South Carolina, North Carolina and New York — fully implement reform laws passed over the last few years, said the new report from the...

At the heart of Benchmark’s Partnering for Excellence (PFE) Annual Conference is the commitment to bring together professionals and those with lived experience. This includes being sure that professionals hear from young adults who have experienced child welfare and “grownups” who share their story often or who may have never shared their story publicly before. This year was no different. But, what was different this year was the bonding that took place between those with lived experience.

During his tenure as surgeon general, Vivek Murthy was known for his work battling the nation’s opioid crisis , including issuing a 400-page report on addiction and mailing letters to doctors imploring them to join him in fighting the opioid epidemic. After President Donald Trump fired Murthy in April, however, he has focused on a different national crisis: loneliness. “As prevalent as loneliness is, many people don’t recognize that people that they know may very well be suffering from...