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Education serves as the primary line of defense against crime and other psychological difficulties. Children exposed to adversity and emotional challenges may be susceptible to various risks, potentially leading to criminal activities. Forgiveness has been demonstrated as a healing influence in the lives of individuals who have experienced hurt and accumulated negative emotions due to life events. Understanding forgiveness from a young age, in both theory and practice, may facilitate improved relationships and psychological well-being. This article underscores the significance of forgiveness education, advocating for a culturally and theologically sensitive approach. In this article we will offer an example of integrating forgiveness education principles with insights from Judaic sources. The aim is to generate insights regarding theologically sensitive forgiveness in general by focusing on Judaism. As we demonstrate, the implications of this approach extend beyond the Jewish context, and our conclusions and recommendations are applicable to diverse cultures and religions worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

T he controversy over vaccines has persisted since their introduction in the eighteenth century. While many studies have addressed the concerns and motivations of the general population regarding hesitation and resistance to vaccination (especially parents, concerning routine childhood immunization), the present study was designed to examine this issue among professionals from a victimological perspective, thus its uniqueness. Study participants were researchers and practitioners involved with vaccines who hold a critical position on vaccines and their ways of dealing with what they perceived as suppression of dissent in the field of vaccination. The motivations identified among the researchers and practitioners in our study referred to ethical aspects of professional obligation to patients, patient rights, freedom of choice, and lack of trust in the medical establishment. The participants also perceived themselves as victims of suppressive tactics due to their critical position, to which they responded in two contrasting ways: continuing to dissent while insisting on their right to have their voices heard or abandoning their public dissent due to the reactions and repercussions they faced. The article discusses the implications of these findings in the context of scientific integrity, violation of democratic and ethical values, freedom of speech, and its impact on the public’s trust in science and medicine.

The research literature on the recovery and growth processes of the homeless population is limited and lacking—particularly with regard to the recovery and growth potential of that population, and its recovery capital (RC) dynamics. This qualitative study fills the research gap by examining the recovery process on its various manifestations, the formation of RC, the patterns of coping with distress, and the growth processes experienced. Ten semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with participants from a homeless hostel. The results show how a population with low or depleted RC, in a state of extreme distress, and in the throes of a bottom-up experience, succeeds in developing RC on a personal, social, and spiritual level—and through it, also reaching post-crisis growth. This study yields innovative terminology to describe the coping patterns and their development in three stages— economical coping, liminal stage of resources mustering, and resourceful coping —and a model to explain the phenomenon, and re-conceptualize it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is the role, if there is any, of our free will in the deterministic experience of being an addict? The acknowledgment of free will has theoretical, practical, and social consequences as well as an impact on those struggling with addiction. This article examines the freewill dynamic of people in active addiction and recovery phases through a Kantian lens, mainly in terms of autonomy and heteronomy, using the 12-step program as a case study. We show that free will and deterministic experience of compulsive use both manifest in addiction and recovery in a dynamic and episodic manner. We also show how heteronomy may be functional in recovery and in cultivating autonomous conduct. In addition to an interpretive grounding, we provide guidelines for the restoration of the individual's agency by assessing the factors enabling its cultivation in the 12-step program. This process converges into several procedural categories: diffused heteronomy, taking responsibility for the entrustment of will, the liminal stage with its nurture of autonomy and moral identity, and spiritual freedom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For those who have suffered from trauma and are struggling with PTSD, finding healing through spiritual means can be a meaningful experience for trauma survivors, caregivers, and their loved ones. While much of the current research on PTSD recovery focuses on psychological, physiological, social, and cognitive factors, the spiritual dimension is often overlooked despite its increasing recognition in recent years. This study explores the experiences of individuals who attribute their recovery from PTSD to spirituality, with participants from diverse backgrounds of religion, culture, nationality, and level of faith who have experienced various traumas and recovery methods. The study identifies four stages of recovery: disappointment and disconnection, rock bottom, a leap into spirituality, and mutual forgiveness leading to reconnection. The role of powerlessness in the recovery process is also examined, and a model for a spiritually-based approach to recovery containing the four phases and three turning points is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to explore how individuals with affiliation to spirituality and victimization attribute sexual trauma and revictimization to spiritual principles and its perceived impact on victim assistance. A phenomenological research was conducted with 36 participants divided into three groups: female survivors who turned to spirituality as part of their recovery process (n = 17), spiritually oriented therapists who treat survivors (n = 10), and spiritual leaders and teachers who are often consulted by survivors and their close ones (n = 9). Findings show three prominent themes: (a) ephemeral and eternal components of existence; (b) learning a lesson; and (c) Tikkun Olam (Hebrew: world's repairment). The findings contribute theoretical and practical applications: they offer deep insights into the spiritual reason for revictimization and its cessation, and suggest innovative external explanations anchored in ancient knowledge that can alleviate survivors' suffering from self-blame. The study lays the foundation for an upcoming theory entitled Spiritual Victimology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the need for positive victimology and its unique contribution to victimology. Victimology presented a shift in attention and awareness in practice, research and theory, by focusing on victims of crime and of abuse of power, and on victims’ rights and victims’ services. Positive victimology indicates a more specified shift in attention and awareness, within the larger shift of victimology. This shift stands in line with positive psychology, positive criminology and the idea of victims’ victimology. It denotes an approach to provide the following, as much as possible: 1. A wide range of social responses to the victims and their victimization that victims can experience as positive, 2. Positive outcomes of healing and recovery for victims, and 3. Positive integration of victims. Within each of those, positive victimology suggests a pragmatic coordinated system that ranges from definitions of negative poles to those of positive ones. When moving towards the positive pole at any given coordinate, a sense of justice is an important factor that might reduce the impact of the harm. Support is also a crucial factor and at the very positive pole, stands human, inter-personal love.

The current study aims to describe a spiritual facet of recovery processes from sexual trauma, as manifested in the transformation from the frustration and despair of looking for reasons to the traumatic event(s) to the growth and prosperity of finding meaning. A phenomenological research was conducted, interviewing individuals with a variety of affiliations to spirituality and to trauma: female survivors who turned to spirituality as part of their recovery process (n = 17), spiritually oriented therapists who treat survivors (n = 10), and spiritual leaders and teachers who are often consulted by survivors and their close ones (n = 9). Participants were asked about the nature of perceived transformation of survivors' trauma, within the meaning context, and about the perceived relevance of such a spiritual meaning-making process to recovery. Findings suggests four stances in the process:(1) doubting, describing frustrations, denials, and struggles, (2) believing, describing the acceptance of the idea that there is spiritual meaning in the trauma, (3) knowing, describing calmness, comfort, trust, and sense of freedom, and (4) doing, describing carrying the message of spiritual recovery to other survivors. This study contributes to the growing body of literature on victimology and on spirituality. It adds to the research on the spiritual meaning-making process, on the role of spirituality in survivors' perceptions of victimization and recovery, and on the importance of spiritual meaning as a recovery capital. Additionally, it directs therapists to broaden their discussions with survivors on their beliefs and values. The study lays the foundation for a theory entitled Spiritual Victimology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Overeaters Anonymous (OA), the 12-step self-help program for compulsive overeaters, binge eating is regarded as a physical, spiritual, and emotional disorder. Consequently, the program proposes recovery through the adoption of a lifestyle that leads to physical, spiritual, and emotional well-being. A qualitative phenomenological study that focused on the emotional recovery of OA members was conducted. Personal narratives were obtained through semistructured in-depth interviews. It was found that the tools used for spiritual and emotional work at OA are essential to recovery. Furthermore, the experience of secure attachment is likely to occur within OA when safe ground is provided and positive attachment figures are accessible. These safe ground and positive attachment figures facilitate a corrective emotional experience that compensates for a childhood recollected in terms of rejection and time spent with a caregiver who lacked the emotional availability required for the creation of a secure attachment. Theoretical, clinical, and future research implications are discussed.

Drug use studies have mainly examined risk management among vulnerable populations that are commonly categorized by their risk-taking behavior. They have not, however, investigated functioning users' perceptions of risks and harms. The current study attempts to fill this gap by examining how functioning people who are in the process of building their careers or family lives perceive and manage the risks and harms of drug use. We interviewed 29 Israelis who use drugs, dividing them into two different groups: the first comprised 16 regular or previously regular cannabis users and one cocaine user who didn't describe themselves as problematic users and were not in treatment; the second comprised 13 regular users of cannabis, methadone, MDA, and cocaine who described themselves as problematic users and were in treatment. We conducted content analysis of these interviews which refers to both risk management and harm management and defined three different options. The first option refers to participants who described feeling no risk or harm from their drug use. The second focuses on participants' perceptions of the subjective risks and their ability to manage them via the following domains: social relationships, profession, social status, finances, and health and lifestyle. The third deals with participants who recognized the harms in the domains of family and social relationships, health, and daily functioning. An understanding of these three options could help counselors when encountering such users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spiritual criminology (SC) is an umbrella term for various criminological theories, models and practices that share reference to the spiritual dimension of human existence. Informed by a growing body of research that applies spiritual approaches to various aspects of criminology, SC attempts to provide a common thread shared by most approaches to spirituality: a voluntary self-journey that begins with an elevated level of self-centeredness and is aimed at self-transformation. Based on an extensive review of the literature, this paper proposes three general principles for spiritual accompaniment of people who offended: mindful non-doing, being and acting; love and compassion; and compassionate inclusion. These principles can be applied by combining several practices: renouncing control over knowledge, process and outcomes; creating a moral atmosphere that includes forgiveness and nonjudgment; and self-modeling. SC is shown to contribute to the rehabilitation of people who offended and also to crime prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trauma and its consequences, such as PTSD, have been thoroughly researched in recent years. Spirituality, religious and non-religious alike, has been used for a variety of purposes by humanity, including recovery from trauma and its consequences. However, spirituality's role in maintaining the recovery of people with PTSD has not yet been sufficiently researched. This qualitative study attempts to fill the gap through interviews with 50 individuals from different backgrounds who recovered from PTSD and who attributed their recovery to spirituality; however, each of them went through their own traumas, had different piety levels, and used different recovery methods. The results show that spirituality can serve as recovery capital for those dealing with trauma and PTSD: the transition between spiritual deprivation and active spiritual yearning initiates a process of recovery and the acquisition of 'spiritual recovery capital.' Spiritual recovery capital has unique characteristics, accumulates as recovery progresses, and was even found among those who did not see themselves as spiritual before their trauma(s) and PTSD diagnosis. The research shows that spirituality can be useful for trauma survivors and therapists at all stages of recovery and can also promote maintaining recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the theoretical and practical development of a new perspective called Positive Victimology. A review of constructing worlds such as Positive Criminology and Positive Psychology is examined in their importance and contribution towards founding the preliminary yet innovative discipline of Positive Victimology. However since this domain is an enhancement or improvement of already existent terminology there is a need to investigate the true theoretical and practical need for a new field while weighing the advantages and shortcomings of producing new territory.

Narcotics Anonymous (NA) is investigated as a subculture of recovery bridging the drug subculture and the prevailing culture. A phenomenological study of NA in Israel is reported. Innovation, cultural conflict, the value of recovery and its norms, supporting social mechanisms, limitations of the program, and intercultural attributes are considered. (EMK)

The purpose of this review is to highlight the similarities and differences between positive psychology and positive criminology—both relatively new concepts that represent an optimistic view of human beings and their ability to recover—while calling for a change of focus in the discourse and research of their respective fields. To this end, we first present a brief overview of each of these perspectives, along with findings of studies that confirm their assumptions, and then address their similarities and differences, with an emphasis on positive criminology which is our area of expertise. We conclude that both approaches seek to improve the quality of life and well-being of individuals, families, and communities through the development of human strengths and skills and the provision of social assistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ideological delinquency of animal rights activists has been studied, but there is a lack of research into its impact on family members. The present study examines how 18 family members (nine parents, nine partners) of ideological lawbreaking animal rights activists perceived their relationship with the activists. The analysis of semi-structured interviews describes the reasons the family members joined activism and the differences between those who became law-abiding vs. those who became lawbreaking activists. The familial-ideological spin model explains the process of 'infection' by which family members can be drawn into ideological activity; some of them may experience familial-ideological criminal spin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study examined drug users' perspectives on strategies that helped them to maintain normative functioning or resolve impaired functioning. We interviewed 29 drug users who described themselves as functioning normatively while using drugs on a regular basis until they experienced harms or raised concerns of future harms. The content analysis showed that the users maintain their normative functioning through diverse strategies that can be located on a continuum. This continuum was conceptualized as "normative functioning management" based on White et al.'s concept of "recovery management." This study found an ongoing continuum through self-management and social interaction consisting of three regions: the management of normative functioning, the recognition of the harm of drug use to functioning, and the subsequent adoption of change strategies for maintaining normative functioning. This continuum may provide a more nuanced theoretical understanding of the phenomenon of drug users with normative functioning and is therefore relevant for counselors encountering such users in their practice. This study highlights inner resources such as self-awareness and social interaction that help functioning users to maintain their normative functioning and fulfill basic obligations in their normal routines, that is, preserving their professional status, family lives, and relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The controversy over vaccines, which has recently intensified following the COVID-19 pandemic, provokes heated debates, with both advocates and opponents raising allegations of bias and fraud in research. Researchers whose work raises doubts about the safety of certain vaccines claim to be victims of discriminatory treatment aimed at suppressing dissent, including the unjustified retraction of their published research. Such practices have previously been discussed in other controversial fields in science (e.g., AIDS, the environment, and water fluoridation) but not in the field of vaccines. The purpose of this study was to analyze, for the first time, the subjective views of researchers whose papers were retracted. Study participants are active researchers, most with international reputations in their respective fields. They perceived retraction as a means of censoring and silencing critical voices with the aim of preserving the pro-vaccination agenda of interested parties. Participants also reported additional measures aimed at harming them personally and professionally. These findings point to the need for a fair, open, and honest discourse about the safety of vaccines for the benefit of public health and the restoration of trust in science and medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on a person-centered approach to recovery from substance use that acknowledges recovery pathways as shaped by people's personal and social context, the purpose of this study was to compare recovery maintenance of two pathways, self-change and treatment-change. A mixed methods design was employed among 229 respondents [134 self-changers (SCs) and 95 treatment-changers (TCs)], with a qualitative subsample of 41 participants. The results indicate significant differences between the groups in terms of sociodemographic and personal characteristics, as well as maintenance factors of recovery. The qualitative findings indicate that the SCs were characterized by an intrinsic locus of maintenance style. They were motivated by future goals, employed self-oriented strategies, and their risk of relapse was related to self-reliance. In contrast, TCs were characterized by an extrinsic locus of maintenance style. They were motivated by past events, employed interpersonal strategies, and their risk of relapse was related to limited self-efficacy. The findings suggest that recovery maintenance is evident irrespective of recovery pathway, but people's personal and social context may play a special role in shaping their maintenance recovery style. Treatment and recovery systems of care should adopt person-centered approaches and offer multiple recovery pathways that address varying maintenance styles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Offender rehabilitation is a challenging goal that calls for ongoing creative innovations. Amongst is a non-doing rehabilitative initiation that is inspired by spiritual traditions. The aim of this paper is to present an application of non-doing offender rehabilitation that has no declared intention to rehabilitate, carried by a peacemaking Islamic Sufi route. Based on the positive criminology approach, we conducted a qualitative phenomenological study consisted of interviews with 11 ex-prisoners who were employed in the Shadhiliyya-Yashrutiyya Sufi order as construction workers and also with 35 Sufi disciple and leaders. We identified five themes of non-doing: (1) atmosphere; (2) modeling; (3) social inclusion and suspension of judgement; (4) spiritual meaning; (5) feasibility of transformative processes. The discussion presents principles of a model of non-doing rehabilitation in a spiritual community and emphasizes the research innovation in presenting non-doing as a holistic method of inclusion within a transformative faith community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study illuminates the experience of volunteering at sexual assault crisis centers among women survivors of sexual assault. In-depth interviews were conducted with 11 women who had been volunteering at four different sexual assault crisis centers across Israel for 1 to 17 years. The findings reveal three main themes. First, there are five types of motivation to volunteer at such centers, all grounded in the participants' experience of sexual assault. Second, volunteering fosters recovery by promoting an empowered identity reconstruction and social integration. Third, both challenges and risks to recovery, such as exposure to sexual-assault triggers, arise from the experiences of sexual assault and volunteering at the centers. Moreover, the findings indicate various mechanisms that shape the risks–benefits dynamic involved in volunteering, such as the demands of the volunteering role. Thus, this study shifts the understanding of prosocial behavior by sexual-assault survivors from a binary assessment of "positive" or "negative" to a more comprehensive appraisal at the individual, role, and organizational levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of what has been written about prison masculinity has focused on the hypermasculine climate of prisons that rewards aggression and the concealment of vulnerability. However, the findings of more recent studies have indicated a more varied ideal of masculinity in this environment. The present research examined how inmates construct and understand masculinity within the domain of reformatory intervention. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was performed on fourteen transcribed interviews with inmates who participated in Narcotics Anonymous (NA). The results indicated that hypermasculinity ideals hindered the participants' ability to apply the tenets of NA that threatened their masculine identity, such as admitting powerlessness. However, they sought to negotiate these threats by employing three main discursive strategies. First, they affirmed hegemonic masculinity notions by presenting themselves as pragmatic agents, offsetting criticism of their submission to higher authorities, constructing recovery as a masculine act, and othering drug-using men. Second, they reformulated ideas of masculinity by adapting the concept to include feminine notions of caring and admitting vulnerability, in line with their NA experience. Third, they rejected their former ideologies and their current dominant localized sociocultural constructions of hypermasculinity that stigmatized them by noting the superiority of NA as a space of support, egalitarian relationships between inmates, and trust relationships with prison staff. By focusing on the dynamic of stigma, marginalization, and masculinity, the research informs both the theoretical understanding of masculinity and the development of reformatory interventions in prison. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A mixed-methods design was used to examine gender differences in self-change (SC), and integrate the quantitative findings with information extracted from qualitative narratives. The sample included 133 self-changers (52 women and 81 men), with a subsample of 25 respondents. The quantitative analysis showed no significant gender differences in personal characteristics, except in history of child abuse. Women reported a higher rate of emotional and sexual abuse than men. In comparison, the qualitative findings showed gender differences in constructing the SC process, which was based on gender stereotypes. Respondents simultaneously expressed two types of attitudes: egalitarian attitudes toward gender equality, and traditional attitudes toward gender roles and traits. In conclusion, the findings suggest that SC can occur among severely substance-dependent women and men. Both genders attributed their successful SC to the ability to regulate their emotions, and their explanations were rooted in gender stereotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presented study examined dynamics and perceptions among family members of ideologues lawbreaking animal rights activists. In the course of the study, parents and spouses of activists were interviewed, and its findings highlighted a number of key themes: glorification of the activist, an envy directed toward elements of the activism; personal gain acquired by virtue of the relationship, as well as self-discovery which family members experienced by their exposure to activism. By using Maruna's "redemption script" (2001), the study presents the manner by which perception of an activist as an idealist, leads his family members to construct a new narrative that qualifies transgressions based on ideology. The redemption script turns out to be bidirectional. Thus, while Maruna presented it as an aid for desisting delinquency, the study indicates that as far as it concerns breaking the law in favor of animals, it can mobilize family members to support all shades of activism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of the present study was to gain insight into the experience of parents and siblings of incarcerated men who went through different stages of legal proceedings, arrest, and incarceration. The main questions of the research revolved around family relationships, attitudes toward various situations and perceived obstacles and experiences throughout the different stages of what they defined as "crisis". A thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 17 parents and 10 siblings of incarcerated men in Israel shows that nuclear family members may experience various struggles, including family hardships, negative social experiences, and negative institutional experiences. Negative feelings, changes in attitudes toward society and its facilities, and loss of trust, resulted in the development of counter rejection, a process in which families seemed to be growing closer together and further away from social circles, and wavering almost all external help. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aims of the current study were to examine differences between self-changers (SC) and treatment-changers (TC) in sociodemographic, personal characteristics, severity of substance use disorders (SUDs), and psychiatric problems, and to predict the severity of SUDs, psychiatric problems, and belonging to the SC group. The sample included 229 Israeli respondents (134 SC and 95 TC). Significant differences between the two groups were found. The SC were younger, had a higher sense of coherence, and reported more cannabis use. The TC were involved more in crime and had experienced more child abuse and severe psychiatric problems compared with the SC. No significant group differences were found in the severity of substance dependence. The findings suggested that severity of SUDs did not differentiate between the groups, but the severity of psychiatric problems and history of child abuse did. This indicates a need for treatment interventions targeting all three issues of childhood trauma, SUDs, and psychiatric problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forgiveness within the context of the aftermath of the Holocaust has been the focus of a large body of philosophic, ethical, and theological scholarly literature. However, studies applying a more social psychological lens, focusing on the healing aspects of forgiveness for Holocaust survivors, have, to date, been extremely scarce. This is despite extensive research indicating that forgiveness is effective in helping to reduce anger, stress, and despair and in cultivating an overall sense of well-being following man-made traumatic experiences. The present study aims to establish what can be learnt from a close and methodical exploration of the case of Eva Mozes-Kor, a child Holocaust survivor and a "Mengele twin," who extended forgiveness to her direct perpetrators. A qualitative phenomenological methodology was implemented through an in-depth analysis and interpretation of data collected through a direct interview with Eva and through published material of her personal accounts. Findings indicate that this case is unique not only in its remarkability but also in the human process it reveals: a life-changing conversion with the lasting effects of high levels of interpersonal, intrapersonal, and spiritual integration. These findings support and expand the emerging theory of positive victimology and highlight the need for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This phenomenological research examined family relationships among ideological nonhuman-animal rights activists, while distinguishing between law-breaking and law-abiding activists. Analysis of semi-structured interviews with 30 activists highlighted two phases within the familial dynamics. During the joining phase, conflicts arose between the participants’ identities as activists and their identities as family members, creating a crisis in their relations with their parents and spouses. During the establishing phase, however, different familial dynamics developed among each group. The law-breaking activists were able to balance family life with their activism, ensuring the preservation of the relationship. By contrast, to try and maintain peaceful relations, the law-abiding activists kept their activism from their family, leading to a deterioration in the relationship. The findings are interpreted through literature dealing with the family dynamics of social activists in general, and animal rights activists in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current research is a qualitative examination of the relations between self-control and deterministic/non-deterministic perceptions of life events and the drifts into or desistance from a criminal spin among juvenile delinquents. Based on in-depth semi-structured interviews with 21 adolescents (11 active delinquents and 10 desisters), we found that both the intensification of criminal behavior and the desistance from criminal activity are gradual and connected to the reduction or acquisition, respectively, of self-control and the offenders' belief in their self-control. Criminal behavior and self-control were found to be associated with deterministic or non-deterministic perceptions of life events: the former combined with low self-control are associated with a delinquent lifestyle; the latter combined with high self-control promote the likelihood that young offenders will modify their behavior and desist from criminal behavior. The study may provide better understanding of the role of the criminal spin in the engagement or desistance from criminal behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Limited attention has been given to Homeless Injection Drug Users (HIDUs) perceived need for illegal substances. This study assessed self-perceived illegal drug need in HIDUs based on their experiences. Observations and in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 11 HIDUs and with four treatment professionals. The findings revealed three findings concerning the unique experiences and perceptions of HIDUs: (a) Everyday Substance Need caused fear and anxiety, (b) Substance Need was experienced as more urgent than basic survival needs, and (c) HIDU participants attributed misunderstanding and denial of Substance Need to the authorities. It was found that HIDUs suffer from "Substance Insecurity," which may be defined as the uncertain availability of quality substances (or their substitutes) and uncertain ability to acquire substances/substitutes and safe injection equipment in socially acceptable (or not) ways. Increased awareness of Substance Insecurity for HIDUs as a Substance Security First (SSF) model should be adopted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article will survey the dramatic change English football had undergone since the end of the last century. The authors will closely explore the implementation of the Taylor Report recommendations, to convince that which power and management techniques were used to decrease violence in public areas that were previously considered dangerous and crime-oriented. It will be argued that disciplinarian techniques were practiced, much like those described in Foucault's Discipline and Punish, while this very power has proven to be positive and revitalizing. It will be therefore concluded that power is at its most effective when operated via techniques of discipline and social inclusion. These arguments correspond with the positive criminology theory whose popularity within the discipline is gradually increasing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout the ages and in most cultures, spiritual and religious thinking have dealt extensively with offending (person against person and person against the Divine), the response to offending, and rehabilitation of offenders. Although modern criminology has generally overlooked that body of knowledge and experience, the study of spirituality and its relation to criminology is currently growing. Frequently, though, it is conducted from the secular scientific perspective, thus reducing spiritual knowledge into what is already known. Our aim here is to present a complementary perspective; that is, spiritual criminology that emerges from the spiritual perspective. Following a description of the state-of-the-art in criminological research concerning spirituality and its impact upon individuals, we focus on Jewish criminology as an illustrative case study, and present a spiritual Jewish view on good and evil, including factors that lead to criminality, the issue of free choice, the aim of punishment and societal response, crime desistance, rehabilitation, and prevention. The proposed establishment of spiritual criminology can be further developed by including parallel schools of spirituality, to create an integrated field in criminology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An exploratory, qualitative, phenomenological study focused on the experience of pain while participating in sexual masochistic acts. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine individuals (four female, five male) who regularly participate in sexually masochistic acts and point to pain as central to their experience. Qualitative analysis of the data revealed several key characteristics of the participant's experience: the first time, intoxication, craving and withdrawal, tolerance, pain as control, and the pain inducing partner. The findings indicate that the way pain is experienced while mitigated through masochistic behavior creates an addictive process that coincides with a chronic behavioral spin contextualization. This article presents a preliminary model of addiction to physical pain in light of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5) definition of substance-related and addictive disorders and the behavioral spin theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research focused on a new and unique therapy group for male batterers who were violent toward their intimate partners. The group is based on a small self-help group model, where a professional accompanies the group and serves as the facilitator of the process undergone by the group without interfering with the management of the group and its meetings. A total of seven group members were interviewed in a qualitative and phenomenological-interpretive research, which combined an outside observation by two authors with an inside observation by a professional who facilitated the group. The study focused on the method of empowerment of the group members, and it found three central themes: self-efficacy, group efficacy, and social efficacy. The research findings are explained from the new perspective of positive criminology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes traditional mediators (in Amharic,shmaglotzmeaning “elders”;shmagalehin the singular) who fill a range of roles within the community of Ethiopian immigrants in Israel, as well as a mediation process (shmaglenain Amharic). The present research is a constructivist-qualitative study. Thirteen respondents participated in the study, all of whom were exposed to theshmaglenaprocess. The data were collected through semi-structured content interviews. The research elicited that theshmaglenafunction has undergone transformation and adaptation to the target nation's culture. It was also found that theshmaglotzconstitute an informal authority whose roles resemble those of conflict resolvers in other cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dropouts from therapeutic communities for people with drug addiction have long been of interest to researchers, and most of the resulting research has been based on quantitative data. The aim of the current qualitative study is to present the perception of adolescent residents regarding their experience of dropping out of Retorno, a Jewish therapeutic community in Israel. Deep, semi-structured interviews with 11 adolescents who had dropped out provided the data. Four main themes of meaning were found: (a) antagonistic interaction between the adolescents and the staff; (b) their subjective reasons for dropping out; (c) adolescents' perceptions about Retorno's cumulative impact; and (d) their current recovery. The most prominent finding was that most of them reported that they had adapted a normative lifestyle and were drug abstinent. Implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]