Over 2 million soldiers have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001. Evidence suggests that they confront significant difficulties postdeployment, including psychosocial problems such as depression, PTSD, substance abuse, and family distress. Few programs to promote healthy reintegration exist that are evidence-based and designed for those not in formal mental health care. In response to this need, a 2-hour workshop, Life Guard, was developed for the Arkansas National Guard. The workshop is based upon Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT; Hayes & Strosahl, 2004) and emphasizes skill development to promote resiliency and successful postdeployment reintegration. The purposes of this pilot study were to describe the deployment experiences of OIF/OEF veterans and evaluate the effectiveness of the workshop. The sample included 144 veterans (63 intervention and 81 control) in a quasi-experimental, pre-post design (interim 2 months) with a delayed intervention control group. Both groups were largely young, male, Caucasian, and married. Control participants were significantly older, and more educated. Symptoms of a variety of psychological disorders and social adjustment were assessed at baseline and follow-up. Participants reported high levels of exposure to traumatic events, physical injury, and symptoms of psychosocial distress. In contrast to control participants, intervention participants reported significant declines in symptoms of depression, anxiety, and PTSD, and increases in relationship satisfaction. Only effects for depression and relationship satisfaction remained significant in between-group comparisons. Further work is needed to evaluate Life Guard, but results suggest it is a promising workshop to assist with reintegration and resiliency.
OBJECTIVES: This study sought to establish, in Colombia, the importance of factors alleged to be causes or correlates of adult criminality according to the published literature from other countries. METHODS: A comparison was made of arrested male offenders from ages 18 to 30 (n = 223) and similar community controls (n = 222) selected from five cities in Colombia as to their family background, exposure to abuse, family stressors, perceived care and history of childhood disruptive behaviour problems. RESULTS: Compared with neighbourhood controls from similar social classes, offenders were significantly more likely to report having had parents with less education, a mother under the age of 18 or over the age of 35 at time of birth, family members involved in crime, experiencing extreme economic deprivation, parental absence, family conflict, severe punishments, physical abuse, and maternal unavailability, rejection and lack of supervision. Prevalence of childhood disruptive behaviour problems was similar among offenders and controls. These findings appear to be independent of economic status, family size or type, birth order, or primary caregiver. Although the independent contribution of most of these factors is small, once all others have been controlled for, their cumulative effect is strong. CONCLUSIONS: The findings obtained in this Latin American setting do not support the generalized view that adult antisocial behaviour is necessarily preceded by a history of childhood behaviour problems. However, they do add evidence for the importance of family factors in the risk for adult criminality.
Despite the ample literature on crime and violence, little research has been done outside English-speaking developed countries. Colombia has one of the highest homicide rates in the world. In order to identify individual factors related to resilience and vulnerability for violence and offending behavior in Colombia, we explored the life histories of 46 young men from high-risk families and compared those who had committed an offense to those who did not (resilient). The findings show that resilient men (compared to offenders) in Colombia have been less exposed to serious life stress, perceive stronger support from their families, narrate their past histories with greater detail and affect, and perceive greater degrees of control and coherence in their lives. The results are consistent with the existing literature and are interpreted within the framework of attachment theory.
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