Quality of Life Laws and Broken Windows Theory
by Paul Boden
[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hat images do the words “quality of life” bring to mind? A peaceful beach? A beautiful park?
Opinion
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Exploiting Prejudice for Profit
A city’s welcoming attitude toward strangers, travelers and the poor might have its costs. But so does constantly cycling vulnerable people through the courts and jails. I’d rather give a dollar to a stranger than play any role in yet another unconstitutional law.
The Quality of Whose Life? America’s Modern Anti-Poor Movement Brings Back Segregation Era
America is building more and more jail cells but fewer and fewer affordable housing units. We now have millions of people without housing, some living on the street, some in cars, some in jails.
As the Economy Unravels, the Poor Are Criminalized
Quality of life laws resurrect a disgraceful tradition of discriminating against poor people. Like Jim Crow laws, these new laws segregate our country by race and class.
The Injustice of Poverty and the Worship of Money
“The love of money is the root of all evil.” Our society has turned this truth upside down so that seeking wealth is now perceived as godlike.
No Place at the Table: Feeding the Poor Is a Crime
After closing the public feeding facility, San Diego officials quickly moved against the Salvation Army and got their meal program closed. Then, one by one, they began began picking off the smaller homeless providers who offered food and day shelter. Some churches have resisted.
Housing Is a Human Right
U.S. housing advocates can and should use international human rights standards to reframe the public debate, craft and support legislative proposals, supplement legal claims in court, advocate in international forums and support community organizing efforts.
Psychiatric Treatments For Depression May Be Hazardous To Your Health
By Leonard Roy Frank on My entire college education has been completely wiped out. I guess the doctors would consider [that electroshock] had beneficial effects because it has “cured my depression,” but it’s cured my depression by ruining my life, by taking away everything that made it worth having in the first place.
The Spirit of St. Mary’s Center
by Terry Messman
[dropcap]D[/dropcap]owntown Oakland has the highest percentage of seniors in poverty of any urban area in California. Many
Electroshock Must Be Banned as Crime Against Humanity
Electroshock is a barbaric, brain-disabling psychiatric procedure that should have been abolished many years ago. Yet its use is on the rise.
Wellness and Recovery or the Same Old Sickness?
It is clear that for all my compassionate concern about the social injustice that is homelessness, I need to put more focus on my own wellness and recovery — physically, emotionally and mentally. The shift in mental health services delivery is to look more closely at the holistic link between mental, emotional and physical health, with a growing concern about diet, exercise, and the need to address physical ills facing the poor such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and asthma, often linked to issues of environmental racism.
Speaking Out For Those Who Have Been Silenced by the Psychiatric Profession
By Leah Harris on “You are exposed, you psychiatrists of the APA. We know that psychiatry has long ago lost whatever conscience it may have possessed. We know that you are snug in bed with the drug companies, that you couldn’t even exist as a professional association without drug company funding.” -- Leah Harris