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Monkeys were taught in an experiment to hand over pebbles in exchange for cucumber slices. They were happy with this deal. Then the researcher randomly offered one monkey — in sight of a second — an even better deal: a grape for a pebble. Monkeys love grapes, so this fellow was thrilled. The researcher then returned to the second monkey, but presented just a cucumber for the pebble. Now, this offer was insulting. In some cases the monkey would throw the cucumber back at the primatologist in...

You should get some exercise, eat healthy, and sleep enough. You should be supportive of your friends. You should do what you’re passionate about. We’ve all gotten such well-meaning advice, and it’s good advice. But there’s one problem: People rarely tell us how to achieve these worthy goals. Luckily, there is a new book that gives you the “how,” and will help you not just survive, but thrive. U Thrive: How to Succeed in College (and Life) by Daniel Lerner and Alan Schlechter—two New York...

It’s impossible to discuss reducing incarceration without acknowledging that the bulk of imprisonment happens in local jails. Federal penitentiary rates have dropped since peaking in 2009—though, under Attorney General Jeff Sessions, that may soon change . State prison rates have come down “modestly” overall, reports the Sentencing Project , and some states can boast double-digit decreases since the turn of the century. City and county jails, meanwhile, have been bloating. Roughly two-thirds...

On a Tuesday in late May, Antonio Franklin sits in a makeshift classroom in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood, ten years to the day after he stepped foot inside Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Norfolk to serve nine years for aggravated assault against a cop. Pencil in hand, he looks on as instructor Ismail Abdurrashid fills a whiteboard with algebra equations. A year ago, Franklin left prison. Now, at 31, he’s brushing up on high-school-level math with about a dozen other...

Low-income public housing providers are tasked with the responsibility to foster communities where people who have experienced tremendous adversity and poverty can find stability, healing, and opportunity to build a future for themselves and their families. My work in public housing is as a Resident Services Coordinator where I meet with new residents who, while on our nine year waitlist, are likely to have experienced multiple periods of homelessness. New residents, having finally gotten...

Missy Hart grew up in Redwood City, Calif. — in gangs, on the street, in the foster care system and in institutions. "Where I'm from," the 26-year-old says, "you're constantly in alert mode, like fight or flight." But at age 13, when she was incarcerated in juvenile hall for using marijuana, she found herself closing her eyes and letting her guard down in a room full of rival gang members. Back then, she says, yoga was just another mandatory activity, run by a Bay Area program called The Art...

In order to create a long lasting impact, Equity for Common Good in Eastern Oregon created a practical, yet transformational, plan to advance equity by meeting communities where they are and allowing them to set the pace. The very intent of this project is to allow local communities do their own their work in advancing equity. Often in rural, remote, and isolated communities, people feel pressured from outside organizations to take on initiatives that are not their own. After in-depth...

Hi all, I am a new member of ACEs Connection and wanted to share my Master's Thesis, should you be interested. My paper moves from a review of the ACE study and related research that centralizes childhood trauma's negative lifelong physical and mental health effects for many people, to a comparative study of CBT vs. attachment-informed, somatic treatments for these symptoms. The abstract is copied below and the paper is attached. Please feel free to take a look, and to contact me should you...

I was deeply moved by this recent piece on Tiger Woods and the assumptions embedded in the many public comments that we "know" him. We presume knowledge because he has been in the public eye and we somehow convert his public persona into a perception of his whole (and private) persona. https://nyti.ms/2rBNwUD We make a mistake when we assume that what we see on the outside accounts for, describes or reveals the inside of a person. Many seemingly functional folks of all ages and stages have...

The human brain is a wonder. Through folds of tissue and pulses of electricity, it lets us perceive, attempt to understand, and shape the world around us. As science rapidly charts the brain's complex structures, new discoveries are revealing the biology of how the mind functions and fails. Given the centrality of the brain to human health, its malfunctions should be a priority, separated from stigma and treated on par with the diseases of the body. We aren't there yet, but the...

Nurses are good at taking care of other people, but their own health needs to be a priority, a Massey University senior lecturer says. Busy environments, high expectations and pressures associated with rosters can take a toll on nurses, and they are often stressed and overworked, Dr Stacey Wilson said. She urged nurses to take care of themselves, look after their colleagues and not be afraid to seek help. "There has been a surge in research about moral distress, compassion fatigue and...

In recognition of National Foster Care Month, the KIDS COUNT Data Center is highlighting key child welfare data on the site. In 2015, nearly 112,000 kids were in foster care waiting to be adopted. For these children, we know that: Twenty-four percent lived in California or Texas. Twenty-eight percent had been waiting at least three years to be adopted. Kids in Illinois had the longest road to adoption, with nearly one in three waiting at least five years. In 2015, about 53,500 kids in...