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This paper aims to determine whether criminal justice (CJ) stigma affects health outcomes and health care utilization.

The authors reviewed medical and public health literature through May 2020. Structured terms were used to search four databases identifying articles that related to CJ stigma. Included articles were in English, examined CJ stigma and had people with CJ involvement as subjects. The studies without health outcomes were excluded. Quantitative and qualitative studies were reviewed and assessed for bias. Results were synthesized into a systematic review.

The search yielded 25 studies relating to CJ stigma and health. Three stigma domains were described in the literature: perceived or enacted, internalized and anticipated stigma. Tenuous evidence linked CJ stigma to health directly (psychological symptoms) and indirectly (social isolation, health care utilization, high-risk behaviors and housing or employment). Multiple stigmatized identities may interact to affect health and health care utilization.

Few studies examined CJ stigma and health. Articles used various measures of CJ stigma, but psychometric properties for instruments were not presented. Prospective studies with standard validated measures are needed.

Understanding whether and how CJ stigma affects health and health care utilization will be critical for developing health-promoting interventions for people with CJ involvement. Practical interventions could target stigma-related psychological distress or reduce health care providers’ stigmatizing behaviors.

This was the first systematic review of CJ stigma and health. By providing a summary of the current evidence and identifying consistent findings and gaps in the literature, this review provides direction for future research and highlights implications for policy and practice.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of an online mental health ally program on several measurements of readiness to help and stigma reduction. Allyship is one way to support people with mental health challenges beyond traditional care services.

The efficacy of the program was evaluated in pre and postintervention surveys (n = 26) including measures of self-care, help-seeking intentions, peer-support self-efficacy, advocacy, knowledge of resources and stigma. A within-subject, repeated measures design was conducted analyzing changes at completion. Twenty-six participants who completed the program (either with or without lived experience of mental illness) were included in the study. A subgroup of participants (n = 11) who reported lived experiences of mental illness were assigned additional measures of internalized stigma, stigma stress, stigma resistance and self-esteem.

Analysis of mean differences indicated a statistically significant change in scores pre and postcompletion. The program increased peer-support, help-seeking intentions and self-esteem, while reducing internalized stigma and stigma stress. Findings provide preliminary support for program effectiveness in training individuals to support others and themselves through mental health challenges.

Trained allies might improve the lives of individuals with mental health challenges by reducing discrimination and improving social support. We discuss the implication of allies to complement the mental health system.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first exploratory study on the efficacy of an online ally training program for individuals with mental illness. The NoStigmas Ally Program is a novel and original development in ally training.

The purpose of this study is to contribute to the social understanding of stigma as a societal and cultural barrier in the life of a survivor of human trafficking. The findings illustrate several ways where stigma is internal, interpersonal and societal and impacts survivors’ lives, including the care they receive.

This study used qualitative methods. Data collection occurred during 2018 with efforts such as an online survey (n = 45), focus groups (two focus groups of seven participants each) and phone interviews (n = 6). This study used thematic analysis of qualitative data.

The research team found that a multiplicity of stigma occurred for the survivors of human trafficking, where stigma occurred across three levels from micro to meso to macro contexts. Using interpretive analysis, the researchers conceptualized how stigma is not singular; rather, it comprises the following: bias in access to care; barriers of shaming, shunning and othering; misidentification and mislabeling; multiple levels of furthering how survivors are deeply misunderstood and a culture of mistrust.

While this study was conducted in a single US city, it provides an opportunity to create dialogue and appeal for more research that will contend with a lens of seeing a multiplicity of stigma regardless of the political climate of the context. It was a challenge to recruit survivors to participate in the study. However, survivor voices are present in this study and the impetus of the study’s focus was informed by survivors themselves. Finally, this study is informed by the perspectives of researchers who are not survivors; moreover, collaborating with survivor researchers at the local level was impossible because there were no known survivor researchers available to the team.

There are clinical responses to the narratives of stigma that impact survivors’ lives, but anti-trafficking response must move beyond individualized expectations to include macro responses that diminish multiple stigmas. The multiplicity in stigmas has meant that, in practice, survivors are invisible at all levels of response from micro, meso to macro contexts. Therefore, this study offers recommendations for how anti-trafficking responders may move beyond a culture of stigma towards a response that addresses how stigma occurs in micro, meso and macro contexts.

The social implications of examining stigma as a multiplicity is central to addressing how stigma continues to be an unresolved issue in anti-trafficking response. Advancing the dynamic needs of survivors both in policy and practice necessitates responding to the multiple and overlapping forms of stigma they face in enduring and exiting exploitative conditions, accessing services and integrating back into the community.

This study offers original analysis of how stigma manifested for the survivors of human trafficking. Building on this dynamic genealogy of scholarship on stigma, this study offers a theory to conceptualize how survivors of human trafficking experience stigma: a multiplicity of stigma. A multiplicity of stigma extends existing research on stigma and human trafficking as occurring across three levels from micro, meso to macro contexts and creating a system of oppression. Stigma cannot be reduced to a singular form; therefore, this study argues that survivors cannot be understood as experiencing a singular form of stigma.

The purpose of this study was to examine how identity covering techniques can influence raters' perceptions of job candidates who have a socially stigmatized identity. Specifically, the authors explore how raters respond to two types of candidates: one who does not mention his gay identity during the interview process, and one who openly discusses their gay identity during the interview process. The authors also investigate whether job type (sport operations vs business operations) and the rater's views toward social equality influence perceptions of job fit and subsequent hiring recommendations.

The authors conducted an experiment to examine whether an applicant's level of stigma covering, type of job posting and rater's views toward social equality influenced perceptions of job fit. The authors then tested whether perceptions of job fit mediated hiring recommendations. Adults in the USA (n = 237) who were employed and had served on a hiring committees participated in the survey.

When applying for sport operations jobs, as opposed to business operations jobs, gay male applicants are viewed more favorably if they engage in high levels of identity covering. Further, the applicant's level of stigma covering influenced raters who reported high or moderate social dominance orientation but did not impact raters with low social dominance orientation. Overall, the findings reveal that identity covering techniques do have relevance for studying the dynamics of hiring gay men who apply for jobs in the sport industry.

The study advances the understanding of identity management techniques by examining the nuances of how applicants can choose to disclose their stigmatized identity, and how those decision influence the hiring process.

The transgender community faces prejudice and stigma and is one of the most ostracised groups in society. One of the ways to reduce prejudice is through intergroup contact. This may be achieved through direct or indirect contact. The purpose of this paper is to compare the impact of direct and indirect contact on reducing transphobia.

Direct contact was achieved through a transgender speaker panel and indirect contact involved a video presentation. In total, 159 students enroled in undergraduate courses at a prominent university in India were enlisted for this study. Perceptions regarding transgenders were measured using the genderism and transphobia scale. Perceptions were measured at three different time points – before the contact, immediately after the contact and one month post contact.

Results indicate that both direct and indirect contact cause a significant immediate decrease in transphobia at the post intervention stage. However, only direct contact caused significant reduction at the follow-up stage (one month after the intervention). Direct contact also effected a greater reduction in transphobia than indirect contact.

This study extends previous research that shows that speaker panels involving sexual minority speakers can result in reducing stigma (e.g. Croteau and Kusek, 1992). The present study shows that such speaker panels can also be useful for reducing stigma against transgender individuals. Another important outcome of this study is the relative effectiveness of direct contact in reducing transphobia compared to indirect contact. Direct contact resulted in greater reduction in transphobia both at the post-test and follow-up stages compared to indirect contact.

The results of this study may benefit HR practitioners and policy makers in designing workplace initiatives and policies in creating an inclusive workplace. This study shows that meaningful interaction with transgenders would be a key step in reducing stigmatisation. Since direct contact is rarely expensive or time consuming, it can be a valuable tool to improve the integration of transgender individuals within society. Therefore, students and employees may be encouraged to interact with transgender individuals through panel discussions and workshops. Indirect contact may be used as a preliminary intervention in certain cases where direct contact may be difficult to organise.

The stigma faced by transgender individuals has a significant negative impact on their quality of life (Grant et al., 2014; Reisner and Juntunen, 2015). It is, therefore, necessary to recognise and reduce prejudice against transgenders at both the college and school levels as well as in work organisations. Educators and managers have a significant role to play in this societal change. This study shows that stigma reduction can be achieved in a fairly simple way through contact theory.

This study is one of the first to investigate Indian students’ perceptions of transgenders. It improves on earlier studies using similar interventions in two main ways. First, this study includes a follow-up assessment, which was not performed in most studies. Second, random assignment of participants to one of two conditions improves the reliability of the findings.

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is associated with psychological disorders and suicidal thoughts and behaviours; disclosure of NSSI can serve as a catalyst for help-seeking and self-advocacy amongst people who have self-injured. This study aims to identify the socio-demographic, NSSI-related, socio-cognitive and socio-emotional correlates of NSSI disclosure. Given elevated rates of NSSI amongst university students, this study aimed to investigate these factors amongst this population.

Australian university students (n = 573) completed online surveys; 80.2% had previously disclosed self-injury.

NSSI disclosure was associated with having a mental illness diagnosis, intrapersonal NSSI functions, specifically marking distress and anti-dissociation, having physical scars from NSSI, greater perceived impact of NSSI, less expectation that NSSI would result in communication and greater social support from friends and significant others.

Expanding on previous works in the area, this study incorporated cognitions about NSSI. The ways in which individuals think about the noticeability and impact of their NSSI, and the potential to gain support, are associated with the decision to disclose self-injury. Addressing the way individuals with lived experience consolidate these considerations could facilitate their agency in whether to disclose their NSSI and highlight considerations for health-care professionals working with clients who have lived experience of NSSI.

This study primarily aims to evaluate the mental health literacy (MHL) of the Lebanese adult population in an attempt to yield results that can help fill the gap in the literature and support the development of new strategies to counter mental health stigma.

A cross-sectional survey was composed of the Mental Health Knowledge Schedule and select questions from the Community Attitudes toward the Mentally Ill and MHL Scale. The surveys were collected from a representative population of sample size (n = 386) among the different governorates of Lebanon. The participants, aged 18–65 years and literate, were recruited between July 2018 and September 2018 from supermarkets widely distributed across the country.

The results showed that the Lebanese population possesses average knowledge and certain stigmatizing attitudes toward mental illnesses. Curricular education and awareness campaigns may help refine the image of mental illness among the population.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is one of the first in Lebanon to assess the MHL of its population as a whole. It gives insight into the common misconceptions about mental illness and patterns of the related stigma that are prevalent in the Lebanese society today.

The purpose of the study is to investigate the perceived stigma among residents of Sanandaj, west of Iran, following COVID-19 pandemic.

This is a cross-sectional study conducted from March to April 2020. The sample consisted of 1,000 participants who live in Sanandaj. The data collection tool was a self-report electronic questionnaire. ANOVA and T-test were used to analyze the data.

The mean perceived stigma for COVID-19 was 5.50±2.24 (IQR: 3.75–6.87) out of 10-point scale. The highest point was seen for perceived external stigma (6.73±2.49, IQR: 5–8.75) followed by disclosure stigma (4.95±3.92, IQR: 0–10). Interestingly, self-employers were more concerned about disclosing their illness than those with governmental jobs (25±3.93 vs. 4.31±4.14, P<0.05), and also had an overall higher stigma score; 5.72±2.23 vs. 5.19±2.37, P<0.05).

COVID-19 stigma is high among Iranians and more common among men, youngsters and self-employers.

The authors are two social work academics working in a UK Higher Education Institute. Social work is underpinned by principles of anti-oppressive practice which leads to challenge discrimination and stigmatisation. The authors explored experiences of deficit imposed by others' perceptions of the physical and ethnic appearance and mental health status. The authors consider how these features influence how the authors locate themselves within the wider contexts of academic spaces in higher education institutions (HEI).

Using duoethnography, a collaborative research methodology, the authors recorded reflections on their experiences for five months and met weekly to discuss their material. This process enabled them to engage in dialogic narrative through collaborative writing using both structured and unstructured reflections. The authors analysed the reflections using thematic data analysis.

Four themes were generated that led to understanding how the authors could challenge oppression. The oppression became visible as the authors reflected on the common experiences of deficit. The understanding of other's oppression as well as the authors’ own became clearer as the unconscious experiences became conscious. The authors began to locate the experiences of being both privileged and oppressed in the wider social context of the HE. Finally, the authors recognised how the “deficit” identities could transform into strengths.

This personal journey of two academics reflecting on how they are paradoxically both privileged and yet oppressed challenges other professionals to honestly explore how they themselves can occupy both roles and become allies in confronting discrimination in all its forms.

This paper aims to contribute to sex tourism literature by placing it into a contemporary context of globalisation, harm reduction and disease migration.

The paper takes a public health and social science approach to map sex tourism, drawing on sex worker and tourist situations alongside global forces including technology, human rights, law enforcement and health.

A new, holistic conceptual model is presented, containing interacting, multi level associations. Whilst the separate micro, contextual, meso and macro levels are versatile, decision makers and practitioners will be equipped to understand sex tourism in its entirety.

The paper’s originality is found in the proposed conceptual model.

全球化、减害和疾病迁移时代的性旅游：一种新的概念模型

该论文采用公共卫生和社会科学方法, 利用性工作者和旅游者的情况以及包括技术、人权、执法和健康在内的全球力量, 分析了性旅游的状况。

本文将性旅游文献置于全球化、减少危害和疾病迁移的当代背景下, 为性旅游文献做出了贡献。

本文提出了一个新的、整体的概念模型, 包含相互作用的多层次关联。虽然单独的微观、背景、中观和宏观层面是多变的, 但决策者和从业者将可以全面的了解性旅游。

该论文的独创性体现在提出的概念模型中。

El turismo sexual en la era de la globalización, la reducción de daños y la migración de enfermedades: un nuevo modelo conceptual

Este artículo contribuye a la literatura sobre el turismo sexual situándolo en el contexto contemporáneo de la globalización, la reducción de daños y la migración de enfermedades.

El documento adopta un enfoque de salud pública y ciencias sociales para delimitar el turismo sexual, basándose en las situaciones de los trabajadores del sexo y los turistas junto con las fuerzas globales, como la tecnología, los derechos humanos, la aplicación de la ley y la salud.

Se presenta un nuevo modelo conceptual holístico que contiene asociaciones interactivas de varios niveles. Mientras que los niveles micro, contextual, meso y macro separados son versátiles, los responsables de la toma de decisiones y los profesionales estarán equipados para entender el turismo sexual en su totalidad.

La originalidad del artículo se encuentra en el modelo conceptual propuesto.

Investigación