Human activity, such as industrialization and deforestation, have led to an increase in global temperatures and natural disaster events that have resulted in the death of over two million people and an economic loss of over USD $3.64 trillion in the last 50 years. Governments, organizations, and activists across the globe have tried to reduce the collateral consequences of human activity on the planet; however, even with increased attention to these issues, there has yet to be much discussion of accountability for planetary harm. Greenhouse gas emissions, waste dumping, and climate change mostly result from individuals, corporations, and governments exploiting the planet of its natural resources freely, without direct and immediate consequence. In the field of criminal justice, the criminalization of and penalization for engagement in certain acts is meant to deter harmful acts. Therefore, to deter auto-genocide, one must ask whether perpetrators of global harm should be held accountable, and what accountability might look like in these scenarios. This article explores traditional definitions of “crime,” punishment, and the criminal label, and discusses the possibility of holding perpetrators of ecocide and the impending auto-genocide accountable utilizing a restorative justice framework.

The opioid crisis has become one of the most persistent public health crises in America, killing over 100 people a day. The opioid crisis emerged in the late 1990s and 2000s when opioid overdoses began to dramatically increase due to prescription painkillers. Heroin subsequently became a popular drug that was obtained through illicit markets in 2010. More recently, fentanyl, a potent and illicitly manufactured synthetic opioid, has driven a notable increase in the number of opioid overdose deaths. The opioid crisis has impacted many communities across the country. However, some communities are more susceptible to higher rates of opioid use. In order to determine which neighborhoods in Tempe, Arizona are more vulnerable to opioid use the author uses Tempe Emergency Medical Services (EMS) calls for service data and American Community Survey data to address two research questions: 1) What sociodemographic factors at the census-tract level are associated with calls for service to opioid related incidents and 2) are aspects of the physical environment associated with calls for service to opioid related incidents (e.g. vacant units, lack of complete plumbing, multiple unit housing structures)? Understanding community-level risk and protective-factors is essential for furthering the discussion on interventions that aim to address problematic opioid use in vulnerable communities. The current study finds that communities that are economically disadvantaged, and have a higher percentage of units that are vacant have more EMS calls for service to opioid related incidents. However, counter to the proposed hypothesis of social disorganization theory, residential instability was associated with fewer calls for service to opioid related incidents (i.e. higher levels of residential transience). Additionally, racially and ethnically diverse communities had fewer calls for service to opioid related incidents albeit statistically non-significant. These findings have implications for future research and for possible policy implications directed at reducing opioid overdoses.

Although child welfare services are anticipated, in part, to lessen the negative

influence of maltreatment on childhood and adolescent development, there is evidence

that involvement in the foster care system negatively affects adolescent substance

use. Within the literature, limited empirical research has emerged in regard to this issue.

The present study aims to fill this critical gap in the literature by examining the

association between baseline biological, psychological, and social risk and protective

factors on adolescent involvement in substance use, and frequency of substance use, over

a period of 24 months for foster care involved youth. Furthermore, the present study

compares substance use behaviors between youth with differing experiences of

maltreatment subtypes and severity levels. Data come from VOYAGES, a longitudinal

study of older adolescents in the custody of the Missouri Children’s Division for foster

care services. The current analysis reports on those youth who completed both the

baseline and the final interview (N=323). Key findings include significant associations

between baseline peer substance use, lowered levels of school commitment, mentorship,

and familial support with later adolescent substance use. Overall, the existence of

numerous individual risk factors far outweighs the potential of protective factors

buffering against subsequent substance use in the current study. The foster care system,

although well-intentioned, potentially barricades individuals from successfully navigating

through adolescence and early adulthood without engaging in risky behaviors such as

substance use. Given the high prevalence of substance use among those placed in the

care of the foster care system, prevention efforts for this population requires an improved

understanding of psychosocial risk and protective factors.