veterans
Psychologists are involved in a new type of court that helps veterans on the wrong side of the law get the help they need to restart their lives.
B Y TORI D eANG ELI S
struggling
Help for
M
anny Welch, 54, served on a naval aircraft carrier in the four years immediately following the Vietnam War. The resulting stress helped fuel his substance abuse, a pattern that was to haunt him for the next 30 years.
His drug habit brought him in and out of the correctional system for crimes like petty larceny and drug possession. After many failed attempts at kicking the habit, four years ago he heard about a new kind of criminal court in his hometown of Buffalo, N.Y. — one aimed at helping veterans in the correctional system get their lives back on track by offering them counseling and support rather than just punishment.
M a rc h 2 0 1 2 • M o n i to r o n p s yc h o l o g y 35
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Monitor on Psychology - March 2012