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Structured professional judgement (SPJ) guidelines for assessing risk of sexual offending have existed for more than two decades, yet the literature investigating the validity of these tools remains relatively limited. Recent research has shown that actuarial sexual offending risk assessment tools should be adjusted to reflect reduced risk as offenders age (Helmus et al., 2012), leading to questions about the validity of extant SPJ guidelines for older people who sexually offend. The current study investigated the reliability and predictive validity of the Sexual Violence Risk-20 (SVR-20) and the Risk for Sexual Violence Protocol (RSVP) with a sample of 95 Australian individuals aged 50 years or over who had sexually offended. Sixteen (16.84%) participants sexually recidivated over a mean follow-up period of 9.07 years. Contrary to results with younger offenders, structured judgements using the SVR-20 or RSVP did not significantly differentiate recidivists from non-recidivists in this sample (AUC = .57). However, the total scores for both instruments were predictive at particular time periods. Certain risk factors were potentially important and accounted for unique variance that was not accounted for by actuarial instruments. The implications and limitations of this study are discussed, as well as recommendations for future research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review and meta-analysis evaluated the effectiveness of well-being interventions offered to correctional officers within prison settings. A search strategy was developed and 11 databases were searched to identify eligible studies. Articles were screened against preset eligibility criteria, and quality was assessed using the Downs and Black Checklist. Nine studies were identified, including four single-group design and five quasi-experimental designed studies. Interventions comprised a mixture of crisis interventions, psychoeducational programs, and an exercise program. For those studies with sufficient data, a meta-analysis was conducted to examine intervention effects on stress and psychopathology. Fixed-effects meta-analysis showed that treatment had no effect on stress or psychopathology. Of those studies that could not be included in the meta-analysis, there were mixed outcomes. These findings highlight the need for more rigorous study designs and suggest further research is needed to examine the theoretical mechanisms in the development of interventions within correctional settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examines the 'fact based' approach to jury instructions, which embeds legal concepts in a series of logically ordered written factual questions that the jury must answer to reach a verdict. The study utilised a sample of 1007 adults called for jury service in Victoria, Australia. Four instructional types (standard, plain language, checklist, fact based) were compared on paraphrase and application measures across three time points. Results indicated that paraphrase performance was significantly lower for standard instructions compared to all other instructional types at the pre-deliberation stage. Findings around application of law were mixed. At the pre-deliberation stage, participants receiving fact based instructions had significantly higher scores on true/false application questions compared with participants in other conditions, whereas there were no significant differences between conditions for multiple-choice application. However, testing following deliberation revealed that participants in the fact-based condition had significantly higher scores on multiple-choice application items. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study describes the rationale, development, and validation of the Victoria Police Screening Assessment for Family Violence Risk (VP-SAFvR). The actuarial instrument was developed on a sample of 24,446 Australian police reports from 2013-2014. Information from each report and criminal histories of those involved were collected with 12-month follow-up, and binary logistic regression used to develop an improper predictive model. The selected VP-SAFvR cut-off score correctly identified almost three quarters of cases with further reports, while half of those without were accurately excluded. It was effective for frontline police triage decision-making, with few screened-out cases reporting further family violence, while those screened-in required additional risk assessment. Predictive validity was adequate and consistent across family relationships and demographic groups, although it was less effective in predicting future family violence reports involving same-sex couples or child perpetrators. Further evaluation in a field trial is necessary to determine the validity of the VP-SAFvR in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of Static tools (Static-99, Static-99R, Static-2002, and Static-2002R) in risk decision making involving sexual offenders is widespread internationally. This study compared the predictive accuracy and incremental validity of four Static risk measures in a sample of 621 Australian sexual offenders. Results indicated that approximately 45% of the sample recidivated (with 18.8% committing sexual offenses). All of the Static measures investigated yielded moderate predictive validity for sexual recidivism, which was comparable with other Australian and overseas studies. Area under the curve (AUC) values for the four measures across the 5-, 10-, and 15-year intervals ranged from .67 to .69. All of the Static measures discriminated quite well between low-risk and high-risk sexual offenders but less well for the moderate risk categories. When pitted together, none of the tools accounted for additional variance in sexual recidivism, above and beyond what the other measures accounted for. The overall results provide support for the use of Static measures as a component of risk assessment and decision making with Australian sexual offending populations. The limitations of this study and recommendations for further research are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: People affected by schizophrenia spectrum disorders are at a higher risk of offending violently. This study aims to investigate risk factors in relation to the peri-diagnostic period and possible predictors of post-diagnostic violence of people diagnosed for the first time in the public mental health system. Methods: The study compared various risk factors for post-diagnostic violence in patients (n = 1453) diagnosed with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder. Patients were grouped according to the occurrence of peri-diagnostic violence. Of the 246 violent offenders, 164 committed their first offence pre-diagnosis. Mental health and criminological variables were evaluated across the lifespan (median age at end of follow-up = 34.22 years, range = 17.02-55.80 years). Results: Gender, employment, non-violent offending, family incidents, violent and non-violent victimisation, substance use, personality disorder, number of in-patient admissions and history of non-compliance differed significantly across violent and non-violent subgroups (all p ≤ 0.01 and at least small effect size). More frequent and longer inpatient admissions were found in the violent subgroups (all p ≤ 0.01). For the whole sample, sex, number of violent offences, non-violent offences, violent victimisation, substance use and number of inpatient admissions predicted post-diagnostic violence (χ² (6) = 188.13, p < 0.001). Among patients with a history of pre-diagnostic violence, a history of non-violent offending in the 18-month period pre-diagnosis was the strongest predictor of future violence (odds ratio = 3.08, 95% confidence interval [1.32, 7.21]). Conclusion: At triage, violence risk assessment should consider the presence of antisocial behaviour and violent victimisation, substance use, male gender and frequency of inpatient admissions. Common treatment targets for the prevention of post-diagnostic violence include criminality and victimisation. Treatment of positive symptoms should be of greater emphasis for individuals without a history of pre-diagnostic violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored change in dynamic risk for violence using the Clinical and Risk Management subscales of the Historical Clinical and Risk Management-20 version 3 (HCR-20 v3) and sought to determine whether change was associated with violent recidivism. The association between the magnitude of change and psychopathy was also assessed. Participants were 40 male (n = 32) and female (n = 8) forensic psychiatric inpatients discharged from a secure forensic mental health service. Results showed that participants significantly improved on the HCR-20v3 Clinical subscale but significantly worsened on the Risk Management subscale. Psychopathy was unrelated to change in Clinical and Risk Management subscales. The hypothesis that changes in dynamic risk would predict recidivism over and above total pre-treatment risk (HCR-20v3 Total score) and psychopathy was not supported. These results suggest that improvements in mental state risk factors alone are insufficient with regard to lowering violence risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Historical Clinical Risk Management-20 (HCR-20) is utilised internationally to assess an individual's risk for violence. Despite being widely administered in Australian correctional and forensic populations, the predictive validity of the HCR-20 instrument has never been explored in Australian settings. This retrospective study investigated the predictive validity of the HCR-20 for an Australian cohort of 136 forensic psychiatric patients. Findings support the relationship between the HCR-20 and violent offending post hospital discharge. The HCR-20 Total, Historical, and Risk Management scales shared moderate to large positive correlations with several reconviction categories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study assessed the reliability and validity of the Stalking Risk Profile (SRP), a structured measure for assessing stalking risks. The SRP was administered at the point of assessment or retrospectively from file review for 241 adult stalkers (91% male) referred to a community-based forensic mental health service. Interrater reliability was high for stalker type, and moderate-to-substantial for risk judgments and domain scores. Evidence for predictive validity and discrimination between stalking recidivists and nonrecidivists for risk judgments depended on follow-up duration. Discrimination was moderate (area under the curve = 0.66-0.68) and positive and negative predictive values good over the full follow-up period (Mdn = 170.43 weeks). At 6 months, discrimination was better than chance only for judgments related to stalking of new victims (area under the curve = 0.75); however, high-risk stalkers still reoffended against their original victim(s) 2 to 4 times as often as low-risk stalkers. Implications for the clinical utility and refinement of the SRP are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study identified the presence of psychopathy (as measured by the PCL-R/PCL:SV instruments) and antisocial personality disorder (APD) and their relationship with future reconviction in an Australian forensic sample ( N = 136) of patients with a mental disorder. Patients were tracked for over 4 years postrelease to determine associations between a diagnosis of APD/psychopathy and reoffense. Patients with higher psychopathy scores were found to have an increased likelihood of reincarceration, a higher rate of reconviction, and were reconvicted earlier compared with patients with lower psychopathy scores. Patients with APD were more likely to be reconvicted and reincarcerated during the follow-up period than patients without an APD diagnosis. Despite demonstrating associations with general reconviction, the PCL instruments did not exhibit statistically significant relationships with violence. Implications for the clinical identification of personality disordered patients in forensic settings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews the current literature pertaining to those who engage in child pornography offending. The basic characteristics of online child pornography offenders (CPOs) and related typologies are briefly presented prior to reviewing the comparative literature pertaining to CPOs and child contact sexual offenders. In general, CPOs have been found to be relatively high functioning and generally pro-social individuals with less extensive and diverse offending histories than contact offenders. CPOs also display high levels of sexual pre-occupation, deviant sexual interests, and deficits in interpersonal and affective domains that surpass those of contact offenders. Although further research is required to replicate and clarify preliminary findings, the available evidence indicates that existing sexual offender risk assessment tools and treatment programs are not suitable for use with CPOs, and thus require revision and empirical evaluation prior to widespread use among this population. The article concludes with implications for clinical practice and directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: There is a growing body of research investigating the relationship between child sexual abuse and a range of adverse outcomes. However, very little is known about the long-term co-occurrence of psychiatric disorders and behavioral problems among this vulnerable population, or the interaction between characteristics of the abuse, such as the nature and timing of the child sexual abuse, and the extent of subsequent adversities. This study aimed to determine the rate and co-occurrence of mental health morbidity, criminal justice system contact, and fatal self-harm among medically confirmed victims of child sexual abuse, and to identify abuse variables associated with a greater likelihood of cumulative adverse experiences. Methods: The forensic medical records of 2759 cases of child sexual abuse assessed between 1964 and 1995 were linked with public psychiatric, criminal justice and coronial administrative databases between 13 and 44 years following abuse. Cases were compared to 2677 matched comparisons from the general population. Results: Abuse victims were more likely (odds ratio = 7.2, 95% confidence interval = [4.9, 10.4], p < 0.001) to experience cumulative adverse psychiatric and behavioral problems relative to comparisons. Almost half (47.6%) of victims who died of suicide or drug overdose had a history of offending, further victimization and mental illness. Relative to comparisons, female victims demonstrated the largest increase in odds for cumulative outcomes (odds ratio = 9.8, 95% confidence interval = [5.8, 16.8], p < 0.001), whereas in absolute terms, male victims were at an elevated risk for all types and combinations of adverse outcomes, except fatal self-harm. Boys who were older at abuse, had multiple abuse episodes or who were abused by an extra-familial perpetrator were most likely to experience poorer clinical trajectories. Only being older at abuse was associated with cumulative adverse experiences for females. Conclusions: Sexual abuse, particularly during adolescence (ages 12–16 years), appears to be a risk factor for co-occurring adverse experiences. This study identifies particular groups of child sexual abuse victims as at-risk and requiring targeted intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]