Staff's perception of Patients' affiliation and control in a Highly Secure Psychiatric Setting.

Effective interactions between patients and staff have been associated with positive ward climate and therapeutic effects, but also pose a challenge in high secure forensic psychiatric settings. The goal of this study was to gain more insight into i) the characteristics that play a role in how staff members perceive the interpersonal style of patients, and ii) whether these perceptions are related to patients' evaluation of ward climate and satisfaction with daily staff. Staff members (n = 69), rated the interpersonal style of 102 male patients.

Ward Climate Within a High Secure Forensic Psychiatric Hospital: Perceptions of Patients and Nursing Staff and the Role of Patient Characteristics.

Within this study the relationship between patient characteristics (age, length of stay, risk, psychopathy) and individual perceived ward climate (n=83), and differences between staff's and patient perceptions of climate (n=185) was investigated within a high secure forensic hospital. Results show that therapeutic hold was rated higher among staff compared to patients, while patients held a more favorable view on patient cohesion and experienced safety. Furthermore, patient characteristics (age, risk and psychopathy) were found to be related with individual ratings of ward climate.

Reduced transfer of affective value to instrumental behavior in violent offenders.

Instrumental or goal-directed aggression is a core feature in violent offenders with psychopathic tendencies. To understand this type of behavior, previous work in the field of aggression has focused on affective processing, with mixed results. We propose that instrumental aggression is best understood in terms of the consequences of affective processing for instrumental behavior rather than affective processing per se.