The gendered context of women charged with violent offences in the forensic psychiatric setting.

Background: Women charged with violent offences may be referred by courts for forensic psychiatric assessment to determine whether mental disorder or intellectual disability impacts their fitness to stand trial and/or criminal responsibility. The profile of these women is a poorly researched area in South Africa.

Aim: This study examined the socio-demographic, offence-related, and clinical profile of South African women charged with violent offences referred for forensic assessment.

Adaptation and validation of a computerized neurocognitive battery in the Xhosa of South Africa.

Objective: Large-scale studies have revolutionized biomedical research, and neurocognitive tests can help elucidate the biological basis of neuropsychiatric diseases. However, studies have predominantly been conducted in Western settings. We describe the development and validation of a computerized battery (PennCNB) with the Xhosa population of South Africa.

ICD-11 Paraphilic Disorders: A South African Analysis of Its Utility in the Medico-Legal Context.

Background: In an effort to improve the clinical utility of the ICD-10, the WHO Working Group on the Classification of Sexual Disorders and Sexual Health recommended a new classification of Paraphilic Disorders in the ICD-11 to replace the ICD-10 section on Disorders of Sexual Preference. The proposed classification may have different implications for different countries.

Aim: To examine South African national laws and policies, within which Paraphilic Disorders are encountered, and to assess the implications of the new classification.

The psycho-social and clinical profile of women referred for psycho-legal evaluation to forensic mental health units in South Africa.

Background: There is a paucity of research on women offenders in the South African context, particularly those referred for forensic psychiatric observation. Little is known about their life histories, the nature of their offences or the psycho-social contexts that enable, or are antecedents to, women's criminal offending.

Aims: This research study, the largest of its kind in South Africa, examined the psycho-social contexts within which women offenders referred for psychiatric evaluation come to commit offences.

Forensic mental health services: Current service provision and planning for a prison mental health service in the Eastern Cape.

Objectives: No research data exists on forensic psychiatric service provision in the Eastern Cape, Republic of South Africa. The objective of this research was to assess current forensic psychiatric service provision and utilisation rates at Fort England Hospital. This is important in improving and strengthening the service.