The indistinguishables: determining appropriate environments for justice involved individuals.

Criminalizing those with mental illness is a controversial topic with a long and complex history in the United States. The problem has traditionally been dichotomized between criminals (i.e.

Implementing an ecological approach to violence reduction at a forensic psychiatric hospital: approaches and lessons learned.

Existing literature on aggression within psychiatric hospitals suggests that treating an aggressive patient's symptoms could be complemented by (a) milieu environments that mitigate violence and (b) hospital-wide policies and procedures that focus on creating a safe environment. Described as an ecological approach, examples of how this broader, situational approach can reduce inpatient violence in psychiatric settings are provided throughout. The authors identify potential barriers to focusing on wards and institutional rules as well as patient treatment.

California State Hospital Violence Assessment and Treatment (Cal-VAT) guidelines.

Here we provide comprehensive guidelines for the assessment and treatment of violence and aggression of various etiologies, including psychotic aggression and impulsive aggression due to schizophrenia, mood disorders, ADHD, or trauma, and predatory aggression due to psychopathy and other personality disorders. These guidelines have been developed from a collection of prescribing recommendations, clinical trial results, and years of clinical experience in treating patients who are persistently violent or aggressive in the California Department of State Hospital System. Many of the recommendations provided in these guidelines employ off-label prescribing practices; thus, sound clinical judgment based on individual patient needs and according to institution formularies must be considered when applying these guidelines in clinical practice.

California State Hospital Violence Assessment and Treatment (Cal-VAT) guideline.

Here we provide comprehensive guidelines for the assessment and treatment of violence and aggression of various etiologies, including psychotic aggression and impulsive aggression due to schizophrenia, mood disorders, ADHD, or trauma, and predatory aggression due to psychopathy and other personality disorders. These guidelines have been developed from a collection of prescribing recommendations, clinical trial results, and years of clinical experience in treating patients who are persistently violent or aggressive in the California Department of State Hospital System. Many of the recommendations provided in these guidelines employ off-label prescribing practices; thus, sound clinical judgment based on individual patient needs and according to institution formularies must be considered when applying these guidelines in clinical practice.

Aggression Among Psychiatric Inpatients: The Relationship Between Time, Place, Victims, and Severity Ratings.

Background: The rate of aggressive acts perpetrated by psychiatric inpatients remains a pressing issue. To date, few studies have distinguished between incident severities.

Objective: The aims of the current study were to identify rates of inpatient aggression in an inpatient forensic psychiatric facility and describe the severity of the aggression reported for aggressive incidents.

Recidivism among female child molesters.

During recent years, research about female sexual offender recidivism rates using official criminal justice records has increased. Although informative, rearrest or conviction rates may be insufficient for this population. This study examines two potential outcome measures for accurately studying recidivism among 57 female sexual offenders; a criminal recidivism measure based on formal legal charges and a reported recidivism measure based on child welfare reports.

Female sexual abuse and criminal justice intervention: a comparison of child protective service and criminal justice samples.

Objective: The current study compared a sample of female perpetrators reported to Child Protective Services (CPS) to a sample of women from the criminal justice system. Instead of examining a clinical or criminal justice sample in isolation, this comparison allows a more accurate description of female sexual offending.

Methods: Cases were drawn from a Midwestern state's child abuse registry, law enforcement records, and sex offender registry.

Exhibitionism: findings from a Midwestern police contact sample.

This study used a police sample to examine offense characteristics, recidivism rates, and other types of sexual offending among individuals suspected of exhibitionism. The sample consisted of 202 incidents of indecent exposure perpetrated by 106 identified individuals. Demographic information showed that one quarter of the sample had symptoms of a mental illness and one quarter had a history of substance abuse.

A gender-based incidence study of workplace violence in psychiatric and forensic settings.

Limited data exist analyzing the role of gender in workplace violence in health care settings. This study examined whether different types of threatening incidents with patients (physical, verbal, sexual, or posturing) were salient to male versus female staff across psychiatric settings (inpatient forensic, inpatient acute/chronic psychiatric, and outpatient psychiatric). Results indicated that although women disproportionately experienced sexualized threats, they were not more likely to report such incidents as salient and threatening.