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Risk assessment instruments are used to estimate risk of recidivism and aid in decision-making and treatment planning. However, many of these instruments, including the Level of Service/Risk, Need, Responsivity (LS/RNR), are validated on predominantly Western populations, and research has questioned whether the factors included in the LS/RNR adequately capture the experiences and needs of non-Western communities, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. The current study aimed to canvas the opinions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community justice workers as to the suitability of the LS/RNR for use with this population. A general qualitative methodology was adopted to gain in-depth information through the facilitation of a focus group, and data were analysed thematically. Whilst participants agreed that the LS/RNR risk factors are relevant to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders, they reported that the instrument did not adequately capture relevant culturally specific considerations and made suggestions to improve the LS/RNR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous qualitative studies report South Asian migrants use police as a last resort for family violence (FV), however no quantitative evidence exists in Australia. This study examines police-reported FV recorded by Victorian police between September 2019 and February 2020 (N = 32,450) and compares reports made by South Asian-born (SAB) Australians to Australian-born (AB) Australians. Demographics, incidence and revictimisation rates, severity, frequency of risk and vulnerability factors (e.g. isolation & visa dependency) reported by the two groups were examined. More females were affected family members (AFMs) for both groups; however, SAB males were more likely to report non-partner FV. SAB AFMs reported a lower incidence rate and occurrence of revictimisation than AB AFMs. There were no significant differences in the level of severity (based on charges at time of incident); however, significantly higher number of risk factors were present for SABs reporting intimate partner violence. Mixed results emerged in the frequency of factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Violence risk assessment tools are used around the world with people who have committed crimes to determine the risk factors that may have contributed to their offending. These tools can carry great consequences for people's liberty. Violence risk assessment tools are also used with Indigenous people who are overrepresented in the Canadian justice system. A major issue with these risk assessment tools is that they do not use a colonial lens to understand the underlying mechanisms of violence. Using the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY) as an example, we examined how colonialism underlies risk and protective ratings. Colonialism increases the probability that Indigenous youth will be rated higher on some risk factors on the SAVRY. Novel interventions to reduce Indigenous overrepresentation include addressing the colonial factors behind violence risk and protective factors. Given that colonialism underlies scores on risk assessment tools, service providers need to link risk ratings to colonialism in their service formulations, carefully attend to culturally relevant factors, and provide interventions and support that specifically address colonialism. Suggestions for future research that include Indigenous community involvement are also provided. A short case analysis, cultural formulation and treatment suggestions are provided as an illustration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Australian prison population is increasingly diverse, yet there is limited research assessing the impact of mental health interventions across culturally diverse groups. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a short-term psycho-educational program on psychological distress, symptoms of mental illness, coping processes, cognitive fusion (i.e., attachment to patterns of thinking or specific thoughts) and somatic issues for 124 people in prison. Cross-cultural comparisons for intervention effects were made for three cultural groups: culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD; N = 45), Indigenous Australian (N = 24) and English-speaking background (ESB; N = 55). Several differences in intervention outcomes were observed across the cultural groups. Following completion of the program, ESB participants reported significantly reduced levels of depressive symptoms, avoidance coping, cognitive fusion and somatic issues. CALD participants reported significantly reduced somatic issues post-intervention. No significant differences were found in the Indigenous Australian group. These findings indicate that cultural background may influence the effectiveness of mental health interventions delivered within prisons. As such, prisons should aim to offer specialized culturally appropriate mental health services to meet diverse needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Violence risk instruments are used in numerous countries to estimate an individual's risk of reoffending. The racial fairness of violence risk instruments has received increasing attention due to ostensible differences among Anglo populations and racial minorities (e.g. African Americans and Indigenous populations). Fairness, which has numerous definitions (sensitivity fairness, error rate balance, calibration, predictive parity, statistical parity), can affect a risk instrument's utility in varying ways. This literature review explored how notions of fairness are discussed in the risk instrument literature with a specific focus on racial fairness. It also examined and critiqued the varying proposed resolutions to increase fairness. Many of these forms of fairness were found to be rarely satisfied in the literature. Further, the complications in achieving multiple forms of fairness simultaneously and the challenges of optimising both fairness and accuracy are discussed. Last, proposed solutions to increase racial fairness were often found to encompass significant limitations. Future directions for racial fairness in risk instruments are discussed, with a focus on exploring the trade-offs among varying fairness definitions and among fairness and accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterised by a range of symptoms including acute stress, flashbacks and avoidance of situations that trigger trauma. Women from Arabic-speaking backgrounds have been shown to have a higher likelihood of developing PTSD due to life stressors experienced. This paper aimed to provide an overview of the experiences and social circumstances of Arab women experiencing PTSD in Australia. Family, gender roles, religion, mental health stigma, trauma, re-settlement challenges, acculturation and discrimination were some of the factors explored in this review. The paper also aimed to review evidence-based treatment for PTSD such as cognitive behavioural therapy, narrative exposure and eye movement desensitisation therapy and whether these westernised approaches can extend to women from Arab backgrounds. Directions for culturally appropriate interventions and how to adapt treatments to suit the needs of individuals from the Arab community experiencing PTSD are discussed as well as considerations for specifically supporting women from Arab backgrounds who need treatment. Future avenues for research are canvassed and discussed within. KEY POINTS What is already known about this topic: (1) Women from Arabic speaking backgrounds in Western countries have been shown to have a higher likelihood of developing PTSD due to the life stressors that they have experienced. (2) Particular life stressors include migration and acculturation stressors, marginalisation, financial concerns, family responsibilities and for some, family violence which can exacerbate distress and contribute to the expression of PTSD symptoms. (3) No effective PTSD treatments for Arab populations in general, let alone Arab women have been identified in research. What this topic adds: (1) Effective mental health treatment for Arab women must take into consideration certain cultural values such as family, women's role/status and stigmas around mental health. (2) Some of the main factors to consider include beliefs and values, communication and language, shame, strict gender roles and religious healing. (3) There is a significant need for immediate future research to be conducted for this community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Risk assessment instruments are an important tool for assessing an offender's risk of recidivism. However, concerns have been raised regarding their applicability to different cultural groups, and it has been suggested that rater cultural bias may affect assessment. This study explored whether rater cultural bias impacted upon the scoring of the YLS/CMI-SRV and rater perceptions of offenders from diverse cultural backgrounds. Participants included a representative sample of postgraduate Australian Psychology students who were randomly assigned a vignette of a young offender from either a South Sudanese, Indigenous or Anglo-Australian background. No evidence of cultural bias was found in YLS/CMI-SRV scoring or rater perceptions of the offender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose: Prior research has shown that Muslim individuals attribute cultural beliefs in explaining mental illness aetiology, which may impact help-seeking behaviours. However, little research has been conducted with Muslim-Australians, nor across different cultural groups within Muslim minority populations. This research explored relationships between ethnocultural identity, cultural attributions of mental illness, and treatment-seeking beliefs in a sample of 182 Muslim-Australians. Method: A multiple regression analysis was performed to assess the relationship between ethnocultural identity and cultural belief use, as measured by the Cultural Beliefs about Mental Health Problems (CBMHP) scale. Analyses examined differences in endorsement of specific beliefs across ethnocultural groups.Results: Muslim-Australians from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds (Middle Eastern, European, Asian, and others) endorsed cultural beliefs more strongly than those from non-CALD, Anglo/Caucasian backgrounds. Both groups endorsed environmental and biological attributions for mental illness; however, supernatural explanations and both traditional/cultural treatments and Qur'anic recitation as effective psychological treatment methods were more strongly endorsed by CALD ethnocultural groups. Moreover, CALD Muslim-Australian respondents less strongly endorsed psychological counselling as effective. Findings also revealed differences in belief endorsement between ethnocultural groups. These findings provide insight into the intersection of culture with mental illness attributions and treatment-seeking behaviour. KEY POINTS Muslim-Australians appear to endorse biological and environmental explanations of mental illness to a similar extent, despite their ethnocultural identity; Muslim-Australians often employ cultural, religious, spiritual, and traditional attributions to explain mental illness aetiology; however, the extent to which Muslim-Australians use such attributions appears to differ depending on their ethnocultural background; Muslim-Australians from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds appear to more strongly adhere to cultural and religious-based explanations of mental illness (including supernatural phenomena) and more strongly endorse the effectiveness of traditional/religious treatment methods for mental ill-health than Muslim-Australians with non-CALD, Anglo-Caucasian ethnocultural backgrounds. Therefore, clinicians should be aware of such beliefs and should provide culturally appropriate and safe treatment interventions when working with Muslim-Australians from CALD backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Risk assessment instruments are frequently employed in criminal justice settings to predict recidivism and inform treatment plans for offenders. Modern approaches to risk assessment, (i.e. Structured Professional Judgment and actuarial instruments), have been found to accurately predict recidivism for both juvenile and adult offenders, although concerns have been raised regarding their applicability to Non-White cultural groups. Furthermore, research has suggested that rater bias may impact upon risk assessment scoring in various aspects of the risk assessment process. This paper explores whether rater bias may offer an explanation for the differential application and predictive validity of risk assessment for some cultural groups. Firstly, literature examining the differential scoring of risk assessment instruments across cultures was explored. Following this, existing literature on rater variability in risk assessment – encompassing areas such as interrater reliability, adversarial allegiance, professional override and rater training – was synthesised. Despite the lack of research specifically examining rater cultural bias in risk assessment, this paper finds that the risk assessment process may be vulnerable to rater biases. At the very least, the notion of rater cross-cultural bias in risk assessment warrants further investigation, and suggestions for future research are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advanced approaches to predicting offending are increasingly transpiring without the forensic psychology discipline's involvement – an area that it has piloted and influenced for many decades. Computer science experts have built an impressive decade-long literature base on risk assessment – a technical literature that is not only progressing at a fast pace, but appears to function independently, for the most part, from the forensic risk assessment literature. This paper outlines the potential utility of machine learning approaches and the broader 'algorithmic culture', for forensic risk assessment, and the implications their use (and non-use) may have for the discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Australian prison population is growing and becoming increasingly diverse. Yet very little research has investigated mental health concerns for multi-cultural prisoners. This mixed methods study aimed to identify the prevalence of mental health factors (wellbeing, distress and coping) in a cohort of 530 prisoners from Indigenous, culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) and English-speaking backgrounds (ESB) at a maximum-security prison in Victoria, Australia. Focus group interviews were also conducted with an additional 40 prisoners. It was found that Indigenous prisoners had significantly higher levels of distress and more symptoms of anxiety and depression than CALD and ESB prisoners. CALD prisoners had a greater sense of 'feeling in control' in prison than ESB prisoners. The focus group interviews also identified several factors that contributed to mental health differences between the groups. Findings reinforce the need for a more individualised approach in addressing mental health issues for prisoners cross-culturally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent policy initiatives and service provider strategic frameworks from the state of Victoria have highlighted intentions to invest in culturally safe practices for justice‐involved Indigenous individuals. However, the culturally themed frameworks and protocols presented by health and justice organisations appear to be largely underpinned by theoretical and/or anecdotal evidence. This commentary summarises findings from the first Australian program of research to investigate the influence of cultural identity and cultural engagement on mental health symptoms and violence for Indigenous people in custody. Implications for correctional policy and forensic clinical practice are discussed in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescent females who have engaged in severe and/or chronic offending are an understudied population internationally. The literature on female offending pathways has indeed advanced, and there is a better understanding of how female offending behaviours manifest and how correctional agencies should be responding. However, much of the existing research has focused on the risk factors and retrospective biographical narratives of adult female offenders. The present study focused on thematically exploring the self-reported life experiences and offending pathways of 36 detained adolescent females. Findings identified multiple themes including disconnection from education, early care-giver disruption/family separation, personal and family mental health problems, poly-substance abuse, anti-social peers, victimisation and anger problems. The study identifies that early family disruption is an important factor that may contribute to later offending behaviour and other negative life events. Prevention efforts should begin with the family when it comes to high-risk young females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is emerging recognition that positive or pro-social characteristics may lessen criminal propensity. There are now several adult and youth forensic instruments that include protective or strength components. Yet evidence supporting the protective capacities of these instruments with youth offending populations is still developing. This study aimed to identity the prevalence of strength items on the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory tool, and their relationships with risk and re-offending for a cohort of 212 multi-cultural Australian juveniles in custody. The prevalence of strengths in the sample was low, and differed by cultural group. Young people who possessed a strength yielded lower instrument total and domain scores and were more likely to be afforded a lower level of risk compared to youth without a strength. Moreover, youth who possessed a strength were significantly more likely to desist from re-offending. This association remained after controlling for level of risk. Findings point to the importance of strengths when assessing a young person’s risk for re-offending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study sought to identify the salient factors prompting increased levels of psychological distress for 87 Indigenous people in custody in Victoria, Australia. The protective qualities of cultural engagement in buffering distress were also examined. A series of analyses were employed to determine if selected stressor variables and cultural engagement were associated with distress. Having a family member or close friend pass away and perceived discrimination were strong predictors of distress. Being culturally engaged was negatively associated with distress. Results indicate the need for correctional facilities to commit to providing non-discriminatory custodial environments and culturally safe service delivery. [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]

Violence risk instruments are administered in medico-legal contexts to estimate an individual’s likelihood of future violence. However, their ostensible limitations; in particular their mono-cultural and risk-centric composition, has drawn academic attention. These concerns may facilitate erroneous risk evaluations for certain non-white populations. Yet it remains unaddressed how cultural differences will be appraised in a risk assessment framework and which specific cultural factors should be considered. Provisions under the Canadian Criminal Code allow forGladueReports, to be sought by judicial officers prior to sentencing Indigenous people.GladueReports provide insights into an Indigenous person’s unique circumstances that may have led to their offending as well as community-based options for rehabilitation. We proffer that there may be value in augmenting the risk evaluation with culturally relevantGladuestyle considerations identified by relevant Indigenous people to provide a more holistic account of an Indigenous individual’s circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A strong cultural identity has been shown to protect against psychological distress prompted by discriminatory experiences. However, these associations are scientifically unknown for people who have contact with the criminal justice system. Examining the relationships between cultural identity and mental health could enlighten efforts to improve the wellbeing of offenders, many of whom have experienced numerous negative life events and stressors. This study aimed to address these concerns by assessing the influence of cultural identity on distress, agency, community safety and discrimination for 78 Indigenous prisoners in custody in Australia. Findings revealed that possessing a stronger cultural identity effected lower levels of distress. Participants with weaker cultural identities had higher levels of distress and lower levels of agency. Furthermore, a reduced feeling of safety in the broader community appeared to have a greater negative impact on participants with weaker cultural identities. Levels of distress increased as perceptions of discrimination increased, immaterial to one's degree of cultural identity. However, results suggest that high identifiers were potentially able to alleviate this distress, perhaps through enhanced agency and engagement in cultural activities. Findings underscore the need for forensic clinicians to consider notions of cultural identity when engaging with, assessing and treating Indigenous clients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forensic mental health practitioners are frequently asked to estimate the risk of future violence. Legal decisions concerning the sentencing, management and disposition of offenders often rely on the advice of such testimony. The burgeoning use of violence risk instruments in these settings undoubtedly injects a level of scientific rigour into forensic evaluations for courts and tribunals. Yet scrutiny of the inherent limitations of both risk instruments and the inferences and formulations drawn from them are often veiled by the discipline's endorsement for such approaches. Misconceptions about the validity and dependability of present-day risk assessments and expert infallibility persist. The furtive influences that shape both the (mis)interpretation and miscommunication of risk instruments in legal settings necessitate discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The relationship between psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder (APD) was explored in a sample of Australian mentally disordered offenders. Two Hare adult psychopathy measures, the Psychopathy Checklist–Revised (PCL-R) and the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL: SV) were employed and a diagnosis of APD was measured for 136 participants in a secure forensic psychiatric inpatient facility. Results revealed clear distinctions between measurements of psychopathy and APD. Over 65% of patients high in psychopathic traits received a diagnosis of APD while only 5.5% of patients with APD were high in psychopathic traits, denoting an asymmetric relationship. Implications for the assessment and treatment of mentally disordered offenders with psychopathic traits are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Maori and Pacific Islanders are heavily overrepresented in the Australian criminal justice system. Despite these circumstances, little is known about the risk factors uniquely underpinning their involvement in criminal behavior. A review of the literature discovered that acculturation stressors, widespread educational disengagement, family and cultural disintegration, job insecurity, economic disadvantage, and social service inaccessibility were prevalent issues among both young Maori and Pacific Islander offenders and their communities. The findings signal the need for culturally tailored interventions that divert young Maori and Pacific Islanders from law-breaking behaviors while reconnecting them with family, culture, education, employment, and prosocial activities. Local efforts to address this significant gap in service delivery have been made and are discussed within. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rates of offending peak in adolescence and associations between mental ill health and criminal behaviour have been well documented. Despite this, few studies have examined the nature or correlates of offending behaviours in young people with mental health problems, particularly in community settings. This study examined salient risk markers associated with police contact in a cohort of 802 young people (aged 12–25 years) seeking help from youth mental health services in Australia. Explanatory factors for analysis were obtained using validated clinical and psychosocial measures that participants completed via both interview and self-report. Regression analyses were conducted to determine which factors demonstrated the strongest associations with self-reported criminal charges. The results indicated that male gender, not being engaged in education, employment or training, frequent drug use and having experienced multiple adverse life events were related to police contact. This study indicates that the risk factors for offending commonly found in the general criminological literature are also those associated with offending in young people with mental health problems. The findings denote the need for a comprehensive therapeutic approach for such patients that accommodate both their clinical as well as criminogenic needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few studies have explored the cross-cultural utility of youth violence risk instruments. Moreover both the discrimination and calibration performance indicators of such instruments are rarely investigated. This study aimed to address both gaps in the literature by exploring the predictive validity of the YLS/CMI instrument for an Australian multi-ethnic cohort of young offenders in custody. The YLS/CMI total score was able to discriminate between re-offenders and non-reoffenders for the overall sample; however, a breakdown across ethnicity showed only strong effects for Australian English Speaking Background youth. Despite an inability to distinguish re-offenders from non-reoffenders for both Culturally and Linguistically Diverse and Indigenous youth, the instrument was able to accurately predict recidivism for high-risk youth for all ethnic groups. Findings highlight the importance of adopting both calibration and discrimination indicators when assessing predictive validity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As Australia becomes progressively more diverse, there are repeated calls for the Australian police service to mirror the multicultural complexion of society. These concerns have often culminated in affirmative action policies in other Western nations, some of which endeavour to artificially increase the numbers of minorities in law enforcement organisations. Though well intentioned, the ideas that underpin such policies often overlook the various reasons for minimal minority interest in a policing career. They also incorrectly assume that an increase in police diversity will automatically purge discrimination from the service and enhance community relations. This comment contends that a structurally accountable and regulated police service, combined with recruiting practices aimed at employing service-oriented, non-discriminatory officers regardless of ethnicity, engenders an inclusive, accepting and transparent police culture capable of dealing effectively with ethnically diverse populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Validation literature on the predictive ability of North American youth violence risk assessment inventories is developing across international settings. Yet no information exists on the utility of the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY) and the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV),]and little research has been conducted on the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI) across Australian young offender populations. The current study investigated the validity of the risk instruments on 213 young people in detention in Victoria, Australia. Findings indicated moderate to strong predictive accuracy for re-offence outcomes across the three inventories for the total sample and for males. The SAVRY was also able to identify the strength of protective factors for young female offenders. The inventories appear to be suitable prediction aides in the Australian youth justice context although further research is required to ascertain their applicability to Australian young female offenders. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In light of the growing number of youth violence instruments at a clinician’s disposal, this study sought to investigate the interchangeability of two widely validated adolescent violence risk instruments. The concurrent and incremental validity of the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY) and the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI) were evaluated in a young Australian custodial population. A significant degree of dimensional construct overlap between instruments was discovered. Both measures were similarly found to be moderately predictive of general and violent recidivism. Findings indicate that the instruments are potentially substitutable when used to evaluate future violence in these settings. Clinical implications for risk assessment practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]