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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]

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]

Pre-sentence reports (PSRs) provide important information about an individual's background and circumstances to assist judicial officers in the sentencing process. The present study analyzed PSRs for 63 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people sentenced by either an Indigenous sentencing court or a mainstream court in the Australian State of Victoria. Using natural language processing techniques, our analyses revealed few differences between PSRs conducted for each court. However, PSRs were found to predominantly feature key words that are risk-based, with mainstream court PSRs more negatively worded than the Indigenous sentencing court's PSRs. This may have been due to the inclusion of results from a risk and need assessment tool. Pro-social factors did comprise more than one third of extracted keywords, although the number of strength-based culture-related keywords, in particular, was low across PSRs in both courts. It is possible that courts may not be receiving all the information needed to promote individualized justice. [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]

Australia's fast-growing migrant population encompasses many groups from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. It is well documented that these groups experience varying pre- and post-migratory challenges. Despite this knowledge, little is known about the extent to which these groups experience and perceive violence and how or whether they seek assistance after such incidents. It is important to identify any potential discrepancies to ensure that services can provide the most targeted supports to victims. Data were collected from the 2016 Australian Bureau of Statistics Public Safety Survey. Using chi-square tests, prevalence, experiences, and perceptions of violence occurring after the age of 15, postincident support, reporting behaviors, and health variables related to violent incidents were compared across three cultural groups arranged by region of birth: born in Australia (BIA), born overseas in main English-speaking countries (BNMESC), and born overseas in non-English-speaking countries (BOC). BOC individuals reported much lower rates of violent victimization compared to BIA and BMSEC individuals. More than two-thirds of each cultural group did not report their most recent experience of violence to police. Violence was most commonly experienced at home, although a higher proportion of BIA individuals experienced violence at an entertainment venue, and a higher proportion of BOC individuals experienced violence outside (i.e., in the street). The contribution of Alcohol/Substances was much higher for BIA and BMESC compared to BOC individuals. BOC individuals experienced more anxiety post-incident, while more BIA individuals sustained physical injuries. A similar proportion of each group sought assistance post-incident, however, more BOC individuals had never told anyone about the incident. Perceptions of the violent incident were generally similar across groups, though fewer BOC individuals perceived the incident to be a crime. Some differences were apparent across cultural groups regarding the prevalence, experiences and reporting of violent incidents. Implications and future research directions are discussed within. [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]

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]

There has been an increasing interest in cross-cultural risk assessment over the past 5 years. Much of this has been driven by concerns that particular risk instruments may be biased against, or ill-suited to, non-White offending populations. A growing body of work has asserted that unique cultural-specific risk factors and experiences may not be adequately considered within current risk assessment frameworks which have led to calls to culturally alter/remodel risk instruments. While recognising the importance of generalizable risk instruments, this article outlines a number of realities that cross-cultural risk assessment researchers must contend with before embarking on projects to alter instruments. With specific regard to structured professional judgement risk instruments, the article notes that efforts to culturally amend instruments, could paradoxically reduce accuracy and increase bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]