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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]

Objective: With increasing levels of cultural diversity, it is important that mental health services are relevant and accessible to new migrant populations. Efforts have been made to bring attention to the unique experiences and needs of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) sub-groups in clinical settings, resulting in various frameworks and professional development workshops. While some of these strategies have raised awareness and persuaded service providers to accommodate different populations, few are effective and genuinely impact consumer outcomes. Conclusion: This paper proposes an integrated cross-cultural assessment framework comprising both clinical and organisational components to improve cross-cultural clinical encounters and consumer satisfaction. The framework underscores the importance of the therapeutic alliance through the building of rapport and trust. Moreover, the framework is designed to be organisationally feasible, and locally and practically oriented. [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]

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]

Objective: A key challenge facing justice health service providers is addressing and treating the high rates of mental illness among offenders. It is well documented that rates of mental illness are substantially higher within prison populations compared to the general population. As such, the need to provide ongoing treatment to prisoners experiencing mental health issues is of fundamental importance. Prisoners experiencing mental health disorders are more likely to have poorer social outcomes on release, including a greater likelihood of recidivism and poorer health outcomes. The growing numbers of justice-involved individuals from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds signal the need for justice systems to adapt to the changing demographic.Conclusions: In this commentary, we argue that greater efforts to explore the nature and prevalence of mental illness among CALD groups in custody, where such concerns are often intertwined with additional complex personal, environmental and historical criminogenic risk factors, are desperately needed to improve system responses and reduce recidivism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the intersection between Indigenous status, gender, and age in relation to law enforcement responses to offending in 53,632 first-time juvenile offenders in Australia. Findings demonstrated that Indigenous offenders were more likely to receive a court summons (rather than diversionary alternative) following their first offense compared with non-Indigenous offenders when controlling for gender, age, and the nature and number of charges processed at first offense. No interactions were observed between Indigenous status, age, and gender. Indigenous status predicted receiving a court summons; however, the strength of this relationship diminished when offenders had one-to-two violent charges and when offenders' first contact occurred after the commencement of the Young Offenders Act 1997 (NSW), which formalized police responses to diversion. Stronger efforts are needed to prevent initial justice system contact and formal processing among Indigenous youth with a focus on community-led early intervention strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study identified the presence of psychopathy (as measured by the PCL-R/PCL:SV instruments) and antisocial personality disorder (APD) and their relationship with future reconviction in an Australian forensic sample ( N = 136) of patients with a mental disorder. Patients were tracked for over 4 years postrelease to determine associations between a diagnosis of APD/psychopathy and reoffense. Patients with higher psychopathy scores were found to have an increased likelihood of reincarceration, a higher rate of reconviction, and were reconvicted earlier compared with patients with lower psychopathy scores. Patients with APD were more likely to be reconvicted and reincarcerated during the follow-up period than patients without an APD diagnosis. Despite demonstrating associations with general reconviction, the PCL instruments did not exhibit statistically significant relationships with violence. Implications for the clinical identification of personality disordered patients in forensic settings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study sought to ascertain the prevalence of protective factors and association with client risk level and future offending in a sample of 177 Australian youth in detention. The Protective Domain on the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY) instrument was utilized to identify protective items in the cohort. The mean number of protective factors for the entire sample was low (under two) with higher risk clients averaging less than one current protective item. Although the number of protective factors engendered criminal desistance, this effect did not extend to the highest risk young offenders. Clients who re-offended were significantly less likely to present with five out of the six SAVRY protective items. In addition, pro-social involvement and school engagement had the strongest associations with non re-offense. Clinical implications for client risk management are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article outlines the current utility of Indigenous culturally specific risk factors for violence and the ramifications for cross-cultural risk prediction. The Indigenous culturally specific violence risk factor literature has provided a rich body of contextual information outlining Indigenous patterns of criminal behaviour. This information has the capacity to facilitate offender responsivity and treatment targets in addition to assisting clinicians identify the presence of risk markers among Indigenous clients. However, if intended for inclusion in risk prediction models, culturally specific risk items then require further quantitative analysis to establish robust associations and probability estimates for recidivistic outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Violence risk assessment assumes a critical medico-legal role addressing offender/patient needs and informing forensic mental health decision making. Yet questions remain over the cross-cultural applicability of such measures. In their current form, violence risk instruments may not reflect the unique life and cultural experiences of Indigenous Australians rendering them culturally unsafe.Conclusions: To realize equitable forensic assessment, it is necessary to ascertain whether there are cultural differences across risk factors for violence and that risk instruments are validated as culturally appropriate. Greater cross-cultural rigour in forensic mental health risk assessment, research and practice is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses how prisons address the mental health needs of indigenous prisoners. The author cites specific reference of a report "Keeping Our Mob Healthy In and Out of Prison." The author talks about aboriginal mental health initiatives. The author also mentions the emergence of Reconciliation Action Plans and Aboriginal health frameworks.