Forensic mental health staff trial aims to assist EDs
South Australia will trial a plan to employ forensic mental health staff to better manage people in the state’s court system, in a move designed to alleviate demand on public hospital emergency departments. The 12-month pilot project, which has been based on the introduction of Court Liaison Services in many states across Australia, and in [...]
Experts call for youth forensic mental health unit
A secure forensic mental health facility for young Victorians is urgently needed to adequately treat the state’s most psychologically troubled offenders, juvenile justice workers say. Following multiple recent examples of self-harm by several young people in custody, the mental health professionals looking after detainees say something needs to be done, now. ”The seriously unwell [...]
Mental health issues pushing up juvenile detention rates
PAIGE TAYLOR From:The Australian AN extraordinary level of untreated mental illness among child prisoners is central to Western Australia’s burgeoning juvenile detention system, according to the state’s Children’s Commissioner Michelle Scott. Ms Scott yesterday described psychiatric and psychological services inside the state’s juvenile detention system as negligible, despite evidence collected in other jurisdictions showing that up [...]
Calls for better mental health treatment
THIRTY-four Queenslanders have been murdered by people suffering an acute mental illness in the past decade, sparking calls for more resources to treat patients. Former Australian of the Year and mental health advocate Pat McGorry said some victims may be alive today if their killers had received appropriate treatment. Queensland’s Mental Health Court annual report [...]
Q&A: Criminologist Adrian Raine on The Biology of Violence
Violent behavior is a complex product of biology and upbringing, and when that violence involves murder and destruction to the extent that erupted at the Boston Marathon, the questions about what drives such aggression become all the more urgent. Criminologist Adrian Raine, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, has spent more than 35 years [...]
Mental health beds plan change
Chief Minister Katy Gallagher says the changes to the ACT government’s plans for a forensic mental health facility are “the best outcome” for patients and staff. Photo: Jay Cronan The ACT government is planning a larger forensic mental health facility after a review of its proposal for a 15-bed service. And the government is shelving [...]
Society for Police & Criminal Psychology 2013 Annual Conference
September 25 – 28, 2013 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada The Society for Police Criminal Psychology is a multi-disciplinary group that encourages the scientific study of the criminal justice system and the application of behavioral science knowledge to problems in criminal justice, including law enforcement, judicial, and corrections elements. Consequently, it solicits participation from psychologists, psychiatrists, lawyers, [...]
Brother accused of child abuse left unsupervised
Click to play video EIGHT years ago, the mental health of the St John of God brother William Lebler was considered so poor he had to keep a card containing important information handy. His ”early stage dementia” and ”borderline mental retardation” was presented as so bad that a magistrate released him from having to face [...]
Working to identify early warning signs in juvenile offenders
Red flags are easy to recognize in the days following a tragic event like a mass shooting. That’s why a group of Iowa State researchers is working to identify those early warning signs in juvenile offenders before they turn into a pattern of criminal behavior. It is often difficult for people to understand what leads [...]
Study examines link between incarceration and psychiatric disorders
Psychiatric disorders are prevalent among current and former inmates of correctional institutions, but what has been less clear is whether incarceration causes these disorders or, alternatively, whether inmates have these problems before they enter prison. A study co-authored by Jason Schnittker, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, shows that many of [...]
