There has been a great deal of debate about illicit drugs in recent weeks. Just before Christmas, we had the House Affairs Committee report, which highlighted the downward trend in recorded drug use over recent years. Earlier this week the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Drug Policy Reform published their report on legal highs, which recommended a [read the full story…]
The excellent Time to Change initiative is quick to point out that people with mental health problems are more likely to be the victims of violence than the perpetrators. However, it remains the case that certain mental health conditions are more frequently associated with antisocial behaviour and violence than others. Personality disorders (PD) are one [read the full story…]
Risk assessment tools are widely used in psychiatric hospitals and criminal justice systems to help predict violent behaviour and inform sentencing and release decisions. Yet their predictive accuracy remains uncertain and expert opinion is divided, according to a new systematic review published in the BMJ. An international team of researchers led by Seena Fazel from [read the full story…]
This paper describes a case study of a young man with Asperger syndrome who set a fire in his home. The authors point out that offences may be committed by people with autistic spectrum disorders because of deficits in social skills, co-morbid mental health problems or abuse of drugs and alcohol. There may also be [read the full story…]
Unsurprisingly, research shows that people who have deviant sexual preferences are more likely to commit sexual offences, so it makes sense that if we can more accurately identify deviant sexual preferences, we will be able to reduce crimes of this nature. Phallometry (also known as penile plethysmography or phallometric assessment) involves placing a device around [read the full story…]
The UK Adult ADHD Network has published a consensus statement on the identification and management of ADHD offenders within the criminal justice system (CJS). The document claims that ADHD is currently not on the criminal justice agenda, which is a concern given the disproportionately high rates of ADHD offenders compared with the normal population and [read the full story…]
This new best practice guidance from the Department of Health details the procedure for transferring to and from hospital (under the Mental Health Act 1983 in England) any child or young person who is: detained in custody in pursuance of any sentence or order for detention (by a court in criminal proceedings); or remanded in custody [read the full story…]
Existing studies have identified associations between psychosis and serious crimes such as homicide, but to date it has been unclear to what extent psychotic disorders are associated with arson (the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to buildings or the natural environment). This study conducted by researchers at Oxford University used data from the Swedish [read the full story…]
