This meta‐analysis examined whether psychological treatments with adult violent offenders in correctional and forensic mental health settings are effective in preventing community recidivism and institutional (hospital/prison) misconduct. A total of 27 controlled studies containing 7,062 violent offenders were obtained via a comprehensive search strategy that yielded more than 13,000 records. Overall, treatments with violent offenders significantly reduced violent and general/nonviolent recidivism. The average effect for violent and general/nonviolent institutional misconduct did not attain statistical significance. Moderator analyses indicated numerous trends; however, most effects were nonsignificant following alpha‐level corrections. Findings regarding the impact of psychological treatments are promising and suggest that multimodal treatments are associated with the strongest treatment effects. However, the extant evidence base is limited by a small number of well‐controlled outcome studies and inconsistent/incomplete reporting of the evaluations. More high‐quality research is needed to investigate the effectiveness of violent offender treatment on outcomes and mechanisms of action, and to determine which treatment components are effective, in what combination, and for which offenders.

Psychopathy has traditionally been characterised as a disorder primarily of personality (particularly affective deficits) and, to a lesser extent, behaviour. Although often used interchangeably, the diagnostic constructs of psychopathy, antisocial personality disorder, and dissocial personality disorder are distinct. In this article, the relevant historical and contemporary literature concerning psychopathy is briefly reviewed. The diagnostic criteria for psychopathy, antisocial personality disorder, and dissocial personality disorder are compared. Consideration is given to the assessment, prevalence, and implications of psychopathy for violence risk and treatment efficacy. The DSM-IV-TR criteria for antisocial personality disorder, in particular, are largely behaviourally based. The ICD criteria for dissocial personality disorder, while paying more attention to affective deficits, also do not represent the broad personality and behavioural components of psychopathy. Since 1980, a great deal of research on these disorders has been conducted, using the Hare Psychopathy Checklist, Revised (PCL-R). The PCL-R assesses both personality (interpersonal and affective) and behavioural (lifestyle and antisocial) deficits. As such, the research and clinical implications of psychopathy, as operationalised by the PCL-R, cannot be readily extrapolated to the diagnoses of antisocial personality disorder and dissocial personality disorder. As currently construed, the diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder grossly over-identifies people, particularly those with offence histories, as meeting the criteria for the diagnosis. For example, research shows that between 50% and 80% of prisoners meet the criteria for a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder, yet only approximately 15% of prisoners would be expected to be psychopathic, as assessed by the PCL-R. As such, the characteristics and research findings drawn from the psychopathy research may not be relevant for those with antisocial or dissocial personality disorder.

Objective: To determine the rate and risk of suicide and accidental fatal drug overdose (ie, overdose deemed not to have been suicide) in individuals who had been medically ascertained as having been sexually abused during childhood. Design: A historical cohort linkage study of suicide and accidental drug‐induced death among victims of child sexual abuse (CSA). Setting and patients: Forensic medical records of 2759 victims of CSA who were assessed between 1964 and 1995 were obtained from the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine and linked with coronial data representing a follow‐up period of up to 44 years. Main outcome measures: Rates of suicide and accidental fatal drug overdose recorded in coronial databases between 1991 and 2008, and rates of psychiatric disorders and substance use recorded in public mental health databases. Results: Twenty‐one cases of fatal self‐harm were recorded. Relative risks for suicide and accidental fatal overdose among CSA victims, compared with age‐limited national data for the general population, were 18.09 (95% CI, 10.96–29.85; population‐attributable risk, 0.37%), and 49.22 (95% CI, 36.11–67.09; population‐attributable risk, 0.01%) respectively. Relative risks were higher for female victims. Similar to the general population, CSA victims who died as a result of self‐harm were predominantly aged in their 30s at time of death. Most had contact with the public mental health system and half were recorded as being diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. Conclusion: Our data highlight that CSA victims are at increased risk of suicide and accidental fatal drug overdose. CSA is a risk factor that mediates suicide and fatal overdose.

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Because most laws are enacted to regulate human behaviour, the law must make various assumptions about the way humans act and how those actions can be controlled. The social scientific knowledge and skills of psychologists, therefore, have many broad applications to the law. Indeed, law and psychology is a fast developing and important field. Unfortunately, the full potential of law and psychology has not yet been realized in Canada. In fact, there are no joint law and psychology graduate programmes in our country, and a majority of the current psychological research has been narrowly focussed on forensic issues. Hence, there is a great need for an increase in training and research in this area in Canada to address unique Canadian issues and to avoid continued dependence on American psycholegal scholars.

Approximately half of child sexual abuse (CSA) victims report sexual revictimization later in life; however, there is limited rigorous evidence concerning factors contributing to sexual and nonsexual forms of revictimization. This article investigates the relationships between CSA and a range of revictimization experiences. It also examines the role of other individual-level factors (demographics, CSA characteristics, psychiatric disorders) in the risk of revictimization. The study compares data from a prospective-longitudinal study of 2,759 Australian children (<17 years old) alleged to have experienced contact–CSA between 1964 and 1995, and a comparison group matched on sex and age. In each case, CSA was deemed likely to have occurred according to expert forensic medical opinion. Abused children and comparisons were followed to age 35 years on average, and their lifetime official crime victimization histories and public mental health service records were extracted from statewide population-level administrative databases. Relative to comparisons, CSA victims experienced significantly higher rates of revictimization, with marked elevations in odds for interpersonal revictimization (i.e., sexual assault, physical assault, threats of violence, and stalking). The CSA–physical assault relationship was moderated by sex, with a stronger association for female victims. Among CSA victims, victim sex, age at index abuse, and several psychiatric diagnostic categories were independently associated with revictimization risk, with different patterns of vulnerability emerging depending on the nature of revictimization. Overall, CSA victims are vulnerable to a range of revictimization experiences later in life. Findings have implications for the identification of particular groups of sexually abused children at heightened risk for revictimization and the role mental health services may play in mitigating risk.

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