Supported Employment for Justice-Involved Individuals with Mental Disorders

Individual placement and support (IPS) programs provide evidence-based employment help for people with serious mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Implementing IPS in a forensic mental health setting is a complex process.

Dr. Najat Khalifa discussed how a lack of employer interest, negative staff attitudes, and issues specific to justice involvement and mental health can hinder the successful implementation of such programs. He also covered that strong support from senior managers and outside agencies, good interdisciplinary collaboration, and clear communication about the benefits of IPS can aid success.

Feasible Risk Screening for Violence and Criminality

When evaluating a person’s risk and protective factors, it is not always possible to complete a comprehensive risk assessment. If so, risk screening is often more feasible. This support tool offers an initial evaluation of the most important risk and protective factors to determine a person’s level of concern for violence and criminal behaviour.

Improving Rehabilitation Outcomes for Older Adults in Ontario’s Forensic Psychiatry System While Maintaining Public Safety

Historical factors consistently outweighed dynamic and protective factors, but risk assessments for older adults need to be rebalanced.

How Virtual Reality Is Changing Medical Training

What if medical trainees could learn complex procedures or practice emergency responses in realistic simulations, without needing to perform them on actual patients or in risky clinical settings? Virtual reality (VR) is reshaping medical education by creating immersive, repeatable experiences that build technical skills, foster collaboration, and strengthen empathy. A recent commentary article by Dr. Mark Mohan Kaggwa, Precious Agboinghale, Diana Marginean, Dr. Gary Andrew Chaimowitz, and Dr. Andrew Toyin Olagunju explores how VR can transform medical training and prepare learners for complex, real-world scenarios.

How Reliable and Objective Are Forensic Evaluations?

Research on the tests and measures used in forensic mental health evaluations focuses mainly on their reliability and validity in a carefully controlled research environment. Fewer studies field-test their reliability in real-life cases with consequences for people. Fewer still look at the differences among the evaluators using these tools.

Recent research has found that the reliability of those evaluations is highest in controlled environments, decreases when used in the field, and varies among evaluators, particularly in adversarial settings.

Fortunately, you can improve the reliability of your forensic evaluations by taking comprehensive training and minimizing unconscious biases.

Dangerous People and Risky Solutions

Over the years, violence risk assessment has evolved from descriptive, unstructured clinical judgment to predictive, actuarial risk assessment formulas and now to explanatory, structured professional judgment that helps clinicians formulate risk management safety plans.

During the International Forensic Psychiatry Lecture Series, Dr. Michael Doyle discussed the three generations of violent risk assessments and his recommendations for forensic mental health professionals.

Medical Assistance in Dying for People in Prison

What happens when a person in prison has a terminal illness but is denied compassionate release? What if they request medical assistance in dying (MAiD) because they want to escape prison tedium, avoid a life or indeterminate sentence, or save taxpayers money?

MAiD in prisons faces many ethical questions:

Do people in prison know which staff they can safely ask about MAiD without risking solitary confinement or psychiatric lockup?

Do they really have the autonomy to choose when and where they die?

Can MAiD follow guidelines, federal legislation, and international human rights, or does the setting prevent that?

Interactions with an NCR Accused: Lessons from a Victim and a City that Responded

In 1997, Dr. Lori Triano-Antidormi’s 2-year-old son, Zachary, was playing outside with his babysitter’s daughter. A neighbour came outside with a kitchen knife and stabbed him multiple times, killing him.

The neighbour’s delusions led her to believe that the soul of her dead son was mistakenly reborn in Zachary. She believed she needed to stab Zachary to release her son’s soul, so it could be properly reborn in her daughter.

A trial and inquest took place over the next two years. The neighbour was found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder.

Dr. Triano-Antidormi shared her personal story of grief and trauma from her son’s murder to support positive change in her community and forensic psychiatry.

Microcosms of violence among street gang members: Social contagion, propensity to violence, and gang embeddedness

Violence in gangs doesn’t affect everyone the same way. It clusters around small groups of people who are closely connected to each other and to violent behaviour. Gang members who act violently, spend time with violent peers, or know people who have been victimized have a much higher risk of being victims of violence themselves. In contrast, gang members who avoid violence and build nonviolent connections are less likely to be victimized.

Health Human Resources in Forensic Psychiatry: Current Challenges and Future Directions

Autonomy, flexibility, meaningful work, and feeling valued draw residents into forensic psychiatry and help keep professionals in the field. However, when these are missing, or there is a heavy workload, lack of administrative support, and ineffective leadership, staff experience burnout and leave the field. When that happens, the remaining staff are left with even heavier workloads and a lack of control.