Optimizing Mental Health Care for People in Prison

In recent years, concerns have been raised about the availability of mental health care in prisons. While there are substantial international variations in prison populations, mental disorders are consistently common. There are limited resources to address mental health and criminological needs, and a fundamental change in prison mental health care is needed.

The Paradox of Mental Health Issues and Risk of Terrorism

Research shows mental health can both increase susceptibility to terrorist radicalization and decrease the risk of terrorism offences. At the same time, the most concerning offence characteristics of terrorism — potential violence and attack planning — are independent of mental health status. It neither increases nor decreases the risk assessments of individuals convicted of terrorism.

Terrorism and Mental Health

This issue of the International Journal of Risk and Recovery presents three of four papers that delve into key issues on the categorization of terrorism, psychiatric assessment of individuals involved in terrorism, ethical issues in the assessment of those involved in terrorism, and preventive and rehabilitative approaches. The fourth paper was published in the previous issue. The themes are diverse though equally important, and the authors offer unique insights into the psycho-social, geopolitical, and ideological underpinnings of terrorism.

Terrorism Typologies and Considerations for Clinical Practice in Psychiatry

Typology development entails systematically clustering related attributes among individuals or groups to examine trends that might explain complex human interactions and behaviours. This approach has demonstrated its usefulness in behavioural sciences with important implications for policy, etiology, course, and treatment. Our review article provides an overview of terrorism typologies and examines their implications for clinical practice. We argue that the theoretical nature and heterogeneity of existing terrorism typologies limit their clinical usefulness, highlighting the need to develop empirically driven typologies.

Shifts in the Significant Risk Threshold

This Editorial addresses the concept of significant threat pertaining to Canadian law.

Psychiatric admissions: The first law in Saudi Arabia

The Mental Health Care Law in Saudi Arabia was passed in 2014. This paper focuses on the articles of the law that are related to psychiatric admissions both voluntary and involuntary. The mental health-care law is similar to the laws in western countries. However, these articles and subsections are curtailed to the limited health systems and to the local culture. As the mental health-care system and culture evolves, the mental health-care law will be modified in the future.