Search results

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may have a detrimental impact on the individual’s ability to benefit from rehabilitative prison-based programmes, and studies have also found that there is an association between PTSD and higher rates of re-offending. Studies have also found that a significant number of cases of trauma and PTSD go undetected and therefore untreated in individuals who are incarcerated.

A literature review was carried out exploring studies that have investigated PTSD in incarcerated populations to identify current clinical considerations and recommendations.

This paper explores the key findings from the literature and highlights the important clinical implications and recommendations.

To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper focusing specifically on how the findings from the literature can inform clinical practice and also what factors need to be given greater consideration, going beyond the current systematic and literature reviews in the field.

There is increasing attention on investigating the association between fire-setting and psychopathology and also the degree to which fire-setting is a manifestation of mental disorder. Despite the actual prevalence of pyromania remaining elusive, there is growing evidence in the literature highlighting the higher rates of psychiatric mental health disorders in fire-setters, the most common being: schizophrenia, mood disorders (such as anxiety and depression), personality disorders, alcohol abuse and intellectual disability. The purpose of this paper is to highlight more recent work on prevalence, pathways and assessment in offenders who have engaged in fire-setting.

This paper provides an overview of the literature on fire-setting and psychopathology with a focus on prevalence, pathways and assessment.

This review identified key literature which has identified a variety of distinct pathways to fire-setting and also highlights two assessments/measures for fire-setters. Such information is useful for clinicians when they encounter this group of offenders.

This paper has identified in the literature and recommends the use of the “Fire Setting Scale” and the “Fire Proclivity Scale” in clinical and/or forensic practice.

There is a very real need for additional empirical research in this area. There is also a need for an increased awareness and understanding of how various types of psychopathy can contribute to fire-setting in both a legal and clinical context.

The purpose of this paper is to review available literature targeting the assessment and management of individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) admitted to high secure psychiatric care (HSPC). Key areas of examination include the prevalence of ASD in HSPC, how individuals with an ASD differ from other patient groups in clinical and cognitive characteristics, the views of staff regarding patients with an ASD, an exploration of the experiences and quality of life of patients with an ASD, as well as treatment and interventions.

A review of the published literature.

Although individuals with an ASD comprise a relatively small proportion of the total HSPC cohort, they appear to be over represented relative to the general population prevalence. Several research projects suggest that individuals with an ASD present with difficulties and needs different to other patient groups, as well as being viewed by staff as potentially vulnerable and requiring a different care approach. Individuals with an ASD report both positive and negative aspects to life in HSPC.

Suggestions are made with regard to how individuals with an ASD might be better managed in HSPC. Following the spirit of various pieces of government legislation such as the Autism Act (2009) and the Equalities Act (2010) the role of a specialist ASD HSPC service is proposed.

This paper provides a detailed review of the research to date exploring the assessment and management of individuals with an ASD detained in HSPC. It outlines key research findings, highlights limitations with it and provides a personal perspective on future research and clinical targets.

Patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) present with specific assessment, specific difficulties, needs and therapeutic issues and therefore are a challenging group for forensic services. Given the challenge that individuals with ASD present to forensic services, the suggested increase in the number of this group within this setting and the relatively little amount of research which suggests they face a number of difficulties within the prison environment, the purpose of this paper is to identify and review all the studies which have been carried out investigating any aspect of ASD in relation to secure hospital settings.

Seven internet-based bibliographic databases were used for the present review. The review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.

A total of 12 studies were included in this review; 3 looked at the prevalence of ASD in secure psychiatric hospitals. One study evaluated the clinical utility of the AQ screening tool to assess self-reported autistic traits in secure psychiatric settings. Three explored any type of characteristics of patients with ASD detained in secure psychiatric hospitals. One study investigated the experiences or quality of life of patients with an ASD detained in secure psychiatric care. Two studies investigated awareness, knowledge and/or views regarding patients with ASD held by staff working within secure psychiatric hospitals. Lastly, three studies (one of which was also included in the prevalence category above) looked at the effectiveness of interventions or treatment of patients with ASD in secure psychiatric hospitals. Clinical recommendations and future research directions are discussed.

To the author’s knowledge, this is the first review to explore what research has been carried out looking specifically at patients with ASD in relation to secure forensic settings.

The prevalence of individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) being associated with terroristic threats, lone wolf terrorism or affiliating with terroristic groups is rare. This paper aims to discuss this issue.

However, several cases are presented, where individuals with autism are involved in making a naïve, empty terroristic threat or uttering serious serial terroristic threats. Other cases are also presented of individuals being at risk for an abduction or being used by a terrorist group, and finally committing an act of domestic lone wolf terrorism.

Essential to the analysis was establishing a functional connection between autism-based deficits and the terroristic threats, terrorism, and when to not criminalize naïve, empty terroristic threats or acts.

Currently, tools available to law enforcement and prosecutors exploit the vulnerabilities and liabilities which arise as a result of group interactions, a “preventive” approach to terrorism that is not applicable to the solitary, “lone wolf” terrorist. There has been relatively little research (including case studies) examining individuals with ASD who engage in terrorism. For instance, when dealing with an individual with ASD who is charged with terrorism, it is crucial to consider how the diagnosis of autism may have presented as a contextual vulnerability, and to make sure that justice, rehabilitation and management, are informed by an understanding of the person’s diagnosis of ASD.

The purpose of this paper is to address the need for increased understanding, awareness and recognition of the autism female phenotype in terms of repetitive behaviours and restricted interests (RBRIs).

A systematic PRISMA review was conducted. The main aim of the present systematic review is to identify studies which have investigated RBRIs in females with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or the differences in RBRIs between males and females with ASD.

In sum, 19 relevant articles were identified: 5 studies found no significant evidence to support the notion of sex differences in RRBIs in ASD; 1 study did not report any differences in RRBIs between males and females with ASD; 12 studies found evidence that males with ASD had significantly more RRBIs compared to females with ASD; and, lastly, 1 study found that girls with ASD have features of RRBIs which are exhibited more compared to boys with ASD.

There is a real lack of in-depth knowledge and understanding of the female phenotype of ASD, and such lack of knowledge has a detrimental impact on the identification of autistic females and a lack of identification can have negative consequence. This is important to address in future research as it is well established that the earlier the diagnosis, the better the outcomes, due to the timely access to appropriate interventions.

The RBRIs exhibited in autistic females are not sufficiently captured by most currently diagnostic instruments. Clinicians are less likely to identify the RBRIs in females as they tend not to be the typical repetitive behaviours commonly associated with ASD. It has been recommended that clinicians consider “females as a whole” in terms of their clinical presentation and look for any indication of RBRIs, even repetitive interests which appear clinically innocuous.

There is relatively little research investigating RBRIs in autistic women and girls. There is a real need to highlight the importance of understanding and recognising how RBRIs can differ between males and females with ASD.

The purpose of this study is to explore the current literature which assesses the incidence of completed or attempted mass shooting events in which a female party acted either alone or as an accomplice; explore the involvement of women in the planning or execution of acts of terrorism; evaluate the pathology of women involved in these acts of extreme violence; highlight any gender-specific pathological and environmental risk factors associated with the planning or completion of the mass shooting, spree killing or terrorist attack events.

Using the 27-item preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses guidelines (Moher et al., 2009), the present systematic review explored peer-reviewed literature published between 1908 and September 2020 using six databases [SalfordUniversityJournals@Ovid; Journals@Ovid Full Text; APA PsycArticles Full Text; APA PsycExtra; APA PsycInfo; Ovid MEDLINE(R)], in addition to conducting a grey literature search on “Google Scholar” using specific search terms, predetermined following use of the patient/population, intervention, comparison framework.

Findings of the review did identify several distinguishing characteristics exclusive to women allied to terror organisations; including lower levels of extremism and religious ideology, lower age of radicalisation, higher levels of education than currently hypothesized and the significance of relational affiliation with extremist causes. Despite the synthesis of descriptive characterises being achieved, data relating to female mass shooters was scant and relied upon case study review and discussion. As a result, identification of precipitating psychopathological and environmental triggers was difficult, however, there does appear to be a higher proportion of female mass shooters targeting current or previous places of employment.

One of the potential limitations of this review is that some relevant studies were not identified during the search. The risk of this was minimised as much as possible by screening the reference section of relevant reviews and theoretical papers (which were identified in the search of the databases) for any potentially relevant studies that may have been missed. In addition, numerous permutations of the search criteria that were entered into the databases were also entered into “GoogleScholar”.

Current literature has highlighted that the age of radicalisation among women across both jihadi-inspired, right-wing and far-left extremist organisations are decreasing, with many new recruits being born after 1990 (Jacques and Taylor, 2012). This finding aids in identifying a target of entry to minimise the chance of radicalisation, through targeted educational training and anti-radicalisation programmes intervening in at risk groups at the correct time. However, further exploration will be necessary to identify specific risk factors prior to radicalisation in such groups.

There appears to be a large gap in literature quantitively assessing the rates of psychopathological variables among this demographic. When narrowing the lens further onto female mass shooters, empirical literature investigating even characteristic variables continues to evade the academic remit. Arguably this obstruction to the current understanding of female perpetrated violence, both in an organised terror and a mass shooter capacity, limits the ability to meaningfully evaluate whether previous models assessing risk among mass shooters is valid across genders.

Recent research has proposed a specific female phenotype within autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It suggests females exhibit differences in social communication styles with higher levels of camouflaging and compensatory strategies, as well as variance in restrictive repetitive behaviours (RRBs); however, many existing studies have been based on either small, disproportionate or child and adolescent samples, leaving questions about the specific phenotype. This study aims to explore the sex difference and phenotype in a clinic sample of individuals diagnosed with autism.

A service evaluation of sex/ gender differences on 150 historical ASD assessment reports (75 males, 75 females) using a 103-item questionnaire developed from a quantitative review of existing literature was undertaken.

Females camouflaged more significantly than males in five different areas (thinking how to act next, preparing conversation in advance, making lists of prompts/social responses, wearing a mask/acting, less monotone voice); however, these were not maintained in post-analysis correction.

This study points the evidence towards a different phenotype of Autism that is more common in women than men rather than a unique female phenotype.