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Forensic mental health care is a unique field that poses complex demands on professionals. Forensic vigilance is a hypothesized specialty of forensic mental health professionals, allowing them to meet the complex demands of working in forensic settings. Forensic vigilance consists of theoretical and experiential knowledge of mental disorders, theory of offending behavior, the criminal history of patients and environmental observations and clinical judgment. Although this concept has only been recently described and defined, it is still unknown which professional and individual factors are related to forensic vigilance, and if forensic vigilance is related to job stress and burnout symptoms. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relation between forensic vigilance and several professional and individual factors.

The current study investigated whether forensic vigilance is predicted by years of work experience and the Big Five personality traits by means of an online survey among forensic mental health professionals and whether forensic vigilance is associated with work-related stress, burnout and workplace satisfaction.

The 283 forensic mental health professionals who responded to the survey indicated that forensic work experience, but not general experience, positively predicted forensic vigilance. Forensic vigilance was negatively associated with Neuroticism and positively associated with Openness to experience and Conscientiousness. Forensic vigilance did not predict work-related stress, burnout symptoms and workplace satisfaction. Personal accomplishment was positively related to forensic vigilance.

Findings of the present study increase the understanding of the construct of forensic vigilance. The findings presented here highlight the importance of differences between professionals in terms of experience and personality. Training programs should capitalize on experience, while taking personality differences in consideration. Personality differences are relevant in hiring policies and team composition. Finally, to reduce workplace-related stress and burnout symptoms, institutions should consider known factors that influence work-related symptoms (e.g. experienced autonomy) rather than forensic vigilance.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study represents the first effort to study forensic vigilance in relation to personality, work experience and experienced workplace-related stress and satisfaction.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the training forensic mental health professionals in the USA receive on intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). Given the difficulties obtaining accurate prevalence rates of these disabilities in criminal justice settings, it is important to understand how these disabilities are being evaluated and the level of understanding about these disabilities evaluators hold.

An online survey was distributed to forensic mental health professionals in the USA that included questions on training opportunities in graduate education, post-graduate forensic training, and professional training opportunities. Participants were also asked about their current work, how they assess I/DD, and their estimates on the percentage of cases they see with I/DD.

Respondents reported some training that focused heavily on assessment methods. Most respondents estimated between 5 and 25 percent of their cases involving I/DD and reported using a wide range of assessment methods. Finally, many respondents reporting more training needed in this area.

More training is needed for forensic mental health professionals on identifying I/DD. Additionally, professional guidelines on what tools and methods to rely on to identify these disabilities is paramount to ensure homogeneity of methods and, thus, better estimates of overall prevalence in criminal justice settings.

This is the first assessment focused on how forensic mental health professionals are trained to identify I/DD and can be used to improve identification of I/DD in forensic settings.

Peer support workers (PSWs) are individuals with lived experience of mental health difficulties, who apply this to support and inspire others in their recovery. The role of PSWs is relatively new within the forensic health-care service. Although there has been little time for these roles to develop, PSWs have successfully integrated into community teams. Despite perceived benefits of having these workers within a multi-disciplinary team (MDT), the views held by mental health professionals in forensic services have not yet been studied. The purpose of this research is to develop an understanding of the experiences of staff working with PSWs in a community forensic team and the impact this has on them.

Structured, individual interviews were conducted with eight mental health professionals, from a variety of disciplines, used across two community teams within forensic services. The data was examined according to thematic analysis.

The data indicated general positive attitudes held by professionals surrounding the working with PSWs, including the themes “providing alternative perspectives”, “unique relationships” and “hope”. Yet, themes concerned around “role ambiguity”, “boundaries” and “the impact on PSWs” also arose.

This study provides insight into the attitudes held by members of an MDT of working with PSWs. Although seemingly positive, the lack of clarity around the role of the PSW is problematic.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to explore the employment of PSWs in the context of UK forensic settings, highlighting the benefits and challenges of such from the perspective of staff.

Forensic vigilance is a central competency that forensic professionals need to meet the complex demands of working in forensic settings. Until recently, no instrument for forensic vigilance was available. This study aims to develop a self-assessment tool of forensic vigilance for individuals and teams working in forensic settings, and investigated its psychometric properties.

The Forensic Vigilance Estimate (FVE) was presented to 367 forensic psychiatric professionals and 94 non-forensic psychiatric professionals by means of an online survey. Professionals rated themselves on 15 aspects of forensic vigilance.

The results indicated that the FVE had good psychometric properties, reflected by a good to excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s α of 0.903), a good split-half reliability (0.884) and good test–retest reliability (0.809). The factor structure of the FVE was captured by a one-factor model (RMSEA 0.09, SRMR 0.05, TLI 0.91 and CFI 0.92). Proportion of explained variance was 52%. Forensic professionals scored significantly higher than non-forensic professionals on the FVE (t(459) = 3.848, p = 0.002).

These results suggest that the FVE may reliably be used for research purposes, e.g. to study the effects of targeted training or intervention or increasing work experience on forensic vigilance or to study which factors influence forensic vigilance.

This study represents the first attempt to capture forensic vigilance with a measuring instrument.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the prevalence of stress and burnout among forensic mental health (FMH) professionals.

A systematic review of the available literature accessed by relevant databases was conducted.

This study concluded that FMH suffer from moderate levels of both stress and burnout. There is insufficient evidence to establish that they suffer from higher levels of stress than their non-forensic colleagues. Interventions such as psychosocial intervention training have been reported to demonstrate an improvement in staff knowledge and attitudes towards patients, whilst reducing burnout.

Stress in FMH is a cause of concern. Conclusions drawn are applicable only to nursing staff as other professions were not adequately represented. As most studies used the burnout scores, results were directly comparable. Further research is needed to fully evaluate stress and burnout in professionals who work within FMH settings.

High levels of stress and burnout have negative effects on an individual’s ability to work and subsequently there is a financial and also moral incentive for the management of health service workforces to intervene. This study highlights that FMH, as a population, are at risk.

Empirical evidence suggests that a complex relationship exists between substance misuse, mental illness and violence in forensic populations. Therefore, effective treatment and intervention is essential in order for this population to live a life free from substance use and offending behaviour. This paper discusses the literature related to interventions for dual diagnosis and how this may be related to mentally disordered offenders. The paper also highlights paucities in the literature where further research is needed to inform practice, and concludes with current recommendations for best practice.

Substance misuse that is co‐morbid with mental disorder may increase the risk of crime, particularly of a violent nature. It is therefore essential that dual‐diagnosis patients in forensic services receive adequate intervention and treatment to minimise future substance use and potential for criminal behaviour. One such intervention is the Relapse Prevention Programme (Saying No; Coping and Social Skills Programme) developed in a high secure forensic hospital. An evaluation of the programme was conducted, with pre‐ and post‐ intervention using four measures, the Drug Taking Confidence Questionnaire (DTCQ), the Multidimensional Locus of Control Questionnaire, the Stages of Change Questionnaire and the Rosenberg Self‐Esteem Scale, with 83 male participants who had completed the programme. Results indicate that there was significant change in the DTCQ post‐treatment while no other measures yielded a statistically significant result. Possible reasons, implication for practice and limitations of the current study are discussed.

There is substantial evidence that young people moving from child and adolescent mental health services to adult services are more likely to experience poor transitions. However, little is known about the care pathways of young people transitioning from forensic services. This retrospective case note review sought to examine the clinical characteristics, transition pathways and psychosocial indicators of transition outcomes amongst young people in forensic medium secure services discharged to adult services.

The electronic records of 32 young people, who transitioned from six adolescent medium secure units in England to adult services between May 2015 and June 2016, were examined.

Approximately 65% of young people were between 18 and 19 years at the time of transition and the average waiting time from referral to discharge was six months. A total of 63% young people transitioned to community placements and adult medium secure services. Four pathways describing the journey into and out of adolescent medium secure services were identified in a subsample of 12 young people. A total of 25% young people with neurodevelopmental problems moved to specialist services.

The results suggest that diagnosis, severity of offence and clinical background are associated with transition pathway. Promoting a person-centred approach and gradual independence of the young person may improve current practice.

These results inform existing policy and clinical practice in an effort to reform transition guidelines around young people’s needs during transition times. Further studies in adolescent forensic services are needed to understand complex neurodevelopmental problems and comorbidities.

Adopting a person-environment (P-E) fit approach, the purpose of this paper is to examine the role of emotional labour, segmentation/integration and social support in the development of work-home conflict.

Mental health professionals (n=118) completed the work-home conflict and home-work conflict scales (Netemeyer et al., 1996), the segmentation preferences and supplies scales (Kreiner, 2006) and the Mann Emotion Requirements Inventory (Mann, 1999). A social support checklist was also developed to assess the perceived value of work and non-work sources of support.

Contrary to expectation, emotional labour was associated with lower levels of work-home conflict. There was no evidence found for the relevance of a P-E fit approach, rather the results indicated that the perception that the organisation supports the separation of work and home is sufficient in ameliorating work-home conflict. In addition, work-based support was found to reduce work-home conflict.

The importance of support within the work environment as a way of reducing work-home conflict has been highlighted. That is, providing a safe environment to discuss anxieties and concerns is a fundamental factor when developing organisational support structure. The importance of providing professionals with choice regarding their preference to segment or integrate work and home has also been highlighted. Based on the contradictory findings with regards to emotional labour and work-home conflict, future research should aim to further examine this relationship within a forensic psychiatric setting.

This is the first research paper to explore the role of emotional labour, segmentation/integration and social support in the development of work-home conflict.

The purpose of this paper is to establish staff and patient opinions on the acceptability, feasibility, and utility of using the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluations – Outcome Measure (CORE‐OM) in secure hospitals.

Patients and nurses (male patients and their key workers) from high, medium and low secure hospitals participated in semi‐structured interviews after completing CORE‐OM or CORE‐OM (SV).

Template themes were acceptability, feasibility, relevance, suitability, changes to treatment, and understanding. Findings suggest that the CORE‐OM is acceptable and potentially useful in secure settings.

This paper suggests that the CORE‐OM is acceptable to patients and staff in secure settings and appears to be a feasible measure for such settings. Further research and accumulation of a referential database of item scores is needed for PROMS, including the CORE‐OM, to be fully useful in secure settings.

This paper will be of use to clinicians working with forensic mental health settings. It is one of only two papers which investigate the use of the CORE‐OM in forensic settings.