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There is a considerable body of research on the assessment and prediction of aggression in psychiatric hospitals. A range of clinical and demographic characteristics associated with aggressive inpatients, such as young age and active symptoms of psychosis, have repeatedly been shown to contribute to aggression. Environmental factors have also been shown to be important. The study examined aggressive behaviours in an Australian forensic psychiatric hospital, using aggression‐specific recording instrumentation developed for the study. The purpose of the study was to compare results using aggression specific‐recording instrumentation with a previous study using retrospective methods relying on standard hospital incident forms, and to examine the relationship between type, direction and severity of aggression with the use of seclusion.In contrast with the results obtained in a previous study, staff rather than patients were more often the victims of both verbal and physical aggression, although patients were more frequently the victims of more severe forms of aggression. Patients were verbally and physically aggressive towards other patients at similar rates, although they were more frequently verbally, rather than physically, aggressive to staff. Acute wards recorded more aggression than rehabilitation wards. Males and females were aggressive at similar rates. A reduction in reported incidents of verbal and physical aggression, particularly against staff, occurred over the course of the study. Patients were secluded and incident forms were completed following approximately 30% of aggressive behaviours. Whether or not a patient was secluded and whether or not an incident form was completed depended on a range of factors, including the nature of the victim and the type and severity of the aggression.

Gang affiliation is strongly associated with youth crime. Although gang prevention, intervention and suppression programmes have been used to reduce affiliation and manage youth gang‐related activities, the effectiveness of these approaches is questionable. Further, comprehensive programmes supporting disengagement from gangs that also address the actual criminal behaviours of gang‐affiliated youth are rare. Arguably, these are necessary if the goal of intervention is to reduce criminal behaviour and support disengagement from gangs. This paper aims to address these issues.

This study sought to elucidate the criminogenic needs of gang‐ and nongang‐affiliated youth offenders (n=165) using two commonly used risk/need assessment instruments, the structured assessment of violence risk in youth (SAVRY) and the youth level of service/case management inventory (YLS/CMI).

The results revealed that gang‐ and nongang‐affiliated youth offenders had similar criminogenic need profiles except for one difference on an item measuring peer delinquency.

Gang‐affiliated youth offenders have comparable criminogenic needs to other youth offenders. These needs require intervention if a reduction in crime is desired, and since gang‐affiliated youth offenders are more likely to re‐offend than those that are nongang‐affiliated, these results also suggest that there may be additional needs, beyond those assessed by the SAVRY and YLS/CMI, which should be investigated and considered in rehabilitation programmes.

Few studies have directly compared the risk and needs profiles between gang‐ and nongang‐affiliated youth offenders using standardised risk assessment measures; this study may be relevant to professionals working in the juvenile justice and offender rehabilitation arenas.

Gang affiliation in youth is associated with increased criminal recidivism and an exaggeration of various criminogenic needs; affiliation also meets a variety of youth's personal and social needs. The purpose of this paper is to describe a study of the self-reported reasons for joining and leaving gangs, as well as the difficulties faced by Singaporean youth offenders in leaving youth gangs; it also explores the relationship between gang affiliation and family connectedness, educational attainment and early exposure to gangs.

This prospective study involved structured interviews and administration of questionnaires with 168 youth offenders in Singapore. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to examine the research questions.

Gang-affiliated youth cited a desire to establish and maintain friendships as their primary reasons for joining a gang. Youth who left their gang reported maturing beyond this need and the activities of their gang, particularly in light of the deleterious impact of their gang-related activities on familial relationships and employment and financial status. Early exposure to gangs through family and neighborhood influences, and poor educational engagement increased the likelihood that youth would join a gang.

This study highlights the need for clinicians and other service providers to better understand the universal human needs that are met through gang affiliation and the correlates of affiliation.

Few studies have directly examined the factors relating to gang affiliation in a non-western context; this study may be relevant to professionals working in the juvenile justice and offender rehabilitation arenas.

Within the past 20 years hiking and backpacking have enjoyed rapid growth among Americans as favorite outdoor activities. From 1965 to 1977 the number of hikers almost tripled, from 9.9 million to 28.1 million, while national forest visitor days among hikers and mountaineers increased from 4 million in 1966 to 11 million in 1979. Accompanying this growth in interest has been a boom in books about the sport. These include both “how‐to‐do‐it” volumes and guides to specific geographical areas. Each year brings another spate of books, yet to this compiler's knowledge no bibliography of hiking guides to the Rocky Mountains, one of North America's premier outdoor regions, has yet been attempted. This bibliography is an effort to correct that situation.

This paper describes the clinical and risk characteristics of patients admitted over the first four years of operation of the Dangerous and Severe Personality Disordered (DSPD) NHS pilot at the Peaks Unit, Rampton Secure Hospital. There were 124 referrals, mainly from Category A and B prisons, resulting in 68 DSPD admissions. Clinically, 29% scored 30 or more on the Psychopathy Checklist. The most common personality disorders were antisocial, borderline, paranoid and narcissistic. There is a high risk of violent/sexual recidivism as measured by the Static‐99, Violence Risk Scale, and the Historical, Clinical and Risk Management Scale.

This paper provides a clinical practice overview of the challenges that can arise when working with dangerous and severe personality‐disordered patients in a high secure hospital. Poor engagement and treatment readiness, mistrust, paranoia and dominant interpersonal styles are all clinical features that affect treatment delivery. The paper discusses the impact of these features, and suggests how clinicians can engage effectively with individuals who have personality disorders in regard to therapy in general.