Abstract
BackgroundThe link between schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) and violence is a core issue for most forensic psychiatric services. However, the drivers of violence in this population remain unclear, and, to date tools to predict violence risk have a range of limitations. Perhaps because of this uncertainty about the nature of violence risk, treatment programmes and care pathways for mentally disordered offenders vary substantially across the European Union, and differences in legal and policy frameworks are highly relevant.MethodsThe three-year EU-VIORMED project (Grant Number PP-2-3-2016, November 2017–October 2020) involves forensic centres in Italy, Austria, Germany, Poland, and the U.K. It aims to: (a) identify and compare violence risk factors, clinical needs, and decision making capacity in violent (N = 200, “cases”) and nonviolent patients with SSD (N = 200; “controls”) using a case-control design; (b) test the predictive validity of the HCR-20v3, OxMIS and FoVOx among cases alone (N = 200), using a prospective cohort study; and (c) compare forensic-psychiatric care pathways across the EU, in a continent wide service mapping study.DiscussionData collection started in September 2018 and continues. By September 2019, 333 participants have been enrolled (201 cases and 132 controls were recruited). Experts from 23 countries provided data for the service mapping exercise.Trial registrationRetrospectively registered on January 2, 2019 as researchregistry4604 January 2, 2019
Highlights
The link between schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) and violence is a core issue for most forensic psychiatric services
Recent meta-analyses have demonstrated that schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) are associated with a heightened risk of violent offending [1]: some studies have estimated that up to 20% of patients with schizophrenia in the community will behave violently in a sixmonth period [2]
One recent study has suggested that the relationship between cognition and violence is largely mediated by social cognition deficits that may be independent of symptom severity [17]
Summary
The link between schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) and violence is a core issue for most forensic psychiatric services. The drivers of violence in this population remain unclear, and, to date tools to predict violence risk have a range of limitations Perhaps because of this uncertainty about the nature of violence risk, treatment programmes and care pathways for mentally disordered offenders vary substantially across the European Union, and differences in legal and policy frameworks are highly relevant. Recent meta-analyses have demonstrated that schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) are associated with a heightened risk of violent offending [1]: some studies have estimated that up to 20% of patients with schizophrenia in the community will behave violently in a sixmonth period [2]. It has been suggested that there is a relationship between violence and hostile and externalizing attributional biases, whereby individuals with severe mental disorders attribute hostile intent to others are more likely to behave violently [10, 21]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
