Prediction of institutional aggression among personality disordered forensic patients using actuarial and structured clinical risk assessment tools: prospective evaluation of the HCR-20, VRS,Static-99, and Risk Matrix 2000

A minority of men and women with intellectual disabilities at times engage in, and are suspected, or convicted, of illegal activity. Recent policy developments in England and Wales emphasise the need to respond appropriately to putative offending risk through the provision of safe and effective community management, treatment, and support services. In line with these concerns, research has focused increasingly on testing the utility of an evolving variety of risk assessment procedures. Here, the authors set out to challenge the repertoire of a number of prominent and/or recently developed risk assessment procedures and the scope of an associated research literature, on the basis that contextual risk factors are receiving insufficient attention in relation to offending among people with intellectual disabilities. Drawing on the wider criminological literature, a novel study is reported that compares key contemporary proximal social and environmental circumstances in the lives of offenders and non-offenders with intellectual disabilities. A contextual risk score is derived, providing statistical support for increased consideration of the impact of relevant social and environmental circumstances. Increased emphasis on key contextual risk factors is recommended to strengthen community service responses to offenders with intellectual disabilities.     

Is Teaching Negotiation Too Easy,Too Hard,or Both?

Teaching negotiation is easy because teachers and students find the topic fun, interesting, and relevant, which makes most negotiation courses well received. At the same time, teachers may underestimate the challenges in getting their students to think and behave differently in negotiation, which can make it difficult to teach it well. The author examines three teaching challenges in particular: dealing with ethical issues, addressing power imbalances (including those implicated by gender and racial differences), and putting theory into practice in the form of real-world behavior change. This piece is an adaptation of the keynote address that the author delivered on November 14, 2005 at the PON-IRENE conference, New Trends in Negotiation Teaching: Toward a Transatlantic Network , in Cergy, France.