ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the main contexts in which practitioner psychologists may be asked to provide reports and highlights the main similarities and differences between the prison and hospital environments. Forensic reporting in secure settings is comprised of two principal and primary contexts: Prisons and Secure Hospitals. All offenders placed in a secure hospital are detained under the Mental Health Act, which requires the person to be diagnosed as suffering from a 'mental disorder'. Although hospital settings may differ in the types of psychological assessments undertaken, there are, as in the case of prison assessments for the parole board, core themes. Diagnostic tools such as the International Personality Disorder Examination (IPDE) or the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM Disorders (SCID) can be used, albeit with caveat that diagnosis can have limited utility in understanding the individual. Within offenders with mental health problems, the meaning may be understood as part of a delusional belief system or in context of early traumatic experiences.
