ABSTRACT
Release decisions are important junctures within the criminal justice and forensic mental health systems during which determinations are made regarding a person's suitability for release into the community following a period of imprisonment or hospitalisation. This chapter recommends consideration of reliable and clinically significant change indices, structured measures of risk and protective factors to assist with the appraisal of change and risk for recidivism. A critical first task is determining what the parole board requires. Unless this is undertaken, there is a very real risk that the report writer will prepare a misguided report that is of little use. The presentation section should be structured like the psychiatric Mental Status Examination, which proceeds from a description of the person, through interpretation of mood and affect, and then to aspects of form and content of thought. The assessment of risk for future offending behaviour is a critical task.
