ABSTRACT
This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the first part of this book. The part considers the issues and developing practice in relation to assessing violence risk in youth; in particular the development and application of the Violence Risk Scale-Youth Version (VRS-YV), as well as other salient versions of structured professional judgements in the context of the risk need responsivity model. It discusses the particular issues that forensic psychologists face in understanding and working with issues central to female prisoners and in particular Indigenous groups within that population. The part explores current practice, theory and approaches to prisoners with intellectual and developmental disorders. These aspects of prisoner presentation are receiving increasing international recognition in terms of their prevalence and complexity. The part also considers issues arising widely with the assessment of offenders who are experiencing symptoms of mental illness.
