Research Priority 5

Improving how we prevent inpatient aggression and violence and reduce restrictive intervention use

Forensicare prioritises research that:

• improves safety in delivery of forensic mental health services
• evidences best practice approaches to least restrictive care that doesn’t compromise safety or access to treatment.

(Use ctrl f to search for key words or authors.)

Ameel, M., Talja, T., Varpula, J., Maguire, T., Daffern, M., Blomqvist, S., & Lantta, T. (2026). A Mixed Methods Feasibility Study of a Clinical Decision Support System Designed to Assess Risk for Aggression and Prevent Aggressive Behaviour. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 35(3). https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.70281

Day, A., Tamatea, A. J., Butcher, L., Daffern, M., Cooke, D., & Polaschek, D. L. L. (2026). “Taller Fences or Longer Tables”: Should We Rely on Dynamic Security to Prevent Prison Violence? The Prison Journal, 106(2), 157–181. https://doi.org/10.1177/00328855251413754

Anttila, M. J., Ameel, M. K., Rautiainen, T., Anttila, J., Maguire, T., Daffern, M., & Lantta, T. (2025). Co-Design in the Adaptation of a Clinical Decision Support System to Aid Violence Risk Assessment and Management: A Case Study. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 32(6), 1314–1324. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpm.70023

Batastini, A. B., Singer, J., Trood, M. D., Diehl, K. J., Gray, S., & Morgan, R. D. (2025). A systematic review of therapeutic alternatives to segregation placement: Progress toward rehabilitative goals or a euphemistic rebranding? Journal of Criminal Justice, 99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2025.102468

Dunne, A. L., Simmons, M., Papalia, N., Spivak, B., Ruffles, J., Ogloff, J. R. P., & Fullam, R. (2025). Validity of the LSI-R:SV, LS/RNR and VRS risk assessment instruments in a sample of male serious violent offenders in Australia. Psychology, Crime and Law. https://doi.org/10.1080/1068316X.2025.2470272

Maguire, T., Dunn, C., Furness, T., Carroll, A., & Daffern, M. (2025). Exploring the Utility of the Model for Understanding Inpatient Aggression for General Mental Health Settings. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 34(2). https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.70045

Maguire, T., McKenna, B., Furness, T., & Daffern, M. (2025). Nurses and Consumer Consultants Perspectives on the Implementation of a Novel Violence Risk Assessment and Intervention Framework. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 34(5). https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.70134

Maguire, T., Young, M., Najda, M., Jackson, H., Ryan, J., Furness, T., & McKenna, B. (2025). Developing Safewards Secure for Mental Health Prison Units Using a Nominal Group Technique. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 34(3). https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.70036

Simmons, M., Maguire, T., & Daffern, M. (2025). Exploring Individual’s Dynamic of Appraisal of Situational Aggression Average Score, Nursing Intervention and the Impact on Aggression. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 32(2), 310–320. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpm.13110

Sondhu, M. K. (2025). Exploring the Delivery of a Violence Intervention Program in a Forensic Mental Health Hospital (Version 1). Swinburne. https://doi.org/10.25916/sut.28478252.v1

Scheirich, L., Maguire, T., & Daffern, M. (2024). Testing a recovery-oriented nursing communication framework to encourage collaboration and discussion about aggression prevention: A mixed methods study. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 33(5), 1303–1314. https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.13325

Maguire, T., Willetts, G., McKenna, B., Daffern, M., & Garvey, L. (2023). Developing entrustable professional activities to enhance application of an aggression prevention protocol. Nurse Education in Practice, 73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2023.103827

Simmons, M. L., Maguire, T., Ogloff, J. R. P., Gabriel, J., & Daffern, M. (2023). Using the Dynamic Appraisal of Situational Aggression (DASA) to assess the impact of unit atmosphere on violence risk assessment. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 30(5), 942–951. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpm.12913

Day, A., Newton, D., Cooke, D., & Tamatea, A. (2022). Interventions to prevent prison violence: A scoping review of the available research evidence. The Prison Journal, 102(6), 745-769. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00328855221136201

Lantta, T., Duxbury, J., Haines-Delmont, A., Björkdahl, A., Husum, T. L., Lickiewicz, J., Douzenis, A., Craig, E., Goodall, K., Bora, C., Whyte, R., & Whittington, R. (2023). Models, frameworks and theories in the implementation of programs targeted to reduce formal coercion in mental health settings: a systematic review. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 14, 1158145. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10311067/

Maguire, T., McKenna, B., & Daffern, M. (2022). Establishing best practice in violence risk assessment and violence prevention education for nurses working in mental health units. Nurse education in practice, 61, 103335. doi: 10.1016/j.nepr.2022.103335

Maguire, T., Ryan, J., Fullam, R., & McKenna, B. (2022). Safewards Secure: A Delphi study to develop an addition to the Safewards model for forensic mental health services. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 29(3), 418-429. doi: 10.1111/jpm.12827

Roberton, T. & Daffern, M. (2022). A protocol for responding to aggression risk in residential aged care facilities. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing, 39(4), 35-42. https://www.ajan.com.au/index.php/AJAN/article/view/631

Välimäki, M., Lam, J., Bressington, D., Cheung, T., Wong, W. K., Cheng, P. Y. I., Ng, C. F., Ng, T., Yam, C. P., Ip, G., Paul, L., & Lantta, T. (2022). Nurses’, patients’, and informal caregivers’ attitudes toward aggression in psychiatric hospitals: A comparative survey study. Hosie, J., Simpson, K., Dunne, A., & Daffern, M. (2022). A study of the relationships between rumination, anger rumination, aggressive script rehearsal, and aggressive behavior in a sample of incarcerated adult males. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 78(9), 1925-1939. doi: 10.1002/jclp.23341

Griffith, J. J., Meyer, D., Maguire, T., Ogloff, J. R. P. & Daffern, M. (2021). Testing a clinical decision support system to prevent aggression and reduce restrictive practices in a forensic mental health service. Psychiatric Services, 72(8), 885-890. doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.202000315

Maguire, T., Carroll, A., McKenna, B., Dunn, C., & Daffern, D. (2021). The Model for Understanding Inpatient Aggression: A version for mental health nurses working in prisons. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 42(9), 827-835. doi: 10.1080/01612840.2020.1871134

Maguire, T., Ryan, J., & McKenna, B. (2020). Benchmarking to reduce restrictive practices in forensic mental health services: a Delphi study. Australasian Psychiatry, 29(4), 384-388. doi:10.1177/1039856220946634

Roberton, T. & Daffern, M. (2020). Precipitants to aggression and warning signs among older adults in residential facilities. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 51. doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2020.101364.

Välimäki, M., Yang, M., Vahlberg, T., Lantta, T., Pekurinen, V., Anttila, M., & Normand, S. L. (2019). Trends in the use of coercive measures in Finnish psychiatric hospitals: a register analysis of the past two decades. BMC Psychiatry, 19(1), 1-15. doi:10.1186/s12888-019-2200-x

Maguire, T., Daffern, M., Bowe, S. J., & McKenna, B. (2017). Risk assessment and subsequent nursing interventions in a forensic mental health inpatient setting: associations and impact on aggressive behaviour. Journal of Clinical Nursing. doi:10.1111/jocn.14107

McKenna, B., McEvedy, S., Kelly, K., Long, B., Anderson, J., Dalzell, E., Maguire, T., Tacey, M., & Furness, T. (2017). Association of methamphetamine use and restrictive interventions in an acute adult inpatient mental health unit: A retrospective cohort study. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 26(1), 49-55. doi: 10.1111/inm.12283.

Chapman, R., Ogle, K., Martin, C., Rahman, A., McKenna, B., & Barnfield, J. (2016). Australian nurses’ perceptions of the use of manual restraint in the Emergency Department: a qualitative perspective. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 25(9-10), 1273-1281. doi:10.1111/jocn.13159

McKenna, B. (2016). Reducing Restrictive Interventions: The Need for Nursing to Drive Change. Journal of Forensic Nursing, 12(2), 47-48. doi:10.1097/jfn.0000000000000108

Wharewera-Mika, J., Cooper, E., Wiki, N., Field, T., Haitana, J., Toko, M., Edwards, E., & McKenna, B. (2016). Strategies to reduce the use of seclusion with tāngata whai i te ora (Māori mental health service users). International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 25(3), 258-265. doi:10.1111/inm.12219

Kasinathan, J., Marsland, C., Batterham, P., Gaskin, C., Adams, J., & Daffern, M. (2015). Assessing the risk of imminent aggression in mentally ill young offenders. Australasian Psychiatry, 23 (1), 44-48. doi: 10.1177/1039856214563845

Kasinathan, J., Marsland, C., Batterham, P., Gaskin, C., Adams, J., & Daffern, M. (2015). The DASA:YV assists the appraisal of imminent aggression risk in young patients. Australasian Psychiatry, 23 (3), 314-315. doi: 10.1177/1039856215584526

Lantta, T., Daffern, M., Kontio, R., & Valimaki, M. (2015). Implementing the Dynamic Appraisal of Situational Aggression in Mental Health Units. Clinical Nurse Specialist, 29 (4), 230-243. doi: 10.1097/nur.0000000000000140