Psychosis and violence: Adverse outcomes and effective intervention

Investigator: Cieran Harries

Supervisors: James Ogloff, Stefan Luebbers

Rationale and aims:

• People with severe mental disorder (particularly psychotic disorders) are at elevated risk of violence, both as a perpetrator and as a victim.
• The interplay between co-occurring psychosis, violent offending, and victimisation, is not well documented.
• The effectiveness of community and hospital interventions for reducing adverse outcomes has not been evaluated.
• This study will examine and model the temporal relationships among psychosis, violent offending, and victimisation.

Methodology:

• The study is an extension of previous research (Project PRIMeD) conducted by the CFBS.
• This study involves a prospective data linkage of cases (> 7,000 diagnosed with a psychotic disorder; 5,000 community controls) across several databases (i.e., Victorian Psychiatric Case Register, Victorial electoral roll, Law Enforcement Assistance Program, and the Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages)