Violent crime: an integrated theory of risk and offence process amongst acquitted mentally ill offenders

Previous research has developed offence process models for criminal offenders in mainstream prisons. These models provide a theoretical framework to explain pathways that lead to the commission of an offence. Current research has built on this by examining a forensic population and developing a theoretical model to describe the offence trajectory of these individuals. Research regarding empirically validated risk assessment factors has also been incorporated in the current study. Participants were 29 males who were detained in a forensic hospital, all of whom had been found not guilty by reason of mental illness of a violent offence. The participants were interviewed using a Structured Professional Judgement approach. Reports from these interviews were then examined in detail using a methodology similar to Grounded Theory. The resulting Violent Offence Process Model explains the relationship between empirically validated risk-assessment factors in the lead up to and during an index offence. Whilst this is a preliminary investigation that requires further quantitative analysis, an understanding of this model and the theoretical explanation for how a violent offence is committed by acquitted mentally ill offenders will assist in treatment and interventions targeted at relapse prevention.