IACFP
IACFP supports correctional and forensic psychologists, as well as other helping professionals working with justice-impacted individuals. We aim to advance evidence- and practitioner-informed policies and practices, and to elevate psychology’s role in correctional settings.
IACFP Strategy Booklet
As a first step toward investing more in Research to Practice and Practice to Research, the board became the major sponsor of the 4th Correctional Research Symposium (CRS) held in Belfast on May 13-15, 2025. A second key step was taken at the 28th May board meeting where topics for professional development to support Helping the Helpers were selected for delivery in Fall and Winter 2025-2026. Finally, the Correctional Mental Health Leadership Network is being led by Dr. Jeffrey Metzner and Dr. Gabriel Ong. They, along with four members of the Network, have planned a calendar for Network meetings and professional development for 2025 and 2026. The board has also decided to support the third in-person meeting of the Network in Oslo this coming Fall.
Research
We are honored to promote the recent publication of “Global Prison Trends 2025”.
This is always a great resource for key statistics and trends that are being seen globally. This publication highlights the growing prison populations around the world, challenges that are shared by many countries, and key positive trends summarized in this graphic:
Criminological Highlights Vol 22, No 2 - April 2025
Criminological Highlights, published by the University of Toronto, Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies, is available here.
This issue of Criminological Highlights addresses the following questions:
- Does the pretrial release of accused people increase crime?
- How can a scale that has the same error rate for two distinct groups disadvantage one group more than the other?
- How are Black youths disadvantaged by a youth justice system that emphasizes diversion?
- How are convictions for minor offences disproportionately punitive for immigrants?
- Does the neighbourhood in which an offence takes place affect the way it is processed?
- Does setting plausible conditions for the pretrial release of accused people change the outcome of a case?
- Do risk assessment instruments validated on White accused people perform equally well for Indigenous accused people?
- What happens to accused people who exercise their right to silence when questioned by the police?
The focus of several of these articles was on pre-trial practices; however, the second one was on an article that was recently published in Criminal Justice and Behavior, i.e., Botha, Ryan, Tara Nichols, and Devon L. L. Polaschek (2025). Cross-Cultural Fairness of the PCL:SV – A New Zealand Analysis."(Criminal Justice & Behavior, 52(3), 447-463) This was a study of the use of the “Psychopathy Check List” in New Zealand.It compared recidivism rates of indigenous and non-Indigenous individuals. Both the synopsis and the article are worth reading in full!
Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research
The Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research has published its May 2025 Bulletin, which is available here. This publication not only highlights the individuals associated with the Centre but also their projects and publications.
Three of the projects that are summarized may be of particular interest to readers of the IACFP Bulletin.
- The first is a podcast, "Young Warriors". Alistair Fraser travels to six cities to talk with young people and youth workers about the issues they face and what they think can be done to effectively address them.
- Second is a publication by Mirza, N., Bradley, L. and Dickson, N. titled Diversifying Justice: Revealing domestic abuse realities and viable help-seeking pathways for South Asian women in Scotland. (SCCJR Publication, March 2025).
- Finally, the comic Men Minds tells the story of young men’s mental health. This project was led by Nina Vaswani from the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice, alongside colleagues from Strathclyde, the Mental Health Foundation and Monash University in Melbourne. It is an engaging resource that can be read here. It does an excellent job of addressing the shame that young men feel about experiencing mental health challenges.
The United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme Network of Institutes (PNI)
Upcoming Conferences
