Forensic psychology: Some concepts and debates about practice

Much though has changed; in Britain, there has been a gradual move towards greater recognition of forensic mental health needs and we are beginning to see greater development of work relating to terrorism prevention. Terrorist incidents of the past 10 years such as those in New York (2001), Bali (2002), Madrid (2004) and London (2005) led to fundamental shifts in legislation, policy and practice. For decades, psychologists had been working alongside academics and practitioners from international relations, social policy and criminology regarding terrorism in multiple domains. However, the massive shift in policy and funding reflected in the European and American anti-terrorism strategies has found us evaluating strategies to prevent violent extremism, understanding terrorist group processes, dealing with hate crimes and working with probation colleagues to manage ‘radical offenders’ as they are released from prison.